Bahrain Raid Xtreme return to desert action in the Rallye du Maroc at the weekend, with Sebastien Loeb and Orly Terranova both looking towards a repeat of last year’s milestone victory in the event for the Prodrive Hunter.
Nine-time World Rally Champion Loeb is reunited with Fabian Lurquin who has recovered from surgery for the final round of the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), while Terranova combines with a new co-driver, fellow-Argentine Bernardo Graue, in a second BRX Prodrive Hunter.
The 2,240km event gets under way with Friday’s prologue near Agadir on the Atlantic coast, before following a trail of five desert stages in an extreme test of human and mechanical endurance to the finishing point at Merzouga near the Algerian border.
It was in Morocco 12 months ago that another Frenchman, Guerlain Chicherit, took the Hunter to its maiden rally victory, with Loeb giving the car its first win for BRX just over two weeks later in Andalucia.
This will be Loeb’s first W2RC outing since April’s Sonora Rally in Mexico, where Lurquin broke his shoulder during a tumble into a dry riverbed, just 24 hours after the BRX pair had secured a splendid stage victory.
Since then, the WRC legend has remained busy and successful behind the wheel in Rallycross, Extreme E and rallying, but he is relishing the chance to pursue another desert rally triumph in his BRX Prodrive Hunter.
“To get back in the Hunter, I’m really looking forward to it,” said Loeb. “Morocco is a very good rally with tracks, dunes and a bit of everything, so it will be interesting once more.
“The nice dunes are in Merzouga, but I like the fast tracks too with the good grip, which are a bit like WRC in some places. That’s what I enjoy with this car.”
A close runner-up in Morocco last year, Terranova, is equally enthusiastic about stepping back into the freshly built Hunter, which has been modified at Prodrive’s UK base with the sole aim of a BRX victory in mind.
“Morocco was a great rally last year for me with a second place, and this time I aim to push just as strongly as we cross towards the dunes at Merzuoga,” said the Argentine. “I enjoy the tracks and the spirit of this rally, so I’m very much looking forward to the stages.”
Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah, who has won the rally six times, goes into the event holding a commanding 51-point lead over his nearest rival, Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi, and is poised to retain the W2RC drivers’ title that he took ahead of Loeb last season.
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Nissan Formula E Team secured race victory in the final event of the 2023/24 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with Oliver Rowland putting in a masterful drive in the season-ending Round 16 at the London E-Prix.
The new Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH has hit the track for the first time, as Aston Martin with The Heart of Racing begins a comprehensive testing programme ahead of the British ultra-luxury sportscar brand’s bid to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright next year and for the first time since 1959.
The new Hypercar, developed by Aston Martin Performance Technologies and works team The Heart of Racing, completed a shakedown and initial evaluation testing in the UK this week, The car was driven by Aston Martin High Performance development driver Darren Turner (GBR), The Heart of Racing’s Mario Farnbacher (DEU) and Harry Tincknell (GBR), who won the LMGTE class of the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans with Aston Martin.
Aston Martin with The Heart of Racing will now commence a full development schedule to prepare the car ahead of FIA homologation in the autumn and its competitive debut in early 2025. The Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH is the first racing car to be built to Hypercar regulations to contest both the FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] and the US-based IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship [IMSA] simultaneously.
The Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH is unique in the top Hypercar class of global endurance motorsport in that it is the only one among its contemporaries to derive its roots from an existing production-based extreme performance car – Aston Martin Valkyrie, the ultimate hypercar. Works team The Heart of Racing will enter two Valkyrie AMR-LMH contenders in WEC and a single car in IMSA in 2025.
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: “The Valkyrie AMR-LMH sets its own standard as a thoroughbred endurance competition car. It is a pure, leading edge racing machine, and while it is very early in the testing cycle, from what we have witnessed so far, we are satisfied that it is achieving the targets and criteria we have set out for it to accomplish.”
The last day of the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed was nothing short of spectacular. Over the five-day event, hundreds of vehicles, ranging from turn-of-the-century machines to modern hypercars, took on the iconic 1.16-mile hill climb. This year, the top 10 fastest cars showcased a thrilling mix of vintage Formula One racers and cutting-edge sports cars. Some were veterans of the hill climb, while others made their debut in style. Let's dive into the details of the 10 fastest cars at this year's event.
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