In just over three weeks dust will fly over the Argentine city of Rosario, when 354 racing vehicles comprising 143 bikes, 110 cars, 55 trucks and 46 quads, leave the start line of the 2016 Dakar Rally.
Competitors at the world’s toughest offroad endurance race will then snake up toward the Andes mountains, cross the border into Bolivia, and loop back down to (hopefully) reach the finish line 9 000km and 13 days later in Buenos Aires. This event will be the 37th running of the Dakar, and the eighth consecutive year it’s been hosted by South America.
SA’S CHALLENGE
Last week we filled you in on the details of all South Africans entered in next year’s race, and the contingent is particularly strong with 14 in total across all four classes. Spearheading the group is the Toyota South Africa Gazoo team with drivers Giniel de Villiers and Leeroy Poulter at the wheels of two new locally-built Hiluxes. But they’ll have a tough time against two big budget, factory supported Mini and Peugeot teams.
Mini has entered 12 cars, with big names like Nasser Al-Attiyah, Nani Roma, Mikko Hirvonen, and Orlando Terranova all representing the brand.
CAN A FWD CAR WIN?
Four-wheel-drive, diesel-powered Minis have won the past four Dakars, including this year’s with Al-Attiyah at the wheel.
Peugeot, which returned to Dakar this year after last winning it in 1990, will again compete with its two-wheel-drive 2008DKR. Two-wheel-drive vehicles have an obvious traction disadvantage, but are allowed to use suspension systems with much longer shock travel. The last time a two-wheel-drive car won the Dakar was in 2000, and it’s never happened in South America.
STAR DRIVERS
But, the biggest component in Peugeot’s 2016 attack is its star-studded driver list which includes the most successful Dakar driver/rider in history – Stéphane Peterhansel, who has won six times on bikes and five times in cars. Four other 2008DKRs will be driven by Cyril Despres (five-time bike winner), Carlos Sainz (twice WRC champion), Romain Dumas (two-time Le Mans winner), and rally ace Sebastien Loeb who has nine WRC titles under his belt.
This year’s bike category winner, Marc Coma, who has five Dakar wins to his name (all on KTMs), has left the racing seat to become the new Sporting Director of this event.
In the trucks class, Russian driver Ayrat Mardeev will defend his 2015 win in another Kamaz, and Polish quad rider Rafal Sonik will do the same in the quad class on a Yamaha.
Star Motoring