2014 Dakar - 5-18 Jan 14

Team Ford Racing set for Dakar Rally 2014

Posted: January 4, 2014 10:26 PM

With just one day to go before the official opening of Dakar Rally 2014 in the host city of Rosario, Team Ford Racing is ready and geared up for its debut on this legendary event.

The crew from Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM) in South Africa and South Racing in Europe arrived in Argentina on 29 December and spent the ensuing four days preparing the two Team Ford Racing Rangers, T4 race truck, two assistance trucks and five Ranger support vehicles at Ford’s Pacheco Plant in Buenos Aires.

This included packing around 12 tonnes of spares, tools, equipment and 112 Michelin race tyres in the trucks, and ensuring the race cars are in perfect condition to tackle the arduous continent-crossing 9 300 km Dakar Rally route.

Yesterday the team travelled around 300 km to Rosario, which is the administrative centre for the start of the rally. This was also the setting for the first official press conference for Team Ford Racing, held at the local Ford dealer.

During the course of today all of the formal documentation and scrutineering will be completed, followed by the opening ceremony for Dakar Rally 2014 in the Rosario city centre at 15:30 (local time) on Saturday.

“It has been a mammoth task getting all the vehicles ready, but everyone has done a great job and we are well prepared for Dakar,” says Scott Abraham, Team Manager for South Racing.

According to Neil Woolridge, Team Manager for NWM, the drivers are relishing the opportunity to get behind the wheel and set out on stage one.

“Lucio Alvarez and Chris Visser both had a final test before we left Buenos Aires and are delighted with their cars,” Woolridge states. “We’ve done extensive work and improvements on the Rangers in the build-up to Dakar, and Lucio commented that he can’t believe it’s the same car he first tested in Namibia during September last year.”

The drivers and navigators are also fit and in really good shape, and have been preparing physically with the assistance of team physiotherapist Michael Denton.

LAND ROVER SUPPORTED RACE2RECOVERY INJURED SOLDIER RALLY TEAM SET TO BEGIN DAKAR RALLY CHALLENGE

Posted: January 4, 2014 10:22 PM

Race2Recovery, the group of severely injured soldiers who made history as the first disabled rally team to enter, and complete, the Dakar rally in 2013 has arrived in South America for the 2014 running of the toughest race in the world. The team, supported by Land Rover, has entered two race vehicles into the 2014 Dakar which will once again put its competitors through the ultimate physical and mental test.

Race2Recovery operates to the motto ‘beyond injury, achieving the extraordinary’. So far, the team has raised over £250,000 for Tedworth House Personnel Recovery Centre and Help for Heroes and, this year, is also raising awareness of military charity Blesma. This year’s Race2Recovery team is made up of 16 injured soldiers and civilian volunteers, including drivers, co-drivers, support vehicle drivers and a crew of technical and mechanical experts.

The injured servicemen will be driving Land Rover Defender-based Wildcat rally-raid vehicles, both of which were entered in last year’s race, as well as a T4 race truck and a T5 support truck, which will follow the route providing support for both race vehicles. Land Rover is assisting the team with parts, logistics, vehicle and financial support throughout their 2014 campaign. In addition, two Land Rover Discovery vehicles provided by Land Rover will support Race2Recovery along the assistance route and will provide vital support to the team throughout the 14 day epic.

The 2014 Dakar will see the team race across some of the world’s most unforgiving terrain. This year’s competition will traverse three countries; Argentina, Bolivia (motorcycles only) and Chile. They will travel over 9,000km, including crossing the Atacama desert and the Andes mountain range, in temperatures that could reach between 40 to 50 degrees celcius.

Speaking at the start-line in Rosario ahead of the challenge, team founder and driver, retired Captain Tony Harris said: “We’re delighted to be back in South America for our second Dakar challenge. The memory of finishing last year’s race is something we’ll always treasure but we always wanted the Race2Recovery team to become a sustainable rally team so it’s fantastic to be entering our second Dakar. We learnt a lot from last year’s competition so we feel extremely well prepared for the challenges that this race will inevitably throw at us.

“The 2014 Dakar signals the start of a massive year for us. Our sponsor Land Rover has confirmed that the brand will support our entry into the new ‘Defender Challenge by Bowler’ race series that launches in the UK in March this year. That provides us with a fantastic platform to train up new recruits and develop our skills ahead of future Dakar challenges. It also enables us to race in front of UK crowds, something we love doing as the support we’ve received from motoring fans and the public in general has been incredible.”

Mark Cameron, Global Brand Experience Director, Jaguar Land Rover, said: “We’re very proud of our association with Race2Recovery, having been the team’s lead sponsor since its inception. The team has broken down barriers relating to disability and motorsport and truly lives up to its motto ‘beyond injury, achieving the extraordinary’. The Dakar is the ultimate race and one that has a long association with Land Rover vehicles. We’re pleased that the team can benefit from our support and we wish them the very best of luck. We’ll be following their progress all the way.”

Land Rover has also announced that it will be an official partner of the Red Bull Desert Wings team. Red Bull has chosen Land Rover as the official vehicle supplier for the 2014 Dakar due to its advanced all-terrain expertise and technology to support the various teams under the Red Bull Desert Wings collective. Five Land Rover vehicles have been supplied including Defender, Discovery, all-new Range Rover and Ranger Rover Sport. The Race2Recovery team will benefit from this association as they will be welcomed on a daily basis into the Red Bull bivouac, providing Race2Recovery with additional resource and infrastructure.

People wishing to find out more about Race2Recovery should visit www.race2recovery.com and www.uk.media.landrover.com

MINI and the X-raid Team ready to start “mission title defence” at the 2014 Dakar Rally Sunday.

Posted: January 4, 2014 9:59 PM

On the eve of the first leg of the 2014 Dakar Rally the MINI brand and the X-raid Team are looking forward to defending their 2013 Dakar title at the world’s most challenging endurance rally. A record-setting eleven MINI ALL4 Racing cars will compete in the 36th Dakar edition between 05th -18th January, spearheaded by 11-time champion Stéphane Peterhansel (FR) who also claimed Dakar victories in the MINI ALL4 Racing in 2012 and 2013.

Ahead of the Dakar start which takes place in Rosario, Argentina, the factory-supported X-raid Team has already successfully shipped the eleven MINI ALL4 Racing cars from the team’s headquarters in Trebur, Germany, to South America. Now the 120 team members and eleven driver pairings in the cockpits of the MINI ALL4 Racing cars are ready to start “mission title defence”. The challenge ahead: a total of 9,374 kilometres, 5,522 of them will be timed during 13 competitive legs.

Since winning the 2013 Dakar, the X-raid Team has continued the fine tuning of the MINI ALL4 Racing. So MINI and the X-raid Team are confident that a good team result and successful title defence are possible in South America. Says Peterhansel:
“I think we are going in the right direction. I won the last two Dakar Rallies. Even though this does not mean anything for the next event, as each rally is a new chapter, obviously it is my goal is to win the Dakar Rally again.” Peterhansel’s team-mate Joan “Nani” Roma (ES) who won the 2004 Dakar on a motorbike is equally motivated. “I can still remember how it felt when I won the Dakar ten years ago,” says the Spaniard. “You never forget that. And you are always hungry for more.”

Peterhansel, Roma and the rest of the X-raid Team drivers which also include the 2011 Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah (QT) as well as the 2013 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies champion Krzysztof Holowczyc (PL) can again count on the performance of the MINI ALL4 Racing which is based on the MINI John Cooper Works Countryman, modified to successfully meet the demands of long-distance rallying. With a combination of power, reliability and efficiency the MINI ALL4 Racing proved its competiveness right from its first Dakar start while also immediately winning the hearts of the fans.

On only its second Dakar appearance, the MINI ALL4 Racing made the big breakthrough by winning the 2012 Dakar Rally. In 2013 the MINI brand proved that its Dakar success was no flash in the pan by defending its title at the first attempt. Motorsport is in the DNA of MINI. This is one of the reasons why MINI is competing in the Dakar. Another reason lies in the core values of MINI: excitement and agility – which are very much part of motorsport and consistent with the image of the Dakar. Plus, the MINI brand also looks to anchor the MINI and John Cooper Works brands among the global fan base of the Dakar Rally thanks to its international media coverage which generates a huge worldwide visibility.

Entry List (Cars)

Posted: November 25, 2013 9:52 AM

300 PETERHANSEL STEPHANE (FRA) / COTTRET JEAN PAUL (MINI)
301 AL-ATTIYAH NASSER (QAT) / CRUZ LUCAS (MINI)
302 DE VILLIERS GINIEL (ZAF) / VON ZITZEWITZ DIRK (TOYOTA)
303 SAINZ CARLOS (ESP) / GOTTSCHALK TIMO (BUGGY)
304 ROMA NANI (ESP) / PERIN MICHEL (MINI)
305 GORDON ROBBY (USA) / WALCH KELLON (HUMMER)
306 SOUSA CARLOS (POR) / RAMALHO MIGUEL (HAVAL)
307 TERRANOVA ORLANDO (ARG) / FIUZA PAULO (MINI)
308 ALVAREZ LUCIO (ARG) / GRAUE BERNARDO (FORD)
309 HOLOWCZYC KRZYSZTOF (POL) / ZHILTSOV KONSTANTIN (MINI)
310 SPINELLI GUILHERME (BRA) / HADDAD YOUSSEF (MITSUBISHI)
311 TEN BRINKE BERNHARD (NLD) / BAUMEL MATTHIEU (HRX)
312 CHABOT RONAN (FRA) / PILLOT GILLES (SMG)
314 VASILYEV VLADIMIR (RUS) / YEVTYEKHOV VITALIY (MINI)
315 LAVIEILLE CHRISTIAN (FRA) / GARCIN JEAN-PIERRE (HAVAL)
316 THOMASSE PASCAL (FRA) / LARROQUE PASCAL (BUGGY MD RALLYE)
317 GARAFULIC BORIS (CHL) / PICARD GILLES (MINI)

Full Entry Lists at:

Dakar Rally

Event / Details

Posted: November 25, 2013 9:46 AM

Dakar Rally