- Dakar legends Peterhansel and Cottret lead X-raid team
- Catalan Roma and Frenchman Chicherit aim for Dakar podium
- X-Raid Russia’s Novitskiy teams up with twice-winner Schulz
Team X-raid GmbH will field three BMW X3 CCs in the 2010 Dakar Rally, with X-raid Russia entering a fourth car with support from the Trebur-based operation.
Nine-time former winner Stéphane Peterhansel (six times on a bike and three in a car) and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret spearhead the team’s challenge for honours in the world’s most demanding off-road rally, which starts in Buenos Aires on Friday, January 1st, returns to the city on Saturday, January 16th and finishes officially in the Argentine capital on Sunday, January 17th.
The winners of the event on four wheels in 2004, 2005 and 2007 won the recent Rally of Morocco and are joined by Catalunyan Joan ‘Nani’ Roma and his triple Dakar-winning co-driver Michel Périn. Both Roma and Peterhansel joined Sven Quandt’s X-raid team mid-way through the 2009 season.
Roma won the race on a motorcycle in 2004, while Périn was victorious in 1994, 1995 and 1996 with Frenchman Pierre Lartigue and led this year’s event for several days with a rival team.
Completing the official X–raid team line-up are the defending FIA World Cup champions, Guerlain Chicherit and Tina Thörner, who won the prestigious Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Transiberico events this season.
Chicherit is one of the most improved drivers on the world stage. His experienced Swedish co-driver led the Dakar outright through southern Argentina in 2009, before falling foul of a technical ruling after being delayed by mechanical problems.
Twice-winning co-driver Andreas Schulz (2001 and 2003) partnered Russia’s Leonid Novitskiy for the first time to finish second overall in the recent Rally of Morocco and the pair team up together in the X-raid Russia entry to complete the official BMW line-up for the 16-day, 9,030 km event.
X-raid has enjoyed another successful season of cross-country racing in 2009, with Chicherit’s maiden FIA World Cup award following a superb double of the Baja and FIA World Cup titles for the team in 2008.
Outright victories were earned in the UAE, Tunisia, Morocco, Spain and Portugal this season and Quandt is optimistic that recent testing in Morocco and attention to fine detail in terms of car set-up and reliability will boost competitiveness in January.
Despite the global economic slowdown, the event has attracted 372 starters, comprising 184 motorcycles and quads, 50 trucks and 138 cars.
The Dakar 2010
Competition between the main teams is likely to be fierce, as the event crosses the barren grasslands of central Argentina and heads into the mighty Andes mountain range before crossing into Chile for stages through the punishing Atacama – the highest and driest desert in the world.The race stops in Argentina’s second city, Cordoba, en route to La Rioja, Fiambala and the crossing into Chile and the night stop in Copiapo.
After a rest day in the renowned copper and gold mining town of Antofagasta on Saturday, January 9th, the route heads through the deserts along the Pacific coastal plain in Chile, taking in bivouacs in Iquique, Copiapo, La Serena and Santiago.
The route then re-crosses the spine of the Andes and heads back to Buenos Aires via San Juan, San Rafael and the pampas region around Santa Rosa.
In the total route of 9,030km, the Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) has announced that 4,810km will be competitive for the car and truck categories.
2010 Dakar Rally – X-raid entrants
301. Stéphane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret (F) BMW X3 CC
304. Joan ‘Nani’ Roma (E)/Michel Périn (F) BMW X3 CC
307. Guerlain Chicherit (F)/Tina Thörner (S) BMW X3 CC
310. Leonid Novitskiy (RUS)/Andreas Schulz (D) BMW X3 CC
Foto: X-Raid
