• Deals with Nani Roma and Krzysztof Holowczyc extended
• Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret already confirmed
The 2013 Dakar Rally is approaching and with three more months to go, to the start in Peru’s capital, Lima, the competitive team has set the course for the future: Monster Energy and Team X-raid extended their partnership for another two years and at the same time, X-raid also opts for continuity when it comes to the driver line-up. In addition to French pairing Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret who were confirmed as part of the team as early as in May, the Trebur based team will be represented by another two strong pairings racing MINI ALL4 Racing vehicles, in the coming Dakar: Nani Roma and his French co-driver Michel Périn extended their deal with the Monster Energy X-raid Team for another season and the same applies to Poland’s Krzysztof Holowczyc and his Portuguese co-driver Filipe Palmeiro.
The cooperation of Monster Energy and X-raid began in 2010 and caused a stir in the cross-country rallying fraternity right from the start. In late 2010, the partners made for a major surprise by launching the MINI ALL4 Racing for the 2011 Dakar and one year later, they celebrated a huge success: a one-two in the Dakar Rally, courtesy of Stéphane Peterhansel and Nani Roma.
“As the Monster Energy brand continues to move forward at a meteoric pace across the planet we look to global-encompassing events such as the Dakar Rally as a means to strengthen and further expand the brand,” said Mark Hall, President of Monster Beverage Company.
“Our partnership with the X-raid MINI ALL4 Racing program was quite literally one of our more successful automotive racing ventures in 2012. And we look forward to continuing our relationship with the team as they defend their Dakar Rally title in 2013 and beyond.”
With Roma and Holowczyz, the Monster Energy X-raid Team now was able to confirm two very competitive drivers. Roma made the entire team happy by finishing runner-up, with his yellow MINI ALL4 Racing. Six years ago he had won the motorbike title in the prestigious desert rally. For Holowczyc it also was the second Dakar as X-raid driver. In 2012, the Pole took his MINI ALL4 Racing to ninth position. For a long time, he had been – just as his team-mates – one of the frontrunners but a problem in the closing stages cost him dearly. Nonetheless, he was able to battle his way back up to the top 10, in the final special stages.
“Monster Energy is a strong partner and we jointly celebrated our biggest success, this year,” underlines Monster Energy X-raid Team Manager Sven Quandt. “
I’m truly looking forward to our cooperation in the coming two years. Monster Energy and the MINI ALL4 Racing are a perfect match – they both are young and cool. And there is additional good news: we can confirm the signing of another two top drivers – Nani and Krzysztof – for the coming Dakar. Nani’s second place in the 2012 Dakar was extremely important for him – and for us, too. Krzysztof drove a very good Dakar and held third position up to stage nine. Then, he dropped out of the Top 10 due to a problem but battled his way back to ninth position and completed our great team result. Having signed them for 2013 means that we will have another two strings to our bow, in the battle for the top positions.”
Nani Roma:
“For me, finishing this year’s Dakar was extremely important. Making it to the bivouac every single day without losing a lot of time represented my top priority. The team did a fantastic job and the MINI ALL4 Racing ran perfectly throughout the event,” says Roma.
“Now I’m looking forward to again go for it in the Dakar together with X-raid.”
“With X-raid and Monster I’ve got strong partners and I’m on a promising path to making my dreams come true,” added Krzysztof Holowczyc.
“I’ve got more experience under my belt, now, and the excellent MINI ALL4 Racing – so who should stop me now on my way to celebrating a major Dakar success?”
X-raid was founded by Sven Quandt back in 2002. Just one year later, Luc Alphand won the Dakar diesel title to repeat this success in 2004. Furthermore, X-raid won the FIA World Cup five times, in the past years! In late 2010, the Trebur based team surprised the off-road rallying fraternity by designing and building the MINI ALL4 Racing. And about a year later, the team celebrated its fantastic triumph in the 2012 Dakar, thus securing the well-deserved reward for all the hard work: Peterhansel and Nani Roma gave the team a one-two, with all the other MINI ALL4 Racing drivers also making it to the top 10.
The 2013 Dakar will be started on 05th January, 2013, in Peru’s capital Lima. Following the day of rest (13th January) in San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina, the Dakar will be continued to be finished on 20th January in Chile’s capital, Santiago.
