• Kleinschmidt: “I look forward to this challenge”
The X-raid buggy project continues. Despite the buggy’s unplanned retirement from the Dakar Rally the development of the two-wheel driven vehicle is continued. And X-raid succeeded in signing an experienced pairing for the continuation of the development programme: In the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Qatar’s Sealine Cross Country Rally, Jutta Kleinschmidt and her Swedish co-driver Tina Thörner will take the buggy to its limits while gathering a lot of important kilometres covered in anger.
Kleinschmidt, back in 2001 the first female Dakar winner, also has got several years of buggy experience under her belt. She contested several editions of the Dakar with a Schlesser buggy and in 2003 with a Volkswagen Tarek. Furthermore, she isn’t an unknown quantity for X-raid as she raced the BMW X3 CC in several events in 2006 and 2007.
In late 2014, X-raid started the buggy project, thus entering virgin soil. Up to then, the workshop in Trebur solely had developed and built all-wheel driven cars but due to the current development of the technical regulations, X-raid saw the need to also work on designing and developing a two-wheel drive project.
Sven Quandt: “The buggy is an important project for us but unfortunately, we haven’t covered the mileage we would have loved to. The fact that we were able to get Jutta for this project is an important step. She has got a lot of experience with two-wheel drive vehicles and she also is experienced when it comes to developing and enhancing racing cars. And as we currently aren’t able to assess what the future technical regulations will look like, we will keep on working on our two-wheel drive concept. At the same time, we self-evidently also continue to work on the MINI ALL4 Racing to make it even faster and more reliable.”
“I really look forward to this new challenge,” said Jutta Kleinschmidt. “Developing a vehicle always represents a special challenge as you have to deal far more with the technology and procedures. The two rallies in Abu Dhabi and Qatar represent a perfect combination: in Abu Dhabi we mainly will have to cope with sand and dunes while the event in Qatar will be dominated by hard track surfaces and rocks.”
The MINI ALL4 Racing drivers set-up for the AbuDhabi Desert Challenge will be announced next week.
