Prodrive's 7-car Dakar attack: 'It's a whole championship in one event'

Loeb was twice stranded in the desert on the first attempt when one-too-many of the Hunter’s wheels – later deemed too small prior to a redesign – became damaged, while the team was beset by navigation issues the following year.

In 2023 the nine-time WRC champion showed astounding speed to a record seven stage victories on what is supposed to be an endurance event, but saw his challenge deflated by suffering three punctures on just the second stage alone, losing him an hour from which he never fully recovered.

Prodrive is determined to not let the same thing happen again – as chief rally engineer Rene Torcato explains how to Motor Sport.

“What I can tell you about is the change of tyres – it does make a big difference,” he says. BF Goodrich has brought a new, tougher compound to the tyre issues suffered throughout the Dakar’s top tier field last year.

“It should get us through the rocky stages with less punctures, which was a major problem for us last year – we will hopefully have better performances.

“The new compound is heavier [up to 48kg per-tyre-plus-rim from 46] so we will have to compensate with a stiffer set-up.”

Torcato also emphasises the challenge posed by Dakar, an event which can feature gravel, Goodrich-piercing rocks, sand dunes and mud – sometimes all in one stage.

“We try to test as much as we can, thinking of all the possibilities,” he says. “But it’s such a great thing about rally raid that you’re always bringing something new.

“At the Dakar you go through so many different terrains, you’re always learning something new in the process, especially being 15 stages, it’s such a long event.

“It’s almost like a whole year or whole championship in other categories, but in one go.”

In previous season Prodrive has either has had two or three works cars, with a couple of customer efforts joining in 2023. Now it has seven – two works efforts and five customers.

This year the ‘works’ focus will be on a car each for Loeb and new stablemate – and five-time winner – Al-Attiyah. The Qatari driver has looked almost unbeatable in previous years – Prodrive technical director David Lapworth previously admitted to Motor Sport that the Middle Eastern man can “read the desert” like few others.

The Banbury squad has now prised him from Toyota in a bid to up its chances of Dakar victory.

“Sébastien Loeb and Nasser Al-Attiyah in one team – that takes away all the excuses, doesn’t it?” David Richards has said in the 2024 build-up, while Al-Attiyah himself is confident of a fourth victory in the dunes.

“I was really surprised about how the car behaved in high speed and low speed – it felt like I’d known it for a long time longtime,” he enthused. “This is not easy, to get the feeling very quick. I think we have really good car for the next Dakar.

“It’s like we have a dream team [with Loeb]. We can help each other.”

Joining the two top rally warriors will be five customers, including the Brazilian Baumgart brothers (Marcos and Christian) in a pair of yellow-painted ‘X Rally Team’ Hunters, in addition to three Chinese drivers in the Yunxiang squad.

Olly Wood, who co-ordinates Prodrive’s rally raid customer activities, explains that its blossoming entries is the manifestation of a long-term aim of the company – to have a self-sufficient customer operation while it embarks on the concurrent Dacia manufacturer Dakar project from next season.

Last year stunt-driver cum rally entrant Guerlain Chicherit won two stages on Dakar as a Prodrive partner, while pay-driver Orlando Terranova won a stage on the 2022 edition as well as finishing fourth overall – the signs are promising for the new recruits.

“Everyone who has jumped in the car has done well,” Wood says, talking as all around him mechanics and engineers pour over the ominous-looking Hunter machines.

“Seb winning doesn’t help sell the car to customers because everyone says he can work miracles, but when ‘normal’ people drive it, no disrespect to anyone else, others take notice.”

Joining the Baumgarts – successful rally drivers at national level in Brazil – is the Yungxiang operation, fielding Liu Feilong, Sun Ping and Zi Yungang. While the Chinese and Brazilian efforts are technically standalone teams, they both have Prodrive staff inserted into their squads to help with smooth running.

“We’ve got two or three techs on each car,” Wood explains. “They’re starting at the biggest race of all – it’s a steep learning curve.

“There is a lot of hand holding and just trying to share our knowledge with them, but then likewise not interfering with our two top guns at the same time.

“Eventually we want the customer teams to stand by themselves.”

The anticipation at Prodrive is palpable. In addition to the frenetic work inside, Loeb’s cars is on jacks in the car park. Technicians are revving the 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 to a scream outside in testing, while the gigantic trucks – capable of traversing the tricky terrain themselves too – are being loaded up with spare upon spare.

“Dakar represents the Everest of motor sport,” emphasises Richards. “It’s the event that has so many different facets, so many different challenges. It’s so unpredictable that to win it would be something quite extraordinary.”