The Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah, a 52-year-old driver with five victories in the Dakar, twice winner of the World Rally-Raid Championship, and five times first place in the FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup, has joined forces with the Frenchman Sébastien Loeb and the Spaniard Cristina Gutiérrez Herrero in the team that Dacia is preparing to attack both the W2RC and the most media-covered event on the off-road calendar from 2025 onwards.
Al-Attiyah recently ended his contract with Toyota and, next month, in the 46th edition of the Dakar Rally, the fifth consecutive one in Saudi Arabia, he will compete in a Prodrive BRX Hunter, seeking to win this rally for the sixth time with Frenchman Mathieu Baumel as his navigator, following his successes in 2011, 2015, 2019, 2022, and 2023. Loeb will also be his teammate in 2024.
Dacia, for this adventure, is working on the development of a prototype in the top category (T1 Ultimate), equipped with a thermal engine powered by synthetic fuel. The testing plan will begin soon, with the participation of the three drivers hired by the sports structure of the Romanian brand owned by the Renault consortium.