Sebastien Loeb is excited to compete with Nasser Al-Attiyah in the same car – both show each other respect, but rivalry prevails in the Dakar race
This is the fourth time that British rally manufacturer Prodrive has entered the Dakar Rally with the Hunter. Sebastien Loeb finished second behind Nasser Al-Attiyah in each of the past two years. In 2024, the two superstars will be team-mates in Saudi Arabia. After seven years and three victories, Al-Attiyah has left Toyota
Both have the overall victory as their goal, of course. Record rally world champion Loeb is still chasing his big dream of adding a Dakar victory to his CV. Last year, he won half of the stages and took six consecutive stage victories in his race to catch up.
But early tire damage on Loeb’s Hunter left Al-Attiyah’s Toyota fading into the distance. “Now we have to bring everything together to win,” says Loeb. “It’s very difficult to beat Nasser and Mathieu Baumel because they hardly make any mistakes.”
“To do it, they would have to have small problems. The worst thing is that they always leave themselves room to maneuver. I don’t even want to know what it would be like if they went full attack.”
“The way the cars have developed, they have become very solid and efficient. You can drive at high speed almost everywhere. There are also hardly any accidents in the dunes. The race has developed into a very long sprint.”
“We’re in the same car now, but I don’t think our rivalry will change much,” says Loeb. “We have the same advantages and disadvantages. I know he likes the Hunter and he will be fast.”
“Nasser prepares the stages best and drives at a consistent level. But we will have strong competition from Toyota and Audi. There are also a lot of new young drivers coming who have big ambitions. It will be a great show.”
As in previous years, the Prodrive Hunter of Loeb and his co-driver Fabian Lurquin is named Bahrain Raid Xtreme (BRX). The Dakar project was originally financed by the Mumtalakat Holding Company, the sovereign wealth fund of Bahrain.
Nasser Al-Attiyah wants to win with fourth brand
Al-Attiyah’s Hunter is officially on the entry list as “Nasser Racing”. His vehicle shines in the colors of Red Bull. On Loeb’s car, the red bull can only be seen on the doors as usual. In the bivouac, both cars will be run side by side by the Prodrive team.
After Volkswagen, X-raid Mini and Toyota, Al-Attiyah could win the Dakar Rally with a fourth brand. The man from Qatar has already celebrated five overall victories. This puts Al-Attiyah in second place behind Stephane Peterhansel (8 victories) in the all-time car leaderboard.
“I’m now looking forward to being part of a new team and taking on a new challenge at the next Dakar,” says the 53-year-old. “This gives me new motivation for my fight for victory. “
“It’s a great feeling to be back with Sebastien Loeb. I have great respect for him. We will try to work together to win the Dakar. The level is impressive. You have to give everything to win the Dakar.”
After winning the Rally Raid World Championship, Al-Attiyah switched directly from the Toyota Hilux to the Prodrive Hunter in the fall. After initial test drives, he contested the Dubai International Baja at the beginning of November and took victory at his first attempt.
“I have a long history with Prodrive. I drove for them in rallying with a Subaru,” says Al-Attiyah, looking back on his beginnings in rallying. “I won many races with this team.”
“When I saw that Prodrive was entering rally-raid sport, I knew that they would be very competitive in the future. Sebastien has finished second in the past two years, but those narrow defeats were only due to a few mistakes.”
Prodrive will field a total of seven Hunters in Saudi Arabia. But only Loeb and Al-Attiyah are in contention for overall victory. The remaining vehicles will be driven by Marcos Baumgart, Christian Baumgart, Feilong Liu, Ping Sun and Rong Zi