Dacia to enter Dakar Rally in 2025
British motorsport firm Prodrive will be involved with the project
Dacia has announced that it will compete in the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship, including the gruelling Dakar Rally.
The Renault-owned budget brand will compete as a manufacturer in arguably one of the most demanding forms of motorsport. Dacia says competing aligns with its values of being ‘rational’ and ‘emotional’.
Dacia has confirmed it will work with motorsport experts Prodrive, based in Banbury, Oxfordshire. This firm has been involved with the Dakar Rally since 2020 and has nearly 40 years of experience working in various motorsports.
World Rally Championship legend Sebastien Loeb, who won nine titles between 2004 and 2012, has been named as one of Dacia’s drivers, alongside Cristina Gutiérrez Herrero, who was the first Spanish woman to finish the Dakar Rally in 2017.
Dacia has not confirmed what vehicle it will compete with, but it’s likely to be a model based around its next-generation Duster – the firm’s rugged 4×4. It will also run on a synthetic test fuel supplied by Aramco, which produces less carbon and is compatible with existing engines. Dacia says the ‘Dakar Rally is the ideal testing ground for this technology’.
Denis Le Vot, chief executive of Dacia, said: “Dacia and Dakar are a perfect match. Not only is this a test of Dacia’s true robustness, but it is also a showing of our commitment to low-carbon mobility.
“We are very excited to take part in Dakar with synthetic fuel technology. Dacia, alongside the best team and drivers in the game, are serious contenders for the rally.”
The first Dacia prototypes are set to hit rally stages in early 2024.
