Peugeot at the Dakar Rally 2015

Peugeot at the Dakar Rally 2015

Peugeot is competing in the 2015 Dakar Rally hoping to write a new chapter in a remarkable history at the event.

When it entered in 1987, Peugeot became the first car manufacturer to take on the unique challenge posed by this gruelling endurance race. It then sealed its place in the record books by winning at its first go. Peugeot followed that up with another three consecutive wins with the iconic 205 and 405 T16 Rally Raid models before stopping to take on the equally tough Le Mans 24 Hours.

As a manufacturer entry, Peugeot Sport remains unbeaten in the Dakar. For 2015, Peugeot is entering the Dakar with the amazing looking 2008 DKR. Here are 10 things you should know about this incredible event and PEUGEOT's participation in it.

It came about because someone got lost in a desert

The Dakar was dreamt up by motorbike racer Thierry Sabine when he got lost in the southern part of the Sahara desert on the 1977 Abidjan-Nice Rally. Realising that navigating the remote sand dunes of a desert posed drivers and bike riders with a unique challenge, he organised the inaugural event, which left Paris in December 1978. It gets its name from the capital of Senegal: the rally used to run 6,200miles from Paris to Dakar. Since 2009, unrest in Africa, particularly Mauritania, means it has taken place in Argentina and Chile.

An endurance event like no other

The Dakar has been called the toughest rally in the world because it represents both a motor race and an orienteering challenge. Like other rally raids, it's an endurance event that takes place over much tougher terrain than regular rallies. This means the vehicles have to be true off-road vehicles rather than the high performance versions of road cars that compete in rallies.

Two weeks of action

The 2015 Dakar starts in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, on 4th January over 6,000miles with some individual stages covering up to 560miles, visiting Bolvia and Chile, before the finish back in Buenos Aires on 17th January.

How many take part?

In 2014, 431 competitors started the Dakar. There were 147 cars, 174 motorbikes, 40 quad bikes and 70 trucks. Entries were made up of 51 nationalities. The highest proportion was French (17 per cent) followed by the Dutch (13.5 per cent) and Argentinians (12.6 per cent). Of the 431 entries, 48 per cent finished.

Everyone is welcome

The Dakar is open to all-comers with professional drivers and manufacturer teams pitting their wits and powers of endurance against amateurs. There are four categories of vehicle: motorbikes, quad bikes, cars and trucks. All are either heavily modified or purpose-built. The car class is for vehicles weighing less than 3500kg and for trucks for vehicles that are heavier than 3500kg.

Which class is Peugeot entering?

The Peugeot 2008 DKR is in the T1 Group for 'Improved Cross-Country Vehicles'. This is subdivided according to whether they're petrol or diesel, two or four-wheel drive. The T2 Group is made up of 'Cross-Country Series Production Vehicles'. These are subdivided into petrol and diesel categories and tend to be all four-wheel drive. Peugeot has chosen to run a turbo-diesel with two-wheel drive.

Drivers and cars out on their own

Much of the route is off-road, covering dunes, mud, camel grass and rocks. For the past three years, the Dakar has run some Marathon Stages for bikes and quad bike racers. For 2015 all competitors will have to endure the Marathon Stages. These run over two days during which vehicle crews can't call upon their teams to help fettle or fix their machines, sleeping in bivouacs makes it a unique event.

by: Becca Chaplin