What a place to make your first mark in motorsport. Dacia, the Romanian budget car brand that has zero association with competition motoring, will plunge head first with a three-car entry into the epic, most gruelling event of them all.
The Dakar Rally will run for the sixth time in the deserts of Saudi Arabia (despite its name) across two weeks from 3 to 17 January, and what’s most remarkable is not just the inclusion of the Renault-owned car maker among the 340 entries in classes for cars, motorcycles and trucks: it actually (whisper it) has a genuine chance to win.
That’s because Dacia took the eminently sensible decision to partner with Prodrive for its first motorsport campaign. One of the world’s most respected competition specialists, Prodrive hasn’t yet won the Dakar but it sure knows a thing or two about the famous rally raid, through its previous Hunter T1+ programme, which culminated in a podium third for World Rally Championship legend Sébastien Loeb last January.
Loeb is back to helm one of the Dacias, along with his old Extreme E partner Cristina Gutiérrez and five-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah. A decent line-up, to put it mildly.
So there’s hope, perhaps even optimism. But Prodrive’s team of grizzled engineers know better than to make rash predictions. To conquer the Dakar, its three all-new Dacia Sandriders must negotiate a prologue and 12 stages that include a so-called ‘chrono’ that lasts 48 hours (no, that’s not a typo) and another dubbed ‘marathon’ and emerge unscathed from the desert region known, all too accurately, as the Empty Quarter.
From the start in Bisha to the finish in Shubaytah, the total mileage is 4784, and 3168 of them are within the competitive stages. It’s beyond daunting.
But why is Dacia doing it? We travelled to to Prodrive’s Banbury base beside the M40 to find out.
The short answer is because it’s “cool”, according to Dacia UK brand director Luke Broad.
Join the debate
Add your comment
PLEASE make one for the road, Dacia! It could be the 2-door Defender that never came about - a hose-out, sub £30,000 one. You know, what Ineos should have done if it weren't for them being berks.
Yes, I think you are right. With the demise of the affordable sports car, there could be a market for something basic which looked like one of these. I accept that there might be safety or homologation issues, but even so there would be considerable appeal for a back to basics off reader, just as there was with the Suzuki Jimmy. And a production model would do far more to uplift Dacia's brand image than any motor sport success.
This certainly looks an interesting project, but I hope it doesn't mean Dacia deserting its roots and venturing upmarket in the way Skoda has. I know every car company has to make money, but currently Dacia is just about the only brand offering sensible no-frills products at sensible prices. Long may this approach continue because judging by European sales, it's what many customers want.
Hopefully, the forthcoming Skoda Epiq is going to be sub-£25,000. They'll be hoping to pitch it below the VW i.D2 (same platform, and also the Cupra Raval). Most buyers (like me) are quite evidently not looking to spend anywhere near £30,000. I see that even the leasing costs of the new Renault 5 are looking silly, with apparently no nod to its £23,000 asking price.