Dacia tested in rally raids with the Dakar objective. The car manufacturer today unveiled Sandrider, the prototype with which the brand will participate in the Dakar and the Rally-Raid World Championship in 2025.
Sandrider is inspired by the Manifesto concept car and was specifically designed for rally raids, making use of the sporting expertise of the Renault Group and being able to count on the teams of Prodrive, a British company specializing in motorsport.
Declared objective: performance for the victory.
“The Dakar is like us – declared Denis Le Von, CEO of Dacia – because it is an adventure. We will also participate because this context is a full-scale laboratory for emission-free mobility. We have chosen the best partners, with whom we have worked on the car, as well as a great team of drivers.”
This prototype takes advantage of all the possibilities offered by the Ultimate T1+ category regulations, focusing on agility and lightness and precisely responding to the essential needs of pilots and co-pilots. The latter have been actively involved since the genesis of Sandrider.
Before the many planned test sessions and from the early stages of the work, they contributed by transmitting their rich experience to the designers and engineers, especially with very concrete design sessions using virtual reality.
Some details benefit the pilot and co-pilot, such as the short, sloping and floating front bonnet which disappears from the crew’s field of vision, as well as the use of anti-reflective paint like in aviation, applied to the upper part of the dashboard to optimize visibility.
In the cockpit, Sandrider stands out for its modular dashboard which allows each individual crew to adapt the ergonomics and arrangement of some elements as desired according to their preferences.
To be able to overcome the tests of the Dakar and other rally raids, the vehicle was equipped with a reinforced underbody and bumpers, carbon bodywork, but also suspension (double triangle) and 4X4 transmission suitable for the extreme conditions of rallying. raid. The innovative electrical system will allow all on-board accessories to maintain optimal power, even in extreme conditions.
The engineers also worked on lightness to reduce fuel consumption and the Sandrider’s aerodynamics were particularly careful. The engineers managed to reduce drag by 10 percent and lift by 40 percent compared to comparable prototypes.
Sandrider is equipped with an engine powered by a synthetic fuel supplied by Aramco and produced by combining renewable hydrogen with captured Co2, thus obtaining a low-carbon product compatible with today’s engines.
The first race scheduled for Sandrider is the 2024 Morocco Rally, an event of the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) which will take place from 5 to 11 October. The Dacia Sandriders team will be made up of Sébastien Loeb, with Fabian Lurquin as co-driver, Cristina Gutierrez Herrero with Pablo Moreno Huete, as well as Nasser Al-Attiyah who will communicate the co-driver later.
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Source: Ansa
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