The 42nd edition of the Dakar Rally will take place in Saudi Arabia on 5th January 2020 spanning over two weeks. The crews will face twelve stages covering more than of 7,500 km, including 5,000 km of specials, five of them longer than 450 km.
Six times Dakar Rally champion and five times FIA Cross Country Rally World Champions, Xtreme+ Team is now ready to deploy 4 crews at the starting line of this new adventure.
With the Polaris RZR 1000 Turbo (#424) Eric Abel and co-driver Christian Manez, both from France,will participate in the Dakar Rally for the second time.
The two friends have a long history of rally-raid and are well prepared for arguably their toughest rally yet.
EA: « This year, we have developed a lot of the car, we have done a lot of circuit racing and participated in four Baja events counting for the world championships. This allowed us to work a lot on reliability. We are adventurers and we love the great outdoors, the off-piste and the dunes … It’s very exciting to arrive in a country where the playground is as big and few people have borrowed. With Christian, who is my co-driver but above all my best friend, we will do everything to complete the adventure. «
Abel and Manez will be the official crew of CST Tyres.
The others crews engaged at Dakar 2020 for Xtreme Plus:
– Jose Luis Peña and Rafael Tornabel (Spain) with Polaris RZR 1000 Turbo #406.
The Spanish crew, which has as palmares: Best Rockie Dakar 2018, the title of T3 World Champion FIA Cross Country Rally in 2018, 2nd in SSV Category in Silk Kay Rally (2019) and 3rd in the championship World Cross Country rally T3 FIA 2019.
This will be his second participation in the Dakar Rally, his first participation was in 2018 (Peru, Bolivia, Argentina), now seduced by the new challenges brought by Saudi Arabia will face a new adventure.
JLP: « The main goal for this Dakar is first of all to reach the final line, then try to be ahead of the ranking. It will not be easy since I think we will be many cars in the SSV category.
My expectations are good, because we have a great team and a reliable car, which is very important for this edition. »
– Graham Knight and David Watson (United Kingdom) with Polaris RZR 1000 Turbo #418
In 2017, Graham was part of David Watson’s assistance setup as the 56-year-old completed his maiden Dakar on a bike,- Having been bitten by the Dakar bug, Graham decided he would have a crack in the world’s toughest rally in an SSV, joining forces with Xtremeplus Polaris team in early 2018. David came on board as his co-driver, and the British duo have had a busy time preparing for Saudi Arabia, participating in no fewer than a dozen races over the past 18 months and taking an impressive victory at the 2018 Dubai International Baja
GK: « I used to ride bikes, but not particularly well. I did a lot of events, but nothing at the level of Dakar. David Watson did Dakar 2017 on a bike, and I actually did service for him, so it was like a private team. We did it all ourselves. A lot of people said, ‘it can’t be done, you need more infrastructure.’ But not only did we do it, we finished it! And in fairness the people who said we couldn’t do it congratulated us afterwards, which was great. So then I got the flavor for Dakar. I thought it was one of the most amazing things I’d ever done, and that was only servicing. sleep for two weeks, because David was getting in quite late in the evenings. He’s a legend though. He did the Dakar for the first time at 53. He did Abu Dhabi in 2015 and broke his back and both his ankles, and then a year later he raced it again and finished.He got plates in his ankle and all sorts, but it’s fantastic.At 53 he really is a legend.As I say I got the flavor for Dakar, bu I wasn’t good enough or young enough to consider doing it on a bike. The SSV thing was starting to raise its head, so I went out to Xtremeplus in France about 18 months ago and drove one for the first time. I’ve done 12 events now, and David has been my navigator at every rally. I supported him at Dakar 2017 so he’s returning the favor. I’ve rolled it a few times, which is why my WhatsApp picture shows an SSV on its roof. I’m 68 years old, 18 months off 70. I like the idea of being a rookie at 68, I must be the oldest on the Dakar. You can fend off nature a little bit, but you’ll never beat it. You don’t get out of bed in the same way. I mean, I’m a grandfather, I’ve got a 21-year-old grandson, and another 13-year-old one, George, who’s fanatical about cycling. My 10-year-old granddaughter Ella is also a very good and keen gymnast. If I can finish at my age, that would be something. Our expectations for Dakar 2020? To survive! «
– Marco Piana and Willy Alcaraz (France) with Toyota Land Cruiser #386. A car with 40 Dakar!
Marco Piana with 19 Dakar on his back and ample experience on the all-terrain tracks and his co-driver Willy Alcaz four-time Dakar winner in the T3 category (today SSV), puts all his experience at the disposal of the pilots.
Marco and Willy will provide assistance throughout the race.
MP: « This will be my 19th participation! Even if my car is entered in the race, I do not consider myself a driver. I am here to assist my clients: I have three this year on the track. Helping them and doing everything to get to the end is a great challenge! When you finish with them, it is the most beautiful result. The ranking does not count, it is « Mr. All-the-World » who have achieved an incredible challenge. During the whole race, I’m not very much at the bivouac but I know that I will be able to count on a serious and motivated team to welcome on the spot the competitors and do everything so that they can leave the next day. «
To make the dream of Dakar possible, the Xtreme Plus pilots and co-pilots have a strong team of mechanics, organisers and truck drivers behind them with a total of three support vehicles (1Man 4×4, 1Renault Kerax and a Ford150) available from bivouac to bivouac in addition to the fast assistance vehicle engaged in the race.
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