Rally
Qatar Red Bull Rally Team reveal new buggy
The newly formed team shows off its 2013 Dakar contender and stellar driver line-up.
6 min
Profile of the Qatar Team
The Qatar Red Bull Rally Team takes on the Dakar for the first time with two winners at the wheel.
The Qatar Red Bull Rally Team has revealed its new buggy, which will compete at the 2013 Dakar Rally in South America this January.
The buggy will be piloted by previous Dakar winners and former Volkswagen teammates Carlos Sainz, who won the rally 2010, and Nasser Al-Attiyah, who took victory in 2011.
The buggy that the duo will pilot takes its inspiration from US Baja-style desert-racers, but has combined that American durability with European engineering to create what the team believes is an innovative off-road vehicle.
The Qatar Red Bull Rally team's buggy
© Qatar Red Bull Rally Team
Speaking of the project, Sainz, who won the World Rally Championship in 1990 and 1992, said: “There’s nothing quite like preparing a completely new car for a Dakar Rally and my first impressions of this buggy is that it’s a very impressive machine.
“The whole team has great hopes that we can achieve a good performance at the 2013 Dakar Rally,” he added. “It’s still very early days to be saying how far up the leader board we can finish in this car but we are working everyday to make sure we get the set-up just right.”
Al-Attiyah, who has been involved with the project since the beginning, believes that just making it to the finish in the new buggy will be an achievement in itself. “I’m under no illusion that coming to the Dakar with a completely new car is perhaps the toughest challenge I have ever faced at this race,” said the Qatari driver.
“The entire Qatar Red Bull Rally Team are going to have to carry on the hard work that has got us to this stage in these few weeks before the race and continue that effort during the actual Dakar. My ambition right now is just to reach the finish in this new car. If we make it that far then everyone involved can be proud of the job they have done.”
(l to r): Sainz, Gottschalk, Cruze and Al-Attiyah
© Tony Harmer/Red Bull Content Pool
Between the start line in Lima, Peru and the finish line in Santiago, Chile lie over 5,000 miles of rugged terrain which the buggies will have to survive if either driver is to have a repeat of their victories.
Accompanying Sainz and Al-Attiyah in South America will be experienced co-pilots Timo Gottschalk and Lucas Cruze. Cruze was formerly Sainz’s co-pilot when the Spaniard won back in 2010, while Gottschalk helped steer Al-Attiyah to victory in 2011.
Testing will continue on the buggies until they are transported to South America at the end of next month, with final tweaks still to be made before both drivers are totally happy with their buggies' set-ups. But only when the race gets started on January 5th will the team know whether or not it’s got a competitive car on its hands.