Following the Prodrive Hunter taking its first 1-2 finish on an FIA World Rally Raid Championship event on the Rallye du Maroc last time out, Sebastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin and Guerlain Chicherit/Alex Winocq now move to southern Spain for the Andalucia Rally and the final round of the 2022 series.
Bahrain Raid Xtreme’s Loeb and Lurquin come into the rally in second place in the title chase knowing that even though there is a steep hill to climb to overhaul Nasser Al-Attiyah in the standings, anything can happen in Rally Raids at anytime. As has been seen over the course of the season that started on the Dakar Rally in January, each stage at world level brings it own surprises with difficulties of terrain, intricacy with navigation and the rigours that the cars endure.
For Loeb, a nine time World Rally Champion, the stages in Spain will be something he relishes in the Prodrive Hunter as last time on similar terrain during the Baja Aragon in 2021, he was leading the rally overall until a small technical problem cruelly denied a sure victory.
Winner of the Rallye du Maroc, Guerlain Chicherit, will again be behind the wheel of his GCK Motorsport entered Prodrive Hunter with Alex Winocq alongside him. Having taken the spoils in Morocco there is no better footing for the Frenchman to go into Spain feeling at one with the car he initially drove only two weeks before taking his first start in it.
Over a series of five stages around Andalucia, the season finale will take place over 1,014 kilometres across rolling hills and tight tracks, the longest stage of which will be over 333 kilometres of sinuous roads to the north of Seville. The rally starts on Wednesday 19th October and runs through to Sunday 23rd October.
Sebastien Loeb, Bahrain Raid Xtreme
“The goal is to have the best result as possible. We saw in Morocco that we were on the pace so I hope to be competitive in Andalucia. For the Championship, we are aiming for the perfect result and to get the maximum points available; our goal is to manage our rally as best as possible. The rally will be different from what we used in the more open nature of cross-country with many tracks that should suit my driving so I hope to be performing well there with the target to win the rally.”
Guerlain Chicherit , GCK Motorsport
"Before the Rally du Maroc, I had a feeling we would do well, but I didn’t bank on winning. It was incredible! The enthusiasm surrounding this result backs up the choice made by GCK Motorsport to race in 4WD category with a Prodrive Hunter. Now Alex (Winocq) and I are keeping our feet on the ground. There are still many things we can do better. We want to continue our learning period in Andalucia to arrive in the best conditions for the Dakar."
Gus Beteli, Team Principal BRX
“Andalucia should be a completely different event to Morocco but we are well prepared for it. We have a shot for the Drivers and Manufacturers Championship and we’re focussed to get as many points as possible after the speed we had in Morocco. It’s great to have the GCK Motorsport crew back with us after their brilliant win so I hope we can have such a strong result as we did last time around.”
GALLERY
- ENDS -
For more information please contact:
Toby Moody
BRX Media Manager
e: toby.moody@bahrainraidxtreme.com
t: +44 7860 145035
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Bahrain Raid Xtreme
A joint partnership between the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat), the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Prodrive the British motorsport and engineering group formed the joint venture Prodrive International in 2020. Building on Prodrive’s extensive experience in developing championship winning race and rally cars, its aim is design and manufacture cars to compete in the Dakar Rally and World Rally Raid Championship. BRX achieved the best finishing position, 5 with Nani Roma on debut in 2021, and 2 with Sebastien Loeb in 2021. Its Hunter cars run Prodrive EcoPower, a sustainable fuel made from agricultural waste by BRX team partner Coryton. The fuel reduces CO2 emissions by 80% compared to standard fuel.
About Prodrive
Prodrive is one of the world’s largest and most successful motorsport and technology businesses. Over 500 staff are employed across its Banbury headquarters and composites manufacturing facility in Milton Keynes. While the company is perhaps best known for motorsport, today it is just one part of an organisation that in the last decade has diversified to become a technology business working in a range of sectors and providing a range of services. Within the Prodrive Group, there are four distinct but interconnected business areas: Motorsport, operating race and rally programmes for vehicle manufacturers and global brands; Advanced Technology, providing innovative technology for the automotive, aerospace, defence, and marine sectors; Composites, developing lightweight composite components for the automotive, aerospace and marine sectors; and Brand& developing bespoke clothing and accessories for leading brands.
About Guerlain Chicherit
Born on 20 May 1978, Guerlain Chicherit made a name for himself in the 2000s as four-time freeride ski world champion. In 2005 he finished 49th in his first Dakar rally. The following year he climbed 40 places, and was fifth in 2020, his best result so far, including a stage win. In 2009 he won the FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup, taking the Desert Challenge in Abu Dhabi and the Transibérico along the way. After a six-year hiatus, he came back with his own outfit – GCK Motorsport – and a plan to win the Dakar with a zero-emission hydrogen-powered vehicle by 2027.
About GCK Motorsport
Founded in 2017 by Guerlain Chicherit, GCK Motorsport showed excellent potential from the start with several podium places in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. In 2020 the team joined Green Corp Konnection (GCK), a group of industrial companies promoting innovative technologies for greener mobility. The racing arm of the group is a test bed for the ground-breaking solutions, serving to prove their reliability and high-performance in gruelling real-life conditions. One of the group’s targets is to be the first to win the Dakar with a hydrogen-powered car.