Sébastien Loeb and co-driver Fabian Lurquin have leapt up to second position in the 2023 Rallye du Maroc today after a stellar drive over some of the hottest 336 kilometres the W2RC has seen for a long time. After the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team worked long hours last night to fix the exhaust problem that lost them just over two minutes yesterday the French/Belgian duo fought back with true grit and determination to again show the speed of the Prodrive Hunter over this desert terrain.
Orly Terranova/Bernando Graue had a great day with the car working very well indeed for the Argentines to bring them home in seventh even though they were stuck in the dust of a fellow competitor whom they caught early on in the stage around Zagora.
The organisers of the rally have said that tomorrow will be a very difficult stage indeed with a further 351 kilometres right up against the Algerian border that was the scene of Dakar Rallies over the years from 1979 - 2007.
Sébastien Loeb - BRX
“It was a good day to give us a clean stage with no problems at all. We tried very hard indeed so for three cars to be within 14 seconds after 336 kilometres proves this really was a sprint! The stage was technical in some places but it was fast in others, very fast indeed. We now have second place in this rally with two stages to go so after a late night for the team repairing the car after the exhaust problems yesterday, it really shows the strength of our BRX team.”
Orly Terranova - BRX
“A very nice day with the car working very well indeed. I enjoyed it a lot but we’ve been driving behind Nani (Roma) for nearly the whole stage as maybe the sentinel isn’t working.” (1)
Gus Beteli, BRX Team Principal
“A very good stage today as from Seb and Fabian’s side it was perfect with the car and for navigation which is great news after a bit of a difficult stage yesterday. They’re up to second overall now and have two more days to try and knock on the door to get the lead from Nasser Al-Attiyah. Orly was flying too; he went very well but just couldn’t get past the dust of a car in front which is frustrating but leaves him fired up for tomorrow.”
GALLERY
(1) Sentinel is the in-car system that sends a message to the leading car that there is a car catching from behind.
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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 to design and manufacture cars to compete in the Dakar Rally and World Rally Raid Championship. BRX achieved the best finishing position, 5th with Nani Roma on debut in 2021, and 2nd with Sebastien Loeb in both 2021 and 2022. Its Hunter cars run Prodrive EcoPower, a sustainable fuel made from agricultural waste. 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.