The BRX Hunter T1: Ian Callum’s Striking Dakar Rally Monster Will Be Driven By Sebastien Loeb
It’ll contest next year’s Dakar Rally with backing from The Kingdom of Bahrain.
BRX stands for Bahrain Raid Xtreme, The Kingdom of Bahrain's new joint venture set up with British motorsport expert Prodrive. With this new racing project led by Prodrive chairman (and 1981 WRC champion co-driver) David Richards, BRX’s bespoke Dakar Rally T1 cars will aim for the overall win in 2021, each powered by a 400-horsepower, twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6. What's more, the four-wheel-drive Hunter T1 will be driven by nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Loeb, as well as Nani Roma, who's one of only three drivers to win the Dakar Rally on both two and four wheels.
To make the race cars stand out as well, the Hunter's composite body was designed by Callum, the studio set up by former Jaguar design chief Ian Callum. The British company's other recent projects include the limited edition Aston Martin Vanquish 25 produced by R-Reforged. When it comes to his latest design, Ian Callum had this to add: "We wanted to give the car a unique silhouette. A conscious shape suited to an extreme vehicle, rather than just functional form."
Prodrive’s first venture into motorsports was with the Rothmans Porsche Rally Team, which won the inaugural FIA Middle East Rally Championship in 1984. Remembering that off-road adventure vividly, Prodrive boss David Richards expressed plenty of optimism regarding their chances next year.
"Our design team has been working on the car for over nine months," Richards said. "We have already been evaluating the engine on our transient dyno in Banbury and the first chassis is now being assembled in our workshop. The formation of a new team is incredibly exciting for everyone involved, and we truly believe we have created a team and car that is perfect to take on the Dakar Rally."
"I’ll be disappointed if, when you are sitting on the start line, everybody doesn’t see us as a potential winner," he concluded.
As one of the most experienced drivers out there with 24 consecutive Dakar entries under his belt, Nani Roma will be undertaking thousands of miles of testing in both Europe and the Middle East in the coming months. Like his Spanish teammate, famous Frenchman Sébastien Loeb also knows what it takes to finish a Dakar, having competed four times with Peugeot to claim two podiums in the last five years.
As you can probably tell from this lineup, The Kingdom of Bahrain has big ambitions for the 2021 Dakar Rally, and the Hunter T1 by Prodrive is the car that could deliver the precious trophy. Be that with, or without every bit of Callum's fancy body by the end of the race.
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