Five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah will tackle the 2024 version of the world’s toughest off-road rally in a Prodrive Hunter when the race gets underway in Saudi Arabia next January.
During the past two decades, the Qatari driver has become one of the most recognisable and well-liked personalities with his 20th Dakar appearance next year.
His first Dakar win came in 2011 and he followed that up with two more victories in South America (2015 & 2019) as well as winning in 2022 and 2023 driving for Toyota Gazoo Racing.
Not only is Al-Attiyah chasing his third consecutive victory, but he’s also hoping to make the Prodrive Hunter the fourth different car that he has driven to victory at the rally.
“The Prodrive Hunter is a sensational car. I think after three trips already to the Dakar and two second place finishes, now it’s time for this car to win the Dakar. I want to make myself part of Dakar history and the best way to do that is to win with four different brands,” said the Qatari.
Riding shotgun with Al-Attiyah at his four most recent wins has been co-driver Mathieu Baumel with the duo’s understanding of each other seeming telepathic at times as the Frenchman reads the roadbook and Al-Attiyah steers them over the dunes.
The duo has also won the 2022 and 2023 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship driver and co-driver titles.
Al-Attiyah’s move to Prodrive continues the team’s philosophy of bringing together the world’s greatest drivers with one of the most advanced cross-country rally cars ever created.
The Prodrive Hunter has been designed to cross any terrain at high speed from rocky roads to open desert, sand dunes and mountain passes while it is also powered by a new sustainable fuel – Prodrive EcoPower – which reduces its carbon emissions by 80 percent to help fight climate change.
Sharing the Prodrive paddock with Al-Attiyah in the bivouacs of the 2024 Dakar will be his new team-mate Sébastien Loeb, who has finished as runner-up to Al-Attiyah at the last two editions.
Al-Attiyah added, “This is the first time I will be a team-mate of Seb (Loeb) at the Dakar, but I already know him very well. He really is a great driver and the speed he has shown at the Dakar for these last two years has been incredible. I hope that one of us can win the Dakar in 2024.”
