Everything you need to know – and amazing photos – of France's monstrous new Dakar racer
The French invented the Dakar Rally. All those notions of romantic isolationism and stark desert beauty chime perfectly with the country that gave the world the Foreign Legion. It's still an emphatically French event. Turn up at one of the race's overnight encampments and - no matter how remote the location - there will always, always be red wine and cheese available.
So it's completely understandable if you thought that the big French manufacturers would be all over the Dakar Rally. Once upon a time (1987 to 1990, to be precise), Peugeot did dominate the two-week-long endurance race - the toughest motorsport event on the planet - but in recent years, it's been the Japanese and German brands that have triumphed.
Next year could be different, as this will be taking part. ‘This' is the Peugeot 2008 DKR. It has precisely nothing in common with the 2008 crossover. Well, aside from the fact that, although the bodywork suggests otherwise, neither is 4WD. That's right, Peugeot's Dakar entrant is rear-wheel drive. This isn't as unusual as it sounds, as in extreme enduro races, giving the front wheels both steering and driving duties can create reliability headaches. The less there is to go wrong, the better. And there's another reason to avoid 4WD, too.
Mini has won Dakar for the last three years on the bounce. The Countrymans of the X-Raid team are 4WD, diesel and tough as Tonka trucks. And, on the Dakar, toughness counts. "It was the same when we went into Endurance against Audi," Peugeot motorsport boss Bruno Famin tells me. "We don't want to copy what they do, we want to find another way."
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