TOTAL Lubricants and Peugeot Sport have been victorious in the 2017 DAKAR Rally. The renowned yearly event sees over 9,300kms of competitive stage miles across the toughest terrain South America can throw at vehicles.
From high altitude gravel mountain roads, to flooded mud pits and desert dunes, the DAKAR rally is the most varied and potentially ruinous racing event in the world. Competitors have to drive as quickly as they can in 14 days from the start point in Argentina to the finish line in Paraguay.
Team Peugeot TOTAL entered the 2017 DAKAR with a brace of specially adapted 3008 DKR Rally Raid cars, for drivers Stéphane Peterhansel, Sébastien Loeb, Cyril Despres and Carlos Sainz. As Sebastien Criquet, Senior Exterior Designer at Peugeot, explains “the 3008 DKR is the most extreme expression of Peugeot’s latest SUV.”
Designed to take on the rough and tumble of the specialised event, the cars include gigantic BF Goodrich rubber, unique suspension and, of course, a race tuned engine. Alongside providing optimum levels of power and torque, the engine also has to work in high altitude conditions, sometimes as high as 4,600m above sea level, where even the human body struggles to breathe effectively.
For such a tough competition, the strong partnership between TOTAL and Peugeot Sport is essential. With such difficult working conditions, the team need to strike a balance between outright performance and speed, with that of reliability and durability.
The net result was a one-two-three victory, with Peugeot Sport and TOTAL locking out the podium positions, despite a very strong line-up from key rivals. As DAKAR results go, that is as good as it gets. For overall winner Stéphane Peterhansel, it was his record breaking 13th victory on the event, finishing ahead of Sébastien Loeb in second and Cyril Despres in third.
Stephen Parker, Marketing Communications Executive at TOTAL UK comments:
“This result is further evidence that its range of lubricants enhances not only performance, but durability and reliability. There is no tougher challenge in the world of motorsport than the DAKAR. To not only win, but to do so in such dominant fashion, is a testament to the hard work and dedication provided by Team Peugeot TOTAL.
“Such a great working relationship has borne amazing results and we are excited to pass on our development from the 3008 DKR to our road-going consumers.”
