Dakar 2023 – Guerlain Chicherit: “We did not think that the reduction in power would have such an impact”

To enter the motorhome serving as a living space for Guerlain Chicherit (GCK Motorsport) at Dakar Rally 2023, you must not show off or wear a surgical mask... but take off your shoes, so as not to dirty the ground with Saudi dust.

About to finish a quick lunch, the winner of the last Rally of Morocco in October welcomed us in complete relaxation, on D-1 of the prologue of the 45th edition, this Saturday, December 31. “I'm super tense, I can't sleep at night... no, I'm kidding, laughs the 44-year-old pilot-entrepreneur.

To be serious, I feel really good, in great shape. The car is also doing well, as shown by the last two races we won (Morocco with Chicherit as well as the Andalusia Rally with Sébastien Loeb. Editor’s note). We had two or three small problems which we hope to have resolved. »

The Prodrive Hunter T1+ of the former freeride ski champion should have been in brilliant shape according to its owner, but the technological equivalence decided by the FIA ​​and ASO went by and the T1+ all saw their power reduced by around forty horses. This has the gift of frustrating Guerlain Chicherit.

⛱ Here it starts! On the shores of the Red Sea, north of Yanbu, Saudi Arabia. The 45th edition of the Dakar Rally is in preparation 🚧. A few km of riding today to get back into the rhythm. Departure Saturday!# dakar2023 #seacamp pic.twitter.com/iSHkt1UErG

— GCK Motorsport (@GCKmotorsport) December 29, 2022

" Yesterday (Thursday), when I got behind the wheel of the 4×4 in 2023 configuration for the first time, I was frankly annoyed, he admits. I told myself that this was not at all the same car as last fall. We lost 48 horsepower out of a total of 400 horsepower, which is therefore equivalent to more than 10% loss of power; it is enormous. Honestly, the loss is significant. »

In order to guarantee fairness of opportunity, the hybrid Audis also lost 30 kW… which had already been the case in Rally from Morocco, where Carlos Sainz, classified in the Open category, had achieved an overall time faster than that of Guerlain Chicherit.

“In Morocco, we performed well against the Audis, in the proportions that we were able to compare. Except that the Audis were already in 2023 configuration, which was not our case. This 10% less power will necessarily have an impact on the 2023 Dakar. It remains to be seen which one: on the order of a tenth or half a second? Hard to say.

We did not think that this reduction in power would have such an impact. Thursday, at the private test with Sébastien Loeb, we said the same thing to ourselves: ''it's not progressing in the same way'', even if we don't have quite the same way of driving with Sébastien. »

Guerlain Chicherit does not, however, lose sight of the sporting challenge, with the 13 km prologue supposed to offer an initial hierarchy between the contenders for the podium.

“The last 24 or 48 hours before the start of a Dakar are horrible, all I want is to be in the car. We are trying to optimize the car for the prologue, which is not that insignificant.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Guerlain Chicherit (@gchicherit)

 
This is not where we will win the Dakar but on the other hand it will determine the starting position on the first stage. (Sunday January 1). So, on Saturday, everyone is going to go all out, in my opinion.

Many cars are performing well and can aim for the top 5. There are five or six drivers who can honestly aim for the final top 5, so it will attack straight away in this Dakar 2023. Nobody is going to wait. We're not going to let ourselves be left behind right away, we're going to take up the gauntlet from the first special! » Guerlain Chicherit's outfit fits perfectly with this combative speech: he wore an AC/DC t-shirt adorned with the title “Highway to Hell”.

ALSO READ > Dakar 2023 Guide – The Route