Dakar 2024 – Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel join Prodrive

It was an open secret. Since the end of July, we announced to you that Nasser Al-Attiyah and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel had to leave Toyota Gazoo Racing to join the English Prodrive team for the 2024 Dakar (January 5-17). It’s officially done, this Thursday, October 26.

The Qatari pilot and the French navigator are the references of the rally-raid, with two W2RC world titles acquired with authority at the wheel of a Toyota Hilux T1+ in 2022 and 2023. But the Japanese manufacturer only offered one additional year of contract for the crew n°1 of the bivouac, Al-Attiyah-Baumel preferred the proposal from Prodrive (Bahrain Raid Xtreme), covering several years.

“It’s a very special feeling to arrive at Prodrive because I have seen over the last three years that the team has worked very hard to get to where they are today with the Hunter T1+, said Nasser Al-Attiyah. I am very happy to join the Prodrive team with Mathieu, because I think it will be one of the strongest in the discipline. Over the years I have won with three different manufacturers in Rally Raid (Volkswagen, Mini and Toyota. Editor’s note), but winning with a fourth car is a big goal for us. We're really looking forward to it. »

Founder and President of Prodrive, David Richards is delighted to have attracted such a big name in the discipline. “We look forward to working closely with them both as we work hard towards the Dakar in January. Nasser's successes speak for themselves and with so many championships under his belt, I am sure the pair will perform well in the Hunter. »

Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel will begin their new adventure with Prodrive via two preparation events this fall: the Baja Portalegre 500 (Portugal, October 26-28) then the Dubai International Baja (November 10-12). They will thus benefit from the same car as Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin. If the two stars of the rally-raid will carry different banners (Bahrain Raid Xtreme for Loeb-Lurquin, Nasser Racing for Al-Attiyah-Baumel), the equipment, assistance and monitoring will be provided by the same team of engineers and of Prodrive mechanics.

Prodrive also took the opportunity to unveil the participation of two new teams in the 2024 Dakar: Seven Hunter T2+ are thus announced at the start of the 1 Dakar.