Cyril Despres moves to Peugeot Rally Team. The five-time Dakar winner has switched to the four-wheeled ranks, and will compete with the newly formed Peugeot Sport rally-raid project.

Cyril Despres moves to Peugeot Rally Team.
The five-time Dakar winner has switched to the four-wheeled ranks, and will compete with the newly formed Peugeot Sport rally-raid project.

After their extraordinary adventure in 2013, which saw them smash the record for the celebrated Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Peugeot Sport, Red Bull and Total have again joined forces for another exacting yet equally exciting challenge: the Dakar. To take on the 10,000km of the world’s longest and toughest cross-country rally 25 years after the French car manufacturer last contested the event, the team has recruited Carlos Sainz and Cyril Despres.

Last June’s memorable new record of 8m13.878s for the ascent of Pikes Peak confirmed that Peugeot Sport had lost none of its taste for motorsport. After emphatically showcasing its expertise on the celebrated climb’s steep, demanding course, the team could easily have contented itself with last year’s one-off foray. However, its passion for competition needed feeding with further stimulating new challenges and the next one will be the infamous Dakar.

Following last year’s intense adventure in the lofty mountains of Colorado, USA, Peugeot Sport, Red Bull and Total have decided to set their sights on the wide open spaces of South America which provide the backdrop for the toughest cross-country rally of them all. Inevitably, the decision recalls a particularly successful period in the history of the French team which made an indelible mark on the Dakar by winning the legendary competition four years running from 1987 until 1990, first with the 205 T16 Grand Raid, then with the equally iconic 405 T16 Grand Raid.

In between times, the Dakar has traded the dunes of northwest Africa for the tracks and trails of Latin America which are every bit as punishing for competitors and their machines. It is here, a quarter of a century after its last participation, that Team Peugeot Total will take on its next challenge with a new car, the 2008 DKR. After last June’s 20-kilomètre asphalt sprint, it’s a two-week 10,000km marathon that will put Peugeot Sport’s all-round skills to the test in January 2015.

The Dakar will naturally be the chief focus of Peugeot’s new, multiyear programme which will also include a certain number of other events in order to help it to prepare for the annual South American marathon. The team’s driver line-up stars the 2010 Dakar victor Carlos Sainz, who brings his extensive experience and car-development skills to the table, as well as the event’s five-time winner on two wheels, Cyril Despres, who has chosen Peugeot to kick off a new career on four wheels.

Both drivers are eager to discover their car which was concocted by the same team that was behind the development of the 208 T16 Pikes Peak. More information about the car will be revealed at the Beijing Motor Show on April 20.

Bruno Famin, Director of Peugeot Sport

“We are very proud to have Carlos and Cyril in the team”

Peugeot has a lot of experience at the Dakar, but from 25 years ago. Does that help you in your new challenge?

The Dakar has changed a great deal in the past 25 years but you still design cars in the same way. We still have a certain amount of data from the late 1980s which we will be able to use. Above all, though, we have considerable experience of designing rally cars. Cross-country rallies and conventional rallies are slightly different, but the approach and know-how are exactly the same. And that know-how is something we have.

Carlos Sainz has an incredible record in motorsport and his car development skills are well documented.

How did you choose your drivers?

We're very proud to be able to count on the services of two such talented drivers as Carlos Sainz and Cyril Despres. Carlos has an incredible record in motorsport and his car development skills are well documented. In all the teams he has worked with, he has contributed to producing winning cars. His experience will be an important asset for the team, while his enthusiasm and will to win are just as exceptional. Cyril has an impressive record, too, although on bikes, of course, and he is looking forward to discovering the world of motorsport on four wheels.

Dakar is an integral part of Peugeot’s history. We actually still have some people who were part of the original adventure that are working on the new project.

How did the staff at Peugeot Sport respond to the news of this comeback?

The reaction has been very good. The announcement of a programme for the medium term is obviously excellent news after the difficult years we have experienced recently. At the same time, the Dakar is an integral part of Peugeot’s history and everyone is very proud to be involved in this event again. We still have some people who were part of the original adventure, and one of them has already started working on the new project.

Carlos Sainz has made more World Rally Championship starts than any other driver. ‘El Matador’, as he's known, was twice crowned WRC World Champion, taking the title for Toyota in 1990 and 1992 and was runner-up a further four times.

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Born to parents who ran restaurants in his native France, Cyril looked destined to follow in the family tradition… or at least, not deviate from it quite so much. However, the young wannabe took matters into his own hands when, with an entrepreneurial aptitude to make his parents proud, he caught a train to Paris and bought his first bike.

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