The X-raid team’s Mini All4 Racing equipped with seats from RECARO Automotive Seating remained undefeated at the Dakar Rally this year as well. After a total of 9000 kilometers through extreme conditions, the rally ended on January 17 with another outstanding success for the team from Hessian Trebur. In 2012 and 2013, the winner was Stéphane Peterhansel, in 2014 it was Nani Roma, and this year Nasser Al-Attiyah and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel secured the overall victory. The lead in the overall standings was taken by the pair on the second day, and it was not relinquished through to the end, with the team securing 5 of the 13 possible daily victories. The Qatari Al-Attiyah was at the top of the podium for the second time since 2011. “I just want to enjoy this day,” he said after his victory. “In the meantime I have gained a great deal of experience at Dakar and therefore only take it one day at a time. That was the key to success. If you have a bad day, you have to put it out of your mind, so as not to lose concentration.” The other driver teams of X-raid also had the key to success. Four of them were among the top five: Al-Attiyah and Baumel on first place, Krzysztof Holowczyc and Xavier Panseri finished third, Erik van Loon/Wouter Rosegaar and Vladimir Vasilyev/Konstantin Zhiltsov took places four and five. Eight of the twenty best rider duos came from the X-raid team. We take our hats off to this outstanding achievement and are keeping our fingers crossed for next year!”
