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 | Dakar Rally 2013: Winner Xavi Foj returns in Race2Recovery team in 2013.
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Catalan (Spaniard) rally ace, Xavi Foj, and the inspirational "Race2Recovery" team are just days away from the Dakar. Foj is set to contest the Dakar Rally for an incredible 23rd time in 2013 - and as winner in the T2 class 2012 of the production cars - the "real" competition.
17 cars started in the "T2 production class" in 2012 - this means, cars of this category must be near to the real production, only security- and some "tuning"-equipment is allowed. So no carbon-fibre doors - pure metal. No plexiglass - real glass. No power-tuned engine - serial engine. You eventually could image, how much more difficult it is to drive with a nearly serial car through the dunes - with less power and more weight...
The "Toyota Auto Body" factory team from Japan sent their 2011 winner Jun Mitsuhashi and the well experienced navigator Alain Guehennec to defend the title with their Land Cruiser 200 V8. But a crew from Spain was faster: Xavi Foy and Jordi Cervantes.
But today things changed. Under the banner of "Beyond Injury, Achieving the Extraordinary" the team - which predominantly comprises injured servicemen from the UK and the USA - is aiming to become the first-ever disabled team to complete the Dakar Rally. The squad will field a total of four Land Rover Defender-based Bowler / QT Wildcat race vehicles, which will all run on Cooper tyres.
Speaking on behalf of Cooper Tire ahead of the rally, Sarah McRoberts spoke of the demands of the rally, "Dakar is infamously challenging - it’s a long and tiring course but it’s really the surface and the conditions that combine to make it such a high attrition race."
"Tyres are hugely important in all forms of motorsport and Dakar is no exception; soft traction and the dispersion of stones and other objects will be vital for the competitors and Cooper’s off-road offering is ideally suited to the Dakar Rally. After such a successful event in 2012, it’s great to have Xavi Foj - who is something of a living legend in the rallying ranks - back on board for 2013 and we’re very happy to be supporting the incredible Race2Recovery team in their bid to make history."
2012/12/28 | 00:43 CET | ARTICLE: MR/HS/COOPER
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