It has been 25 years since Peugeot last participated in the Dakar . The continent and the teams may have changed, but the race remains an extraordinary adventure and a huge challenge for both man and machine. This year's Dakar was characterized by all kinds of problems associated with different types of terrain and sometimes extreme weather conditions. The track also started for the first time in the Salar de Uyuni desert in Bolivia .
Stéphane Peterhansel /Jean‑Paul Cottret , Cyril Despres /Gilles Picard and Carlos Sainz /Lucas Cruz , three experienced and mutually supportive crews with a combined 17 victories, took up the challenge with determination. Today, the entire Peugeot Total team is thinking about the 2016 Dakar Rally … and looking back at 2015 to congratulate Nasser Al‑Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel of the Qatar Rally Team on their victory.
Director of the Peugeot Sport division, Bruno Famin : "Looking back at this first Dakar gives me mixed feelings. From the point of view of the participants and the set goal, we cannot of course be satisfied with the final result. However, we are aware of the scale of the task, so the main aim of our first participation was to gain experience. Since two of the three Peugeot 2008 DKRs reached the finish line in Buenos Aires without major technical problems, we can say that this goal was achieved. We learned a huge amount of new things in all areas: technical, sporting and logistical, which is absolutely essential for the next steps in our project.
To achieve the goal, our pilots and passengers and the entire technical team did an admirable job. During preparation, we focused exclusively on reliability and it paid off. In terms of performance, the Peugeot 2008 DKR has shown some potential and had a chance to win the special stage two or three times, but it is not yet at the level to think about the final victory. We have a number of ideas for where development should go, and some work is already in full swing. Now, based on the experience of 2015, we will define a plan for the future. Dakar 2016 has already started for us, the first meeting will take place already on Sunday!"
Stéphane Peterhansel : "It is necessary to be able to sacrifice one year in order to properly prepare for the next. At the beginning of the rally we weren't sure if we would make it before the next day, and suddenly we are at the finish line without any major technical problems. I also made a few mistakes, we could have placed better overall.
The Peugeot 2008 DKR has huge potential, but I've also seen over the last 15 days that the whole team, mechanics and engineers alike, are really motivated to give us the best, and that's great news for the future. We have a long to-do list and huge room for improvement. I'm sure we'll fight for the win next year."
Cyril Despres : "It was completely new for me. It's like going back a few years to when I made my motorcycle debut. It is not easy not to fight for the first places when one was used to it. I completed accelerated learning, during which I encountered almost all possible and impossible conditions. I think I have more stories to tell than I have in the last seven years on a motorcycle. I didn't expect that at all. I left Buenos Aires with only one thought:
reach the finish line and make no mistakes. We've done a few, but here we are.'
Source: Peugeot
