RAVENOL becomes technical partner of the X-raid Dakar team
The next Dakar highlight can come. The X-raid team and RAVENOL will be contesting the extremely challenging desert rally together for the first time. The German lubricant expert and the six-time Dakar winner have agreed on a long-term technical co-operation. X-raid will be competing in the 2024 Dakar Rally with three MINI John Cooper Works Rally Plus and three X-raid 1000R Turbo side-by-sides. Reliability and durability are the key to success in the cross-country rally.
With the successfully completed rounds of the FIA World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC), the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and the European Cup for Cross-Country Bajas, an exciting season comes to an end. The X-raid team will kick off the new W2RC 2024 season in January with the highlight – the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.
The X-raid team has been developing, building and deploying rally vehicles in cross-country sport for over 20 years. The Hessian team has already secured overall victory at the legendary Dakar Rally six times. Among the successful drivers were well-known names such as the Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel (previous record winner of the Dakar Rally, 14 times) or the Spaniard Carlos “El Matador” Sainz (a total of three Dakar Rally victories).
Since last year, the X-raid team has relied on HVO biofuel for refuelling the racing vehicles and intends to further expand its commitment to the environment in the coming years. The oil specialist RAVENOL is on hand to advise X-raid on various issues, such as the use of modern fuels and lubricants. In addition, RAVENOL’s new Eco Racing products will be subjected to an extensive endurance test in the desert.
Paul Becher (CEO RAVENOL): “X-raid is an absolute top team in cross-country rallying that has successfully forged its path over the past 20 years. I can also see the parallels with us, our beginnings in motorsport, the constant further development over the last few years, always with the aim of performing at our best. I am overjoyed that we can dovetail our corporate values and technologies and, crowned with sporting success, we will be travelling a common path, or even better, driving together.”
Sven Quandt (CEO X-raid): “All of us in the team are very much looking forward to working with RAVENOL. We are convinced that this strong partnership will enable us to ‘bring home’ further successes on the world stage of rallying. We have already been able to use RAVENOL lubricants at various Bajas and cross-country events and test them extensively – our mechanics have had consistently positive experiences.”
Dimitri Barichnowski (Communications Manager & Brand Partnerships RAVENOL): “My team and I are over the moon – the co-operation with X-raid once again underlines our commitment to being a reliable supplier to high-performance motorsport. In addition to the expected increase in performance through top-class racing products, we have already developed activation measures for the partnership, which should further strengthen the public perception of the two brands.”
About the Dakar Rally:
There is probably no other rally race that poses such great challenges to man and machine. The vehicles cover up to 900 kilometres per day on a wide variety of terrain. The desert rally was held for the first time in 1978 and took place on the African continent until 2008. However, it had to be cancelled at short notice in 2008 due to terror warnings. The Dakar Rally then moved to South America in 2009. Eleven years later, the rally opened another new chapter and has been held in Saudi Arabia since 2020.
