BMW diesel-powered desert rally

From 31 December to 15 January X-raid's biggest team yet will be taking
part in the twenty-eighth Dakar Rally. Founded only recently the X-raid
Team is sending three new BMW X3 CC and an enhanced BMW X5 CC into the
9,000 km desert rally which takes competitors from Lisbon in Portugal
to the Senegalese capital Dakar via Spain, Morocco, Mauretania, Mali
and Guinea Bissau - a gruelling challenge for man, woman and machine.
The Teams: Nasser Al-Attiyah / Alain Guehennec (QAT/F) BMW X3 CC Alfie
Cox / Ralph Pitchford (RSA/RSA) BMW X3 CC Guerlain Chicherit / Matthieu
Baumel (F/F) BMW X3 CC José Luis Monterde / Tiziano Siviero (E/I)
BMW X5 CC Ambitious as ever X-raid team director Sven Quandt and his
comrades are aiming high. They want to be the first diesel drivers to
win the Dakar Rally. The combined efforts of the BMW Plant in Steyr
(engine development centre) and MAGNA STEYR (chassis engineering) mean
the cars are well-prepared and Sven Quandt says, "We are aiming to
get a car in the top five over all. Two cars in the top ten would be
ideal." Technology All four cars entering the rally are powered
by BMW diesel engines with Variable Twin Turbo technology. The
3.0-litre inline six-cylinder power unit puts out 200 kW / 272 hp in
its series version. With its regulation-compliant air intake limiter
the rally version puts out just slightly more achieving 202 kW / 275
hp. The development of the new BMW X3 CC was based in part on three
years of experience with the BMW X5 CC which achieved several victories
on various legs of the race as well as winning the diesel category in
the Dakar Rally 2004. The same year Khalifa Al-Mutaiwai (UAE) drove the
BMW X5 CC to victory in the World Cup for Cross Country Rallies and in
2005 one year later Miguel Barbarossa won the Off-Road Championship in
his home country of Portugal. Just like the well-proven BMW X5 CC the
three new BMW X3 CC models have been engineered to comply with T1 class
regulations for cross country rallies. While series versions have a
self-supporting sheet metal body, the rally BMW X3 CC chassis is based
on a tubular space frame construction with a carbon-kevlar composite
body shell. The 620 Nm torque are transferred consistently to all four
wheels while the mechanical limited slip differential ensures the
necessary drive even on the desert sand. The chassis, which has double
triangular transverse control arms and shock absorbers with 250 mm
spring travel, will have to endure a crucial test over 9,000 km of
desert rally terrain. On board will be four spare 235/65 R 16 tyres.
Ventilated disk brakes with six pistons each will ensure maximum
braking effect and the tank capacity of 340 litres complies with weight
regulations stipulating a minimum of 1900 kg. Although the BMW X5 CC
does not look much different from its predecessor from last year, the
engine, drive train and chassis correspond largely with those in the
newly developed BMW X3 CC. The Drivers While José Luis Monterde
and Nasser Al-Attiyah are familiar faces on the German side, the Dakar
Rally 2006 will also see a couple of new faces on the German team as
Guerlain Chicherit and Alfie Cox join the X-raiders. Cox, who comes
from South Africa, has a wealth of experience in the Sahara race and has
been one of the front runners in the fight to win the motorbike
category for years while 27-year-old Guerlain Chicherit made his Dakar
debut one year ago.Nasser Al-Attiyah from Qatar is also no newcomer to
classic rally sport. In 2005 he won the title of Vice World Champion in
the production car category and in November of the same year he won the
Baja Qatar in the X-raid BMW X5 CC as he prepared for the Dakar Rally
2006. Meanwhile Spanish Off-Road Champion 2002 José Luis
Monterde came ninth in his X-raid BMW X5 CC in the last Dakar Rally.
BMW Group Aktuell will be providing up-to-the-minute reports on the
Dakar Rally 2006 on the Motorsportseite. Alternatively, Eurosport will
be summarising the main events every day. For more information on the
team go to www.x-raid.de. To find out more about the route, the
competitors and the standings in the motorbike and truck categories go
to www.dakar.com. Dakar Rally 2006: the route 31 December 2005: Lisbon
(Portugal) - Portimao (Portugal) 370 km / stage 1: 83 km 1 January:
Portimao (Portugal) - Malaga (Spain) 567 km / stage 2: 115 km Ferry
crossing over Mediterranean 2 January: Nador (Morocco) - Er Rachidia
(Morocco) 672 km / stage 3: 314 km 3 January: Er Rachidia (Morocco) -
Ouarzazate (Morocco) 639 km / stage 4: 386 km 4 January: Ouarzazate
(Morocco) - Tan Tan (Morocco) 819 km / stage 5: 350 km 5 January: Tan
Tan (Morocco) - Zouérat (Mauretania) 792 km / stage 6: 444 km 6
January: Zouérat (Mauretania) - Atar (Mauretania) 521 km / stage
7: 499 km 7 January: Atar (Mauretania) - Nouakchott (Mauretania) 568 km
/ stage 8: 508 km 8 January: rest day 9 January: Nouakchott (Mauretania)
- Kiffa (Mauretania) 874 km / stage 9: 599 km 10 January: Kiffa
(Mauretania) - Kayes (Mali) 333 km / stage10: 283 km 11 January: Kayes
(Mali) - Bamako (Mali) 705 km / stage 11: 231 km 12 January: Bamako
(Mali) - Labé (Guinea-Bissau) 872 km / stage 12: 368 km Marathon
stage (no service between stages 12 and 13) 13 January: Labé
(Guinea-Bissau) - Tambacounda (Senegal) 567 km / stage13: 348 km 14
January: Tambacounda (Senegal) - Dakar (Senegal) 634 km / stage 14: 254
km 15 January: Dakar (Senegal) - Dakar (Senegal) 110 km / stage15: 31 km
Total distance: 9,043 km, 15 stages: 4,813 km BMW Group Africa &
Caribbean Jean-Michel Juchet, General Manager Marketing & PR,
Regional Office Africa & Caribbean E-mail:
Jean-Michel.JA.Juchet@bmw.de Julien Chobert, Manager Communication, PR
& Events, Regional Office Africa & Caribbean E-mail:
Julien.Chobert@bmw.de Please make sure to have registered to our BMW
Group Africa & Caribbean PressClub: http://www.press.bmwgroup.com/pressclub/ka02.nsf