Dakar 2022

3 minutes read
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A dramatic event 48 hours before the start of the Dakar! Alexandre Pesci's car caught fire during the Shakedown. A chain of solidarity between drivers was then quickly formed. The 44th Dakar starts on a day full of emotions. Here is the story. 

 There are days that remain engraved in our memories. The one lived yesterday by Alexandre Pesci is one of them. It contributes to the legend of the Dakar. During the last test session, Alexandre Pesci smells a smell in his buggy DXX #251. The time to evacuate the vehicle, a fire breaks out and quickly spreads on the whole engine part in spite of the activation of the automatic extinguishing system present. The completely burnt out car disempowers the team, which has just finished a long preparation to tackle the mythical rally-raid in the best conditions.

Faced with this desperate situation, Romain Dumas intervenes and with panache immediately offers the keys of his buggy to the Team Manager, President of Rebellion. This chivalrous gesture gives the opportunity to Alexandre Pesci to take the start of the race. He who only competes in one race a year, the one that keeps dreams alive, the Dakar, can continue the adventure!

Dakar 2022

Borrowing from the spirit of the Dakar, the collaboration between Rebellion and RD Limited, preparer of the Rebellion cars, underlines even before the beginning of the competition, the ability to face, to unite and to find courageous solutions.

As good news never comes alone, Romain Dumas' altruistic initiative is rewarded by a generous and benevolent action signed by another Rebellion ambassador, Nasser Al-Attiyah. The champion has made available his vehicle with which he participated in the race last year. Romain Dumas will thus be able to cross the starting line with a sharpened Toyota, which won the Rally Hail in Saudi Arabia, the World Cup of off-road rallies and took the second place in the Dakar in 2021! The car is currently being repatriated and registered so that the French driver will also be able to take part in the most beautiful of rally-raids with the Rebellion team. The misadventure that could have turned into a tragedy was transformed into an exemplary chain of solidarity. The magic of the Dakar is working!

During the first participation in the Dakar in 2020, one of the buggies was damaged and caught fire. Rebellion quickly identified the cause of the technical problem. The car had been developed in a configuration with a diesel engine. The fuel tank was suspected to be unsuitable for a petrol engine, especially because of the proximity of these two elements in the rear position. Unfortunately, a sharp rise in temperature caused the fire. Last year, no specific problem was detected on the vehicles, as Rebellion's technicians had previously detected the fault and remedied it. This year, the team suspects that a shock may have caused an oil leak near the rear of the engine. The excess heat would have caused the fire.

Dakar 2022

Alexandre Pesci: "After this incident, my first thoughts are addressed to the whole Rebellion team and especially Romain Dumas whose unwavering investment was reduced to nothing. I can't express my gratitude and my deepest respect for Romain's initiative who immediately asked me to take the wheel of his vehicle so that I could pursue this dream that is for me the Dakar. And what about the gesture of our ambassador, Nasser Al Attiyah! He immediately did everything possible to repatriate and prepare his Toyota. My adventure continues thanks to an incredible solidarity! This is the Dakar spirit, this is the Rebellion spirit!

Nasser Al Attiyah: "When I heard the story of Alexandre's car catching fire, I was more than happy to help by providing my victorious car that won the All-Terrain Rally World Cup. It's a family and friendship story. It's important that Romain and Alexandre can take the start of the competition. We work very hard between each Dakar to train and be ready. When an event like this happens, everyone pulls together. I have a special relationship with Rebellion and I wish the team every success in this edition. I am very happy to have been able to help."

Romain Dumas: "After a not so easy start to the Dakar, all things are coming into order little by little. We are going to present the two cars to the administrative technical verifications. We hope that the next days will be calmer and dedicated to the race. The objective to be at the start is the priority. The ball is in our court. We have to stay focused and go as far as possible. I warmly thank the generosity of Nasser who put his car at my disposal." 

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