it took us just under a year to develop this car from getting the green light for the project to reaching the starting flag for the dakar. that’s a really short time in which to design, build and test a car. it’s incredibly challenging and between you and me, even if it doesn’t mean a lot to the outside world, i’d just like to say that getting 3 cars to the starting line of the dakar was already a small victory for the peugeot sport team.
with such a tight deadline, we had to tackle everything at once, trying to link up different areas as much as possible: the engine, the chassis, the suspension, the brakes, the steering, always pushing forward so we could get the parts built in good time. for the engine, we started with a standard model, which we then customised within the parameters provided by the rules, adjusting the air intake and exhaust pipe lines to make them better suited to the rigours of rally driving.
we looked at how we could supercharge the engine, we bench tested it, then we moved on to endurance testing. what we’ve got here is a 3-litre twin-turbo diesel engine packing over 300 hp and a massive torque over 680 nm capable of dealing with pretty much any situation. you need loads of propulsion when tackling the slow stretches, the sandy stretches, the dunes, so it’s vital to be able to deliver loads of traction at low speeds.
equally important is the chassis itself. we opted for a tubular chassis, and clearly this was bound to influence the whole vehicle. the entire suspension system was designed to fit in with this chassis, and so was the cabin, because on-board life counts too the crew had to be safe and comfortable. then it was time to start putting the vehicle together while fine-tuning the design on the remaining elements, so as to have the car ready for its first outing at the end of june. by the time we arrived,
we already had a pretty good idea what we wanted to do. we began running through our schedule of tests, mostly with fairly short runs just to check once again that everything in the car was working fine. then we moved on to what we’d actually come for, with slightly longer runs designed to test the car’s endurance to the limit. the problem with the specifications is that they reflect our vision and knowledge
at a given moment of a race like the dakar so if you’ve not actually experienced it yourself, you could be somewhat wide of the mark. plus, these specifications are constantly being updated as we learn more about the constraints and problems associated with using cars of this type. once we had the initial data on the first runs, we were in another race against time because all the cargo ships would be gone by mid-november.
even if we weren’t anywhere near greenlighting everything on the test car, we had to make a start on our 3 racing cars. we had to take a number of risks in order to move forward, saying, “we’ll put this part into production along with the sample that way we can put them into the lorry and have them available for the race.†in short, we had a non-stop succession of gambles, risk management and planning management during the year leading up to the paris-dakar. today is a big day for us because tomorrow we’re off to le havre.
once we’ve set off tomorrow morning around 9-9:30 with the lorries and all the rest, the remainder of my team starts preparing the 2 other lorries, which will be leaving for morocco on wednesday. we’ve got 20 vehicles – mini buses, lorries, peugeot 4008s – to the departure point in le havre. where we’ll have to run through the technical checks, then they’ll be loaded onto the boat, which will then leave and sail straight to buenos aires.
the best place to carry out tests representative of latin america is morocco. we’ve always used erfoud as a base, because it provides access to a wide variety of terrains including dunes, brittle surfaces, rocky roads. what makes this variety so appealing is that it corresponds to the terrains you’re likely to find in latin america. the 2008 dkr is particularly well suited to brittle surfaces like the open desert,
where you might get a track or find yourself driving across dunes. this, in theory, is where the car really gets to strut its stuff: with its ample suspension travel and large wheels, it tackles obstacles much more easily than a four-wheel drive vehicle. when a project is scheduled as tightly as this one, you have to plan very optimistically and assume you won’t have any problems. so when problems do crop up, you end up falling behind and you have to come up with a plan b.
so our plans were constantly evolving. we began to wonder whether we’d be ready in time for the start of the race. we had some transmission issues that really held us back in our test sessions. we didn’t find a solution till the very last session at the start of december, by which point the cars were already pretty far into the preparation stage. if we hadn’t cracked the problem then, we’d really have had to ask ourselves if it was worth taking the start at all,
which would have been absolutely terrible. during the initial test sessions, when you’re first trying the car out, you start by making sure all the systems are functioning correctly. the next stage you go through involves the driver getting to grips with the vehicle. the tests cover all the car’s systems. so the chassis gets checked over again. likewise, a major concern at this point is checking and confirming the various engine functions,
making sure the temperatures and pressure are correct and that the engine responses are what we’re aiming for. this is the first step towards the rally, and the final step in building the car. on the one hand, it’s good to know we’ve reached the end of the building stage but now we have to start addressing the rally itself. when the three racers were completed, just three hours before they had to be loaded on board, the whole team was in great spirits.
we’d got through a massive amount of work but we were in a terrific mood. it really was a wonderful moment. we’re about to arrive at the psa site in palomar. that’s where we’ll have our workshop, and our full support station complete with assistance trucks and racing cars. we’ll be there for a week before the start of the race. our argentinian colleagues gave us a great welcome and provided terrific conditions for finishing off our preparation of the cars. things went pretty well,
and we were able to pick up the sea freight and air freight items on time. the atmosphere was pretty calm not a lot of stress, because in terms of timing, we already were in good shape. new crews, new cars it’s really exciting. as you can see, all our gear has arrived. we’ll get down to some hard work now,
and reload everything that’s currently in the workshop. and we’ll be getting ready for the race, refuelling and cleaning up. we’re in good shape, we’re happy. i’d like to say a few words as we wrap up our dakar preparations, because things have been getting a bit tense over the past few hours. but the hard work you’ve all put in including those who stayed in vã©lizy on this project over the past 12-13 weeks it’s been simply amazing, in terms both of quality and of quantity.
so we can already be really proud of what’s been accomplished today. our top objective is to stay the course, because that’s how we’ll learn as much as possible and acquire as much experience as possible. and in a rally like this, we all know anything can happen. after that, it was non-stop technical checking. and inevitably, that cranked the stress level up a notch. then we were in at the deep end, dealing with competitors, the public, journalists,
and right away that pushed the stress level up a bit more when we saw what high expectations we’d generated. stage 1 was 170 km relatively easy. it’s very nice to start this new adventure, in the dakar, with a new peugeot, with a new concept of car, starting from zero. i’m very happy.
we will try to do as many kilometres as possible. at 518 km, stage 2 was the longest in the rally. we were happy just to see our 3 cars get through it without any problems we knew we’d put the hardest part behind us. the temperatures in the cockpit are draining. imagine you’re in a 60Ⱐsauna then try turning the wheel and playing with your feet for six hours. it’s pretty hard, and it calls for a lot of discipline.
you find you’re not sleeping much and you’ve got a fair distance to travel over the course of a day, so you have to keep each other awake. the start of the rally was complicated for the team, but over the third and fourth stages, things got really complicated. we’d already put a great deal into the preparation, so by the time we got to the starting point of the rally. we were all a bit lacking in sleep
stage 4 was really tough – crossing the andes. we had to get up really early and be out of the bivouac by 4 am. then we had to get to copiapo – 10 hours on the road. stage 4 is one of the special stages. it ended up showing our car in a really good light, though it started out really badly. several km after setting out, cyril burned out a clutch and carlos had a turbo failure.
that cost them both lots of time they finished off the stage in the dunes and had a pretty tough time. one showed up at 0.30 am, the other at 3.30 am. that’s an incredibly long day if you got up at 4 am in chilecito, by the 3rd, 4th, 5th day, it was really very complicated. the moment carlos got into the chopper, it was over
you could only imagine the amount of damage. what saved us after that was that there were no more major incidents before setting off on the marathon stage. so that stage gave us a chance to breathe, firstly because we got to spend 4 nights in the same spot in iquique plus, the cars weren’t there in the evening during the marathon stage, so at that point the team got a real rest day. there are times when you have to let go, go for it, take a few risks. but you’ve also got to cover the mileage,
and build up as much information as possible about this complicated rally. so i think it’s better to give up a whole year to the learning process. the terrain that suited us best was the desert in chile. now we’re back on the other side of the andes cordillera. i reckon we’ve got another 2 days of racing left, and we’ve got to make it to the finishing line so there’s no point in taking risks
and possibly having an accident. we don’t see much of the race itself. we don’t really know what happens over the course of a day. we set off, we put in long work days but we don’t really know what’s going on. you get a few insights from time to time but they’re more the exception you hit the road, you set off from a bivouac, you hit the road, you arrive, but the only time you know what’s going on is when the car gets there.
this is the last time, and that feels good. i think we’ll be finished in about an hour. it’s 00.30 now, so we won’t get much sleep tonight. we’ll get going again for the last stage, tomorrow morning then head for the finishing podium. what’s made the greatest impression on you? how demanding it’s all been.
i wasn’t expecting that. i knew it’d be hard, i just didn’t realise quite how hard. the people, the scenery. going from rain to dryness, to heat on the asphalt. an extraordinary adventure in amazing scenery, even if it was really hard work too. learning something every day. every day is school day. we’ve worked hard for a year. this is the final outcome of all we’ve done,
all that preparation, and it’s absolutely brilliant. we’re pleased at having completed the race. we learned a great deal, so let’s hope we’ll be up on the top step of the podium next year. ok, we’re in competition, so we didn’t come to watch others climb up onto the podium instead of us. it’s a good experience,
i think everyone learns a great deal. you learn what you need to do and what you mustn’t do. we’re already determined to do all we can to create an outstanding performer for next year, and we’re not short of ideas. i’m really proud of all the work the peugeot sport team got done, incredibly fast, plus the way they’ve adapted to a quite unique race like the dakar. the quality work that went into the car’s preparation,
and the general attitude of the peugeot sport team, were impeccable, i think the spectators appreciated that. i’m extremely proud of the exceptional manner in which the team conducted itself throughout, from the preparation stage to the race itself. the countdown began the moment we crossed the 2015 finishing line. the very next day, we were debriefing our crews. we’re already working hard to optimise every aspect.
the goal is to boost reliability and take that vital next step up in terms of performance to become true contenders, with well-founded, legitimate aspirations to victory.
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