Welcome to the new year! We are in the midst of the 2016 Dakar Rally, the thirty-seventh running of the great race that originally ran from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal—thus "the Dakar," though for security reasons (read: Islamist terrorists are not just killers, but killjoys as well) the race has been run in South America since 2009. This first major motorsport race of the year is a grueling, two-week test of men & machines, covering over five thousand seven hundred miles (5,740 miles!) from 3-16 January. The Dakar is mad—gloriously, brilliantly mad!
Through the first week, the marquee headline has been the performance of the Peugeot 2008 DKR16 (photo above) in the "car" category, a two-wheel drive, bi-turbo diesel buggy heavily revised from last year's lackluster model, which mark the marque's return to the Dakar. The Peugeots are piloted by the "dream team" of "Monsieur Dakar," eleven-time Dakar champion Stéphane Peterhansel (six wins on "bikes," five in cars); "El Matador," Dakar winner & two-time World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz; nine-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb, making his Dakar debut; & five-time Dakar champion Cyril Despres (all on bikes, 2016 being his second year in cars). There is also a fifth Peugeot driven by Le Mans winner Romain Dumas, but as this is the only 2008 DKR to lack Red Bull sponsorship I suspect this is at least a partially privateer effort, or at least not an "official" part of the works team, Team Peugeot Total. Four of the Peugeots' five pilots are French—Peterhansel, Loeb, Despres, & Dumas; 'tis fueled by Total; & it runs on Michelin tires. Vive la France!
Dakar coverage airs on U.S. television every evening at 5:30 P.M. on the N.B.C. Sports Network (N.B.C.S.N.; check your local listings).
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