Peugeot ready for the Dakar

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is already on the way to Argentina where the 2015 edition of the Dakar Rally will kick off. The French team finished the tests in Morocco and the drivers were pleased with the results and with the speed of the 2008 DKRPeugeot 2008 DKRFrance, 2015 > 2015.

The three Peugeot teams, composed by Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret, Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz and Cyril Despres/Gilles Picard were in eastern Morocco to evaluate the performance and durability of the car.

The conditions found in that region were not the expected for this time of year, but allowed the car to try and make it evolve in different settings because of heavy flooding. However, to prepare the Dakar, the more difficult the test conditions, the more realistic they become. The three drivers are therefore well prepared for the most demanding rally in the world after testing their cars in very different circumstances.

The teams found several obstacles in Morocco. Even among the stones, sand dunes, gravel and narrow lanes in the vast flat expanses drivers highlighted the high speed of 2008 DKR, especially the experienced Stéphane Peterhansel.

"Throughout my career I have come here maybe some 15 times and never drived so fast. It is just amazing how, for example, the suspensions of the Peugeot 2008 DKR work, "said Peterhansel.

"Even at the top of the dunes, it's amazing to have so much grip with only two-wheel drive. The car is very fast, although it is hard to know what point you are in relation to the opponents. One thing is certain, it is a well-born model. Because it is a car two-wheel drive, it is necessary to adapt the driving style something I could do during the tests."

Cyril Despres, the rookie of the team, commented: "I have a lot to learn, but I feel at home in the car. The way you drive is not much different from a motorcycle, but is much less tiring for the legs and knees. For the first time in a long time I didn't make mistakes in this test sequence before the start of a Dakar, apart from that, I realized, really, how hard it was to drive and navigate at the same time. I wonder even how was I able to do it because, since I started working with my co-pilot, I understood his responsibility."

Carlos Sainz also managed to test the wide variety of African roads working on making adjustments and long test suites - over 250 km at a time - to reproduce the intense days, characteristic of the Dakar.

"This program is a new challenge," admits the two-time champion rally champion. "Building a car for the Dakar is always a difficult task, but building one that matches to a whole new concept is very interesting and I believe in full."

The 2015 edition of the Dakar Rally runs from the 4th to the 17th of January 17th and will travel 9,000 kilometers through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia.