At a press conference held in Paris today Dacia announced that from 2025 it will compete as a manufacturer in the World Rally Championship, culminating in its participation in the Dakar Rally. Nine-time French rally world champion Sébastien Loeb and Spanish rally driver Cristina Gutiérrez Herrero will officially race for Dacia.

The Dakar Rally, an extraordinary human and sporting adventure has brought together more than 60 nationalities and 500 adventurers for a unique competition every year, for over 40 years. It is a perfect illustration of the balance between the ‘rational’ and the ‘emotional’ that lies at the heart of Dacia’s DNA.

Denis Le Vot, Dacia CEO said: Dacia and Dakar are a perfect match! Not only is this a test of Dacia's true robustness, it is a showing of our commitment to low-carbon mobility. We are very excited to take part in Dakar with synthetic fuel technology. Dacia, alongside the best team and drivers in the game, are serious contenders for the rally.

Dacia will approach this exciting project by relying on the skills of Renault Group, and by drawing on British motorsport and engineering group, Prodrive, whose experience in developing prototypes for rally-raid is world-renowned. For almost 40 years, Prodrive has been one of the major players in motorsport worldwide, helping to lead brands to win numerous international championships.

Spanish rally driver Cristina Gutierrez Herrero became the first Spanish woman in the car category to finish the Dakar Rally in 2017. Aged just 31, she has already participated in 7 Dakar Rallies between 2017 and 2023. Cristina has also been the all-terrain rally champion (women's category) in Spain since 2012.

French rally driver Sébastien Loeb, 49, won the World Rally Championship 9 times in a row from 2004 to 2012. He is one of motorsport's most successful drivers and is often considered the greatest rally driver of all time.

Loeb has taken part in the Dakar since 2016. In 2021, he took part in the Dakar Rally at the wheel of the Bahrain Raid Xtrem buggy designed by the British Prodrive team. The success story between Sébastien Loeb and Prodrive will now continue at the wheel of a Dacia.

The Dacia prototype will run on a synthetic test fuel supplied by Aramco, a world leader in the energy and chemicals sector. Aramco’s synthetic fuel solutions are produced by combining renewable hydrogen with captured CO2, resulting in a lower-carbon, drop-in fuel compatible with today’s engines.

The Dakar Rally will provide an opportunity for Dacia to test out new clever solutions in terms of outdoor functionalities and energy choices.

Before taking up the challenge of the 2025 season, Dacia prototypes will be put to the test as early as 2024 at the Rallye du Maroc.

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