#the Dakar rally looks so cool and intense

[rickybaby]

“Nah Mate, I don’t think you understand. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve never driven a car with a roof on it”

Daniel, it’s time to start ripping it around the farm. We need to be at Dakar in two years

[eddiejpoplar]

Dakar Rally – The Ultimate Motorsport Experience With MINI

It’s December of 2017 and my email inbox just got hit with a one-of-a-kind invitation to a one-of-a-kind event.

“Dakar Rally with MINI? The trip will take place from January 3 to January 8 in Lima, Peru. Please note—it does involve one night of camping with the Dakar team in a tent,” noted the email from MINI Germany and MINI of North America.

Journalists often get spoiled with press trips in five-star hotels and with gourmet meals, so the idea of a few days in the desert and camping might not be appealing to everyone, unless, of course, you’re a huge Motorsport fan and are more interested in creating great content from arguably the most prestigious car event in the world than a few days of glamour.

Now keep in mind, this is early January when most of us are still in a vacation mode, or recovering from the usual New Years Eve hangovers or from overeating. But how can one refuse this Bucket List item…so the choice was obvious.

After a short, yet intense family debate, and promises that now will be tough to fulfill, I clicked the sign-up button knowing that this will be an experience of a lifetime. Shortly after I received my confirmation, I’ve begun my research on the latest Dakar developments and the preparation needed for a trip of this kind.

While Dakar is extremely popular in most parts of the world, the U.S. racing population is still far more invested in NASCAR and monster trucks than in the incredible drama, excitement and adrenaline of the Dakar rally. Yet for years, some of us that live in the States have been openly rooting for MINI Motorsport and their rally program.

MINI X-Raid Dakar Team

For 2018 Dakar and its 40th edition, MINI Motorsport and X-Raid Team introduced two different drive concepts, for the first time: all-wheel drive on the MINI John Cooper Works Rally and rear-wheel drive on the MINI John Cooper Works Buggy. In addition to the already race-proven all-wheel drive MINI John Cooper Works Rally, which, at its debut appearance, came in sixth overall at the 2017 Dakar Rally, the rear-wheel drive MINI John Cooper Works Buggy was joining the Dakar start line in the Peruvian capital of Lima.

The reason why a second vehicle concept was developed lies in the specifics of the Dakar Rally rules, which, in their current form, give two-wheel driven cars certain advantages. But more on this, further down.

Trip Preparation

Since this was my first Dakar and also my first trip down to Peru, I started to build a list of things I would need, from outdoor equipment to medicine and of course, electronics gear that will assist me in properly capturing the rally spirit. While the video and photo equipment list was a simple exercise, the clothing and shoes necessities to survive Dakar and its deserts was a little tougher to put together.

In my close circle of friends I’m certainly not known for my camping and hiking activities, therefore, I’m certainly lacking the proper things for those type of adventures. But since adventure is the name of the game this time around, I decided to simply wing it. What that means in my world is simply wearing clothes that I would wear casually every day, but with slight adjustments. One of those small additions was some proper hiking socks that will help keep the sand off my shoes while keeping my feet cool and dry at all times. A great suggestion by my friend Mike Juergens at Slashgear who provided some invaluable insight he’s acquired from other rally events, like Baja 1000.

Even though his list of suggestions was longer than my weekly grocery list, yet informative and valuable, I decided to just wing it. Here comes my fairly large suitcase, mostly filled with cameras and lenses, gimbals, GoPros and battery packs, and here and there a couple of sneaker pairs and some athleisure clothing. A fancy word these days made famous by companies like Under Armor.

Day 1 – Shakedown

By now my flights are all booked, emergency medicine packed and more excited than ever to leave my house for an automotive trip. After a non-eventful flight to Lima, the capital of Peru, I land late in the night and quickly head to the beautiful area of Miraflores.

The MINI welcome letter has me scheduled for an early breakfast followed by a trip to the shakedown area. An hour bus ride takes us through some deserted and abandoned areas, entirely remote where the X-Raid Team and MINI have setup camp. The testing camp was put together just a few days before the start of Dakar, featuring a few miles long track with a hard-packed rock-strewn terrain, surrounded by hilly and sandy landscapes, and some tough up and down sections.

This is where the seven MINIs will make their final adjustments before the start and the very same place where our exciting adventure begins. As with most car trips, an optional lap with a professional driver is offered and encouraged, an opportunity that I would never turn down considering the skills of those drivers and the capabilities of the cars which are pushed to extremes.

So after the mandatory racing suit and helmet fitting, I was paired with Bryce Menzies, the Las Vegas native who finished 8th on the 2017 Morocco Rally and 9th on the Silk Way where he managed to beat the Peugeot on one stage. This was Menzies’ first Dakar race and also his first experience in a race with the MINI Buggy, the real-wheel drive rally car developed specifically for this year’s championship.

Sebastian Mackensen, Head of MINI and Bryce Menzies

The Dakar is the hardest rally-raid in the world and when you hear that it makes you want to do it,” Menzies said.

“There will be difficult days, so you have to survive and continue to push.There is a little bit of everything: sand, high-speeds, rocks and gravel. We are going to see different types of terrain and we are used to these changes on races like the Baja 1000 and Vegas to Reno.”

After a quick meet and greet, I gloated to Menzies that I’m an experienced passenger and that he could do his best, or worst, depends how you look at it. Before the co-drive commenced, I had the chance to walk around the cars and observe the fine engineering and craft that goes into those cars, while filming others on their own laps. But nothing has really prepared me for what I consider, the co-drive of my life.

Unfortunately there were no GoPros mounts fixed in the car, and even if there were, the footage would have been likely useless, considering the type of drive. So I will have to rely on my words to properly illustrate the experience, and with the help of the drone footage seen below.

All I recall about the track lap was to hold my arms around my chest, head tightly against the headrest and watch the knees, considering I’m quite tall. The rally car is mostly made of carbon fiber and Kevlar, with a designed tubular steel frame providing maximum protection for driver and passenger in extreme situations.

Sebastian Mackensen, Head of MINI

Inside, it looks like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I can recognize the seat and steering wheel, the throttle pedal also and the two towering levers – gear lever and handbrake, and the center console from a regular MINI, but other than that, it’s all customized and rally-specific, with lots of wires and cables, and knobs.

The MINI John Cooper Works Buggy is powered by a 3.0 liter inline 6-cylinder diesel engine generating and output of 340 hp and a maximum torque of 800 Nm. The transmission and drivetrain as well as the engine’s turbocharging technology, which is based on the BMW TwinPower Turbo, have been completely newly conceived.

It also uses Brembo Disc Brakes and runs on BF Goodrich tires with air pressure adjustment on demand from within the cabin. The total weight without the driver is 1700 kgs.

MINI deemed the 2WD vehicle “the biggest project in the company’s history”, so obviously I was pumped up by now.

The Ride Of My Life

The track kicks off with right turn taken at high speeds before, literally jumping above a 30 degree angled hill, but instead of landing on soft land, as I expected, the Buggy bounces of the bare rocky section that came out of nowhere, at least for me. The next few seconds are filled with doubt and regrets, especially after seeing the right wheels nearly a steep cliff. The MINI Buggy feels jittery and uneven, yet sharp and extremely responsive on the uneven terrain.

IFTTT