The surprising rumors that the winner of the 2011 Dakar Rally would team up with Robby Gordon were confirmed yesterday, when Nasser Al-Attiyah announced that he will drive one of Robby Gordon’s Hummers in the 2012 Dakar Rally and be sponsored by his home country of Qatar.
Al-Attiyah won the 2011 Dakar driving a factory VW Race Touareg, beating Carlos Sainz, who won in 2010, to the finish. Since VW dropped its Dakar program, in order to concentrate on its upcoming WRC efforts, it left Al-Attiyah without a ride.
“To have Nasser as a teammate in this year’s Dakar Rally is a huge boost for our team. He brings the excitement and experience of a champion to our team. I personally take it as an honor that he chose our team to defend his 2011 overall win. Between my Speed Energy Hummer and his Qatar Hummer, we have a strong team, cars, and drivers capable of winning the Rally,” commented Robby Gordon on the announcement.
Al-Attiyah is an accomplished cross-country and classic rally racer. He has won seven FIA Middle East Rally Championships titles since 2003 and collected 13 stage wins in the Dakar Rally between 2009 and 2011.
Robby Gordon has also done relatively well in the Dakar in the eight times he’s competed. He became the first American to win a stage in 2005 when he drove for the VW Race Touareg team. He finished third, behind the Race Touaregs of Giniel De Villiers and Mark Miller, in his privately financed Hummer in 2009 when the Dakar Rally moved to South America.
Apparently the Dakar organizers were concerned that if Al-Attiyah did not compete in the 2012 Dakar Rally there would be no car with the number 300 on its doors. It’s a special number that is reserved for the previous year’s winner. It’ll be fascinating to see how the two giant Hummers fare against the five Mini All4 Racings and three BMW X3CCs of Monster Energy Team X-raid.
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