Peugeot plotting Dakar comeback?

A new report finds France’s Peugeot will return to the Dakar Rally in 2015 after a 25-year long hiatus. Â

Details are scarce, but French newspaper l’Equipe reports the team will come back with a two-wheel drive car sponsored by Red Bull.  Whether it will compete in the T1 or T2 category is not known, and it largely depends on whether the French automaker enters the event with a purpose-built racer or a heavily-modified variant of an existing model.

The report indicates famed pilot Sébastien Loeb will not be part of Peugeot’s Dakar come back because he is busy racing for Citroën’s newly-formed WTCC team.  However, Peugeot could hire 11-time Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel to drive one of its cars.

Peugeot is burning through cash fast but it sees motorsport events like the Dakar Rally as a rational way to boost its image without spending a fortune on sponsoring a team for a full season.  Recently, it participated in the grueling Pikes Peak hill climb with a purpose-built 208 T16.

If the rumor proves true, an official announcement about Peugeot’s upcoming Dakar entry will be made in the coming months.

Dakar veteran

Peugeot first turned its attention to the Dakar Rally (called Paris – Dakar up until recently) in the late 1980s when the FIA banned the brutal Group B cars from competing in WRC events.  A 205 T16 won the race in 1987 and 1988 while a larger 405 T16 took first place in the 1989 and 1990 editions.  Famed pilot Ari Vatanen drove three of the four winning cars.<![CDATA[
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