Prodrive is holding discussions with as many as three manufacturers about contesting the 2027 Dakar Rally following Dacia's decision to exit the World Rally-Raid Championship.
Shortly after winning the 48th edition of Dakar with Nasser Al-Attiyah in January, Renault Group brand Dacia revealed that it will pull out of cross-country rallying at the end of the current season.
The announcement marked a premature end to what had been planned as a three-year programme, and came amidst wider changes in Renault’s motorsport strategy.
Having been given notice of several months, British firm Prodrive, which has run Dacia’s factory effort since its inception, is now seeking another manufacturer to take over the project.
“We are talking to two or three manufacturers at the moment with a view to it,” Prodrive boss David Richards told Motorsport.com when asked about Prodrive’s plans for 2027.
“We're looking at a long term plan at the moment. We're obviously working with Jaguar Land Rover on the Defender programme, so that continues for another many years.
“But we're also looking for a replacement for Dacia in the short term and in the long term.
“We're not in a position to announce anything yet, but I would hope by the latter part of the summer, we'll be talking about what we're doing in next year's Dakar, and probably by the end of the year, we'll be able to announce the longer term plan.”
To prepare for Dacia’s entry into Dakar in 2025, Prodrive significantly overhauled the Hunter that competed under the Bahrain Raid Xtreme banner, essentially building a brand new prototype.
But Richards explained that the existing Sandrider could be modified according to a manufacturer’s requirement, reducing the lead time for any new automaker aiming to enter Dakar next year.
“Because it's a formula these days, the car is going to be the same for whoever you build it for,” he explained.
“There might be some technical aspects that are different, but the bodywork will just be different and that will be the change. So the car that we run now could equally be any manufacturer's car.”
Richards added that the Sandrider, which he described as a “racing car for the desert” is already close to its performance ceiling.
Asked if there is scope to develop the car further, he explained: “There is a scope for it [but] not a lot. With the regulations at the moment, we're very close to the limit of what we think the performance would be.”
Any decision regarding the future of Prodrive’s Dakar programme could also prove pivotal for its drivers. This year, Dacia fielded several A-listers in the world’s most prestigious cross-country rally, including Al-Attiyah, Sebastien Loeb, Lucas Moraes and Cristina Gutierrez.
