Peugeot reveals 2008 DKR16 Dakar race car

Peugeot has revealed its updated 2008 DKR to tackle the Dakar Rally in January 2016.

Called the 2008 DKR16, the new off-roading race car is heavily based on last year’s 2015 truck but is longer, wider, lower and more powerful.

Helping it tackle everything from sand dunes to steep climbs and mountainous tracks, the new car gets shorter overhangs and completely new suspension to deal with the tortuous, rough terrain.

Under the rear bonnet, the mid/rear-mounted twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 diesel is said to have more power than last year’s 250kW/800Nm, although Peugeot Motorsport hasn’t quoted exactly how much its racer gains.

There’s also a new aero and air-intake mounted on the bonnet and roof for the driver and co-driver to keep cool in the heat of battle.

The latest evolution of the car is scheduled to make its competitive debut later in the year before heading to South America to compete in this year’s Dakar.

The Dakar Rally – originally called the Paris-Dakar Rally because it ran from Paris to Dakar in Senegal – was first run in 1979, but the route was moved to South America in 2009 amid safety concerns relating to terrorism.

In 2016 it will start in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, and finish in the city of Rosario after a route that travels far north into Bolivia before travelling back south to Argentina.

Last year the 2008 DKR could only manage 11th and 34th in the rally. Peugeot Motorsport is hoping for a huge improvement in 2016 and to win the Dakar Rally outright by 2017.