Nasser Al-Attiyah will be joining Prodrive in 2024 after seven years racing for Toyota.
The 2024 World Rally Raid Championship will see Al-Attiyah driving a Hunter T1+ built by Prodrive, starting with the Dakar Rally in January.
Five-time Dakar Rally champion Nasser Al-Attiyah will compete in the world’s most difficult off-road rally in a Prodrive Hunter when the World Rally Raid Championship starts in Saudi Arabia in January 2024.
The Qatari driver will continue to race alongside veteran co-driver Mathieu Baumel. He will make his competitive debut in the Prodrive-built prototype on October 26–28 at the Baja Portalegre 500. Later in the next month, he will be participating in the Dubai International Baja as additional training for the 46th Dakar race.
The veteran rally driver, who will make his 20th Dakar appearance next year, has developed into one of the most recognizable and beloved figures of the last 20 years.
Al-Attiyah’s first Dakar victory came back in 2011 as he went on to win twice more, in 2015 and 2019 in South America, and again in 2022 and 2023 while racing with Toyota Gazoo Racing. He has been competing at the event every year since 2004 and has won the infamous race with three different manufacturers: Volkswagen, Mini, and Toyota.
“It is a very special feeling to come to Prodrive as I have seen over the last three years that the team has worked very hard to get to where they are now with the Hunter,” said Al-Attiyah.
“The Prodrive Hunter is a sensational car. I think after three trips already to the Dakar and two second place finishes, now it’s time for this car to win the Dakar.
“I want to make myself part of Dakar history and the best way to do that is to win with four different brands.”
Furthermore, the 52-year-old has participated in several WRC events, the most recent of which was in 2015. He also pursues a second job as a professional sports shooter.
Al-Attiyah is aiming to make the Prodrive Hunter his fourth different car to win the rally in addition to his quest for his third straight victory.
Co-driver Mathieu Baumel has been riding shotgun with Al-Attiyah for his last four victories; at times, their communication seems intuitive as the Frenchman reads the roadbook and Al-Attiyah navigates the dunes. Additionally, the team won the driver and co-driver titles in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship in 2022 and 2023.
Al-Attiyah’s switch to Prodrive is in line with the team’s mission to bring together the best drivers in the world with one of the most sophisticated cross-country rally cars ever built.
The Prodrive Hunter is equipped with Prodrive EcoPower, a new sustainable fuel that helps combat climate change by reducing carbon emissions by 80%. This fuel allows the car to go at a fast speed over a variety of terrain, including rocky roads, open desert, sand dunes, and mountain passes.
Ahead of the 2024 Dakar, Al-Attiyah’s new teammate, Sébastien Loeb, who finished second in the previous two editions, will share the Prodrive paddock with him.
“This is the first time I will be a team-mate of Seb (Loeb) at the Dakar,” Al-Attiyah added. “But I already know him very well.
“He really is a great driver and the speed he has shown at the Dakar for these last two years has been incredible.
“I hope that one of us can win the Dakar in 2024.”
