Krzysztof Holowczyc and Jean-Marc Fortin join X-Raid teamNovitskiy, Leal Dos Santos and Schott complete Trebur line-up
The BMW X-raid Team has announced its provisional team line-up for the 2011 Dakar Rally.
The Trebur-based operation will field five BMW X3 CCs with Frenchman Stéphane Peterhanselbeing joined by Poland’s Krzysztof Holowczyc, Russia’s Leonid Novitskiy, Portugal’s Ricardo LealDos Santos and Germany’s Stephane Schott.
The quintet will be co-driven by Frenchman Jean-Paul Cottret, Belgian Jean-Marc Fortin, GermanAndreas Schulz, Portugal’s Paulo Fiúza and German Holm Schmidt respectively, as X-raid teamdirector Sven Quandt builds a team with valuable experience for the 2011 Dakar challenge inSouth America.
“We are still in discussion with potential sponsors to finalise the programme and our team lineup,”said X-Raid team director Sven Quandt. “But I am delighted to announce our provisionaldriver and co-driver line-up for the 2011 Dakar Rally. Our team has a wealth of experience withthe rigours and demands of the Dakar and I am confident that we can achieve success inJanuary.”
Peterhansel is the most experienced member of the driving team and is also themost successful competitor in Dakar Rally history to have made the transitionfrom bikes to cars. He completed a series of six stunning wins on two wheels,before making the switch to car racing to take three victories. The Frenchmanand his regular co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret won the Dakar in 2004, 2005 and2007 and joined the BMW X-Raid Team for the first time to finish second overallin last year’s Baja Spain Aragon. ‘Peter’ and Cottret set four of X-Raid’s sixfastest stage times during this year’s Dakar and eventually finished fourth overall.They also won the recent Baja Spain Aragon in a BMW X3 CC.
Krzysztof Holowczyc is a former FIA European Rally Champion and has been thetop Polish driver taking part in cross-country events in recent years. He is one ofthe most popular sportsmen in Poland and officially announced this week at apress conference in Warsaw that he is driving a X3 CC in the coming Dakar. Hewill team up with his regular Belgian co-driver Jean-Marc Fortin in a PKN OrlenbackedBMW X3 CC in South America.
“The dream has finally come true for me,” admitted Holowczyc. “When I stood atthe start of the Dakar for the first time, I’m glad that thanks to my sponsor PKNOrlen, I have been given the opportunity to join a professional team.”
