The Dacia/Prodrive innovation that is positively changing the Dakar challenge

Dacia Sandriders will run an revolutionary new driver security machine on the workforce’s debut on the Dakar Rally.

The producer will use a ‘seat attenuator’ to soak up impacts over the tough terrain because the automobile slams up and down on its suspension, serving to to cut back the compression of drivers’ spines, which have sustained accidents lately.

Technical companion Prodrive has developed the damper system, which can run on all three Dacia entries piloted by Nasser Al-Attiyah, Sebastien Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez, forward of its widespread inclusion within the World Rally Raid Championship [WR2C] rules from 2027 onwards.

Explaining the system, technical director Philip Dunabin mentioned: “There have been numerous accidents in rally raids the place the vehicles land very closely and that has created numerous again accidents, significantly for co-drivers however primary drivers as effectively.

“So Prodrive has labored on a system so as to add what is named a seat attenuator, so when the influence goes over a sure G degree, the seat will then transfer and there is sort of a shock absorber system, so the seat isn’t utterly rigidly fastened.

“In regular obligation, the seat would not transfer in any respect however, when there’s a actually large influence, the seat can transfer downwards and it absorbs the influence.

“This can be a improvement that Prodrive has labored on for this mission so, for the second, these are the one vehicles operating this technique.

“The appliance… it would come into the rally raid rules for any new vehicles from 2027 onwards. However it’s already in place right here.”

Philip Dunabin, Technical Director, The Dacia Sandriders

Photograph by: Dacia

The Dacia effort – helped by backing from the Alpine Racing department of the Renault Groupe – will embrace numerous applied sciences that may be transferred to the Romanian producer’s street automobile fashions.

“Dacia have been engaged on pigments and resin, on this case within the carbon fibre,” Dunabin instructed Motorsport.com throughout a current go to to the Prodrive base.

“These are pigments which can be meant to cut back infra-red absorption, meant to maintain temperatures decrease within the vehicles. These have gotten functions for them when it comes to pigment association in street vehicles.

“They’ve additionally introduced very matte, IR reflecting paint that they are going to be utilizing sooner or later in street vehicles.

“We use it right here in issues just like the dashtop for low reflection, low glare from the windscreen.

“There are parts that aren’t within the automobile but to do with supplies for the seats and so forth, which have come immediately from Dacia street vehicles and, after all, there may be the work they’re serving to us do with sustainable fuels with the partnership with Aramco.”