Dakar | Al-Attiyah changes navigator: here is Edouard Boulanger

Nasser Al-Attiyah's Dakar 2024 risks being a turning point for his present and future. Having started with bellicose ideas and equally biting phrases towards Audi, recognized as its main rival, the then reigning winner of the most famous rally raid in the world soon found himself out of the running.

In his first Dakar as a Prodrive driver, after leaving the safe haven Toyota Gazoo Racing, Al-Attiyah was slowed down by several faults on his car which first led him to point the finger at the fragility of the suspensions of the Hunter T1+ Ultimate made by 'British engineering, then even a more eloquent and direct: “I never want to drive this car again” once the final withdrawal from the event arrives.

It was quite clear that Al-Attiyah was tense and certainly not satisfied with the progress of the 46th edition of the Rally Raid, but in the last few hours the Qatari made another important decision regarding his present and future.

The multiple Dakar winner has announced that he has dissolved the partnership that tied him to navigator Matthieu Baumel. Al-Attiyah said he was not satisfied with the work that had been done and for this reason he decided to stop working with the French co-pilot, now free.

Baumel will be replaced by 2 separate navigators. The first of these is Edouard Boulanger. The latter raced with Stéphane Peterhansel during the last editions of the Dakar, among other things winning the 2021 edition with MINI X-Raid aboard the MINI John Cooper Works DKR.

This year he contested the Dakar again with the most successful driver in the history of the rally raid, but almost immediately left the fight for victory and the podium. However, the transalpine crew proved to be decisive in securing the final victory for Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz, their teammates in Audi Sport.

However, Al-Attiyah will have yet another navigator who will dictate his notes during the special stages of the rallies. This is the Italian Giovanni Bernacchini. The Italian co-pilot, born in 1973, has already sailed an Al-Attiyah for several years now, especially as regards the WRC2 and the MERC. However, this is Nasser's cousin, who is called Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah.

Meanwhile, this morning Dacia presented the Sandrider, the T1+ Ultimate car with which Al-Attiyah, together with Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez will take part in the Dakar 2025. The car, equipped with a 3-litre twin-turbo V6 made by Nissan, will do the shakedown between a few weeks in England, and then made its racing debut in October, in the last seasonal event of the FIA ​​World Rally-Raid Championship, the Rallye du Maroc.