The Bahrain Raid Xtreme (BRX) team has completed extensive testing in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) for the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia to be held from January 2 to 14. The driver pairings of Nani Roma/Alex Haro, Sebastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin, and Orlando Terranova/Dani Oliveras drove the Prodrive Hunter T1+ in extreme temperatures, testing suspension, engine settings, and the new Prodrive EcoPower sustainable fuel.

“We set them particularly challenging routes through the desert to test the cars and the crews,” said Gustavo Beteli, BRX Team Principal. “2021 was our Dakar debut, and we have learnt a great deal from that about what it takes to win the most arduous motor race in the world. Having a strong, reliable, and fast car is clearly important, but equally so is navigation. The driver and co-driver have to work as a team, and in-car communication is key. The test gave them plenty of time to work on these skills.”

BRX has modified the Prodrive Hunter to meet the new T1+ regulations recently announced by the FIA, which is now the top class alongside T1-E. The new regulations were introduced to help balance the performance of the four- and two-wheel drive cars in the T1 class.

The new T1+ cars are heavier than the T1 cars, but with the same power. That means a slight difference in feeling for the drivers, and they’ve had to adjust their driving accordingly, but this was pinpointed and assimilated during the test. Aside from driving to the new FIA speed limit of 170 km/h (106 mph), the crews drove over camel grass, very soft sand, rocks, and broken dunes to push the car to the limit in as many of the possible scenarios that appear on the world’s hardest and longest motorsport event covering 8375 km (5204 mi).

The Hunter will run on larger tires and wheels, with a wider track and increased suspension travel. The 37-in tires on 17-in wheels replace the current 32-in tires on 16-in rims, with the body width increased from 2 to 2.3 m (78.7 to 90.6 in) to accommodate. Suspension travel is increased from 280 to 350 mm (11.0 to 13.8 in).

These changes have necessitated some significant changes to Hunter’s drivetrain, suspension, and bodywork. The suspension geometry has been reconfigured with longer wishbones and dampers. Larger brakes are enabled by the 17-in wheels. The larger tire radius increases the load in the drivetrain, so driveshafts, propshafts, and differentials have all been modified.

The wider track meant that nearly half the bodywork had to be redesigned, with former Jaguar designer Ian Callum, now Director of Design at Callum Designs, restyling the Hunter to suit the new regulations while keeping the same look. Prodrive took the opportunity to increase the size of the windshield and fit a new programmable wiper motor to improve driver visibility. The onboard jacks have been improved to not only be lighter and stronger but also lift the car faster—and can now be powered by an electric pump for additional reliability.

Throughout the test, the cars were running on the Prodrive EcoPower fuel specifically developed for the Hunter. Prodrive revealed in October that it had developed the sustainable fuel, which conforms to the latest FIA regulations, over eight months in conjunction with UK-based Coryton Advanced Fuels. The main components are generation 2 biofuel, manufactured from agricultural waste, and e-fuels created by capturing carbon from the atmosphere. As a result, the fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 80% compared to equivalent petrol.

“I am a great advocate of motorsport taking the lead in developing, proving, and promoting new technologies that can help address climate change,” said David Richards, Prodrive Chairman. “Covering thousands of miles across the toughest terrains, the Dakar and the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies are the perfect environments to showcase the benefits of the next generation of sustainable fuels and demonstrate that they can be used in road vehicles to reduce the use of fossil fuels, while still offering the same performance and range.”

The fuel was developed at Prodrive’s powertrain facility at its headquarters at Banbury in the UK and is fueling the BRX team’s Hunter T1+ car in the same unmodified engines that previously ran on gasoline. While it was developed for motorsport use, the sustainable fuel can be used as a direct replacement for unleaded gasoline in almost any vehicle. Plans call for running a near-identical fuel in a number of its road vehicles to further prove out the technology.

“Coryton has a long history in blending bespoke fuels for the motorsport industry, and to further support our customers’ evolving needs, we’ve recently launched Sustain, our new sustainable fuels offering,” said Andrew Willson, Coryton CEO. “We knew that partnering with Prodrive would be an ideal way to test our capability in some of the world’s most challenging racing environments, alongside some of the finest engineering expertise in the industry.”

The Hunter T1+ car ran for the first time in September. The BRX team carried out extensive testing in the UK before heading to the Middle East for more extensive endurance work in the same conditions it will experience at the Dakar. The team is competing at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Hail Rally before heading to the Dakar Rally.

In addition to the Dakar in 2022, the new race car is available to customers that want to compete in FIA Cross Country events and Bajas.

In May, Prodrive announced that it had created a remote support hub to provide real-time technical support for its hundreds of race and rally customers competing across the world. The hub is housed in the company’s headquarters, with live data feeds allowing engineers to monitor the performance of customers’ cars at events. With cars competing everywhere from Australia and Asia to the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas, and COVID travel bans and quarantines making it difficult to attend events, the hub was set up to ensure customers could still receive the best technical advice.