As the first long-distance automobile and motorcycle cross-country rally in Asia and the second in the world, the Ring Tower continues to attract the participation of international riders and teams. At the same time, Dakar's top racing has also experienced explosive growth every year.
So what kind of cars are there in this year’s Tour of the Tower?
Here I will give you a comprehensive review.
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mitsubishi
Let’s start with a brand that everyone is familiar with, Mitsubishi.
Mitsubishi Pajero has been racing in the Dakar for more than 20 years and has created the myth of seven consecutive championships.
In addition to the mass production group, Mitsubishi has also built tanks specifically for the Dakar and won the championship.
Among them, the MPR13 was the last tank used by Mitsubishi in the Dakar.
About ten years ago, the Mitsubishi MPR13 could be said to be the brightest star in the ring.
About ten years ago, Mitsubishi's racing cars accounted for almost half of the first-tier teams in the Ring Tower.
Today, Mitsubishi's peak glory is gone.
Toyota Hilux
As the Hilux pickup truck that has been hailed as a god in the civilian market, the Hilux chariot is also a star in the top off-road rally arena.
It is also the championship model in the Dakar. In the past 20 years of the Dakar, Hilux has helped racers win three Dakar championships.
It is also a car that has a high appearance rate in domestic cross-country competitions in recent years, and is used by many teams.
BAIC Racing
The BAIC racing car is specially built according to the top Dakar chariot, and it has also been a frequent visitor to cross-country rallies in recent years.
It has achieved excellent results in racing around the Tower in recent years; it has also competed in the Dakar Rally for three consecutive years and achieved good results.
SMG Dahuangfeng
SMG Dahuangfeng, by
The introduction of Hanwei Racing helped Hanwei win the ring tower championship.
Han Wei drove it in the 2023 Dakar, breaking his previous best record of tenth place among Chinese drivers in Dakar, and won the eighth place overall in the car group.
This is the best result currently achieved by a Chinese rider in the Dakar.
This year's Tour of the Tower female driver Xi Meng (Sun Xiangyan) is also driving a Hornet. This is the first time she has partnered with a male co-driver in the Tour of the Tower. This also means that she gave up the relatively easier to win women's championship.
Hard Tiger Racing
The Hard Tiger Optimus Prime racing car is also a two-wheel drive Buggy car. It is produced by Faster, a top French racing car manufacturer with a history of more than 90 years. It was introduced by the famous domestic racing driver Shen Weijian and created the Hard Tiger brand.
Hard Tiger Racing made its domestic debut at the 2017 Kaer China Station, and it has also been an extremely eye-catching team in the Tour of the Tower in recent years. In recent years, Hard Tiger racing cars have also achieved very good results in the Dakar.
CR6 racing car
The CR6 racing car was another two-wheel drive Buggy tank newly introduced into the country after Han Wei's SMG and Hard Tiger Optimus Prime. It was introduced into the country in 2018 by champion driver Zhang Huijun.
They are also the most eye-catching team in the Tour de la Tour. They are also racing cars that use top international technology. They are also powerful cars in the Dakar.
CR6 is the 6th generation product launched by Century Racing Company in South Africa, so it is simply called "CR6". The entire vehicle is made of carbon fiber and aviation aluminum, and is equipped with a 7.0L V8 engine from Chevrolet. The body is as light as a swallow, and the power is heaven-defying.
In the ring tower arena, what CR6 may lack is a title of ring tower championship.
BRX Racing
Another top Dakar champion model, Yunxiang Racing Team’s Prodrive Hunter, the same car used by car god Loeb in Dakar.
This may be the most expensive car in this year's Tour of the Tower, with a total value of 900,000 pounds, equivalent to approximately 7.877 million yuan in RMB.
Yunxiang Racing T5 Truck
I just want to say: Thai cool!
The "Big Macs" on the field: three "Behemoth" trucks from Yunxiang Racing.
It is understood that this is also the first time in the history of the Tour Tower that a real competitive version of trucks, cars and motorcycles will compete on the same field. All three racing cars meet the requirements of Dakar racing rules.
The "Behemoth" truck weighs 10 tons, is 7 meters long, 2.3 meters wide and 3.3 meters high, and has 42-inch tires. Equipped with a 13L turbocharged engine with 700 horsepower, matched with ZF transmission and four-wheel drive.
There are more racers on the truck than on the car. There are three people. In addition to the driver and co-driver, there is also a mechanic.
Jiujiang Racing JJ3
There are four T1+ racing cars independently developed by Jiujiang Racing in this round-tower competition.
Jiujiang Racing Team is one of the first domestic clubs to start independent research and development of T1+ racing cars.
In addition, there are Xingyang Racing’s RS4, race cars independently developed by some teams, and race cars modified by Y61, Raptor F150, LC200, Cheetah, Takuma, etc.
For the manufacturer team, there are racing cars modified from SAIC Maxus T90 pickup truck; racing cars modified from Zhengzhou Nissan's gasoline version Navara and new diesel version Ruiqi 7; Chery Racing Team's Tiggo 8 modified racing car.
The UTV group T3/T4 is where Bombardier and Polaris compete.
The motorcycle group includes the 450Rally, 450EXC-F, and EXC450 racing cars of KTM, our old friend around the tower, as well as the 450Rally racing car of China-made Excelle, which has just competed in Dakar and completed all races, as well as several Yamaha and Husqvarna racing cars. racing car, a Bombardier ATV racing car.
PS: In "I want to run a round-the-tall rally, how much does it cost?" ” article, we calculated how much it would cost a car off-road enthusiast to run a round-the-clock rally.
After the article was published, some motorcycle enthusiasts asked: If it is a cross-country motorcycle, how much does it cost to participate in it?
Regarding this issue, we will see you next time.
Text | Some pictures of Yan Qi come from the official Tour of Tara Rally and its team.
