Ryad (AFP)
While cars and motorcycles have started to change in everyday life, the Dakar rally, often criticized for the pollution it generates, attempts to take the first steps towards a more environmentally friendly race.
For 42 years, the racing cars of the Dakar have been snoring their engines between the dunes, first in Africa, then in South America and now in the Middle East. And for 42 years, the race has attracted the wrath of environmentalists.
For Anne Lassman-Trappier, mobility manager of the France nature environment association (FNE), the Dakar remains a race "next to the plate". "It still interests some people but it is no longer in the sense of history," she says.
A sign of the times, the famous rally-raid is now showing its awareness and its desire to go green, like motor sports as a whole.
"When you do a mechanical sport, you know very well that you are not in the spirit of the times," recognizes David Castera, the new boss of the Dakar. "We have 350 vehicles that drive every day so it represents something, but we are working on it," he said.
- Electric SUV in demonstration -
For several years, the race has implemented a carbon offset program in the Amazon and also serves as a laboratory for the development of new vehicles.
In 2017, a 100% electric car managed to finish the race after two failures in previous years. The car sponsored by Acciona, the Spanish giant of renewable energy and construction, had completed the rally in 52nd place, 82 h 31 min 48 sec from the winner, Stéphane Peterhansel.
This year, for the 42nd edition which takes place in Saudi Arabia, a hybrid truck is making its competitive debut. After five stages, the crew of team Riwald were in the penultimate position in the classification.
"The electrical system is only charged while driving, so there is no need for a generator or charger," says Dutch pilot Gert Huzink. The vehicle "is simply loaded by the internal process of the truck".
On the sidelines of the race, an electric SUV is also carrying out tests, with Guerlain Chicherit at the wheel, nine Dakars on the clock.
"Today, we are facing realities, motor sport must evolve," said the Frenchman. "You have to accept that things change, live with the times."
With a 60 kWh battery and two electric motors, the Odyssey 21 can reach a top speed of 200 km / h and go from 0 to 100 in 4.5 seconds with very little noise.
- "Giving meaning" to the Dakar -
"It's very surprising," admits Guerlain Chicherit. "In motorsport, there is a bit of a fantasy around noise. But after driving a week in the desert in a car that does not make noise, I can tell you that it is much better."
The team overseeing the experiment aims to enter competition next year. Problem: for the moment a battery has only 50 km of autonomy.
"The ambition is to be successful in 2023 or 2024, we are realistic," he says. "But we have to start by doing it in 2021. We are going to wipe off the plaster, I am aware of it and I am ready to do it. It makes the project more exciting."
From there to see a 100% electric Dakar one day? "It will happen, I'm sure," said Théophile Cousin, the engineer who oversees the project.
For Anne Lassman-Trappier of France nature environment, this kind of initiative, if it were generalized, could "give meaning" to the test.
"If we change the type of race completely and favor vehicles without fossil fuel and run in the desert, that makes a lot more sense," she said.
Could the message have been heard by the organizers? They say in any case want to mount "within two years" a category 100% hybrid truck and suggest that the electric car could also "augur a new category".
© 2020 AFP