Published: October 20, 2021 | Updated: 20th October 2021
“A fantastic achievement in our debut season and augurs well for the journey to the Dakar Rally.”
The words of Dean Faulkner, of Excite Rally Raid, after its all-female team were named British Cross Country Champions in the T2 Class.
T2 is the cross country series standard production vehicles.
It means the attempt by an all-British, all-female off-road team to compete in the world’s toughest and biggest motor rally has got off to an impressive start.
As reported by Dorset Biz News, the Poole-based Excite Rally Raid – the brainchild of Team Principal and driver John Hardy – is planning to take part in the 2024 Dakar Rally and possibly earlier.
The gruelling off-road endurance challenge, formerly known as the Paris-Dakar Rally, is open to amateurs and professionals and staged every year in desert conditions.
Excite Rally Raid aims to move from the British Cross Country Championship (BXCC) into the BAJA Europe series and, ultimately, compete in the Dakar Rally.
Jade Paveley and co-drivers Hannah Davison and Claire Williams were in a Mitsubishi Pajero T2, a Shogun by a different name.
It runs on a 3.2DiD diesel engine.
Dean, pictured right, who is Sponsor and Partnerships Manager with Excite Rally Raid, said: “We are hugely proud of what the girls and the team have achieved in a short space of time.
“We completed each and every stage of every round, something achieved by only a handful of cars.
“And thanks to the superb Maxxis Tyres we didn’t suffer a single puncture too.
“2021 has been a great success.
“We are already planning ahead to 2022, probably looking at some European racing and a couple of UK base events like the Welsh Hill Rally.”
