Motorsport: Hansel sets sights on four-wheel win
Six times Dakar Rally winner Stephane Peter Hansel has a new target in his sights for the 24th running of the race between France and Senegal.
Peter Hansel won six times as a motorcycle racer and now the Frenchman wants to add his first title in the car category.
He recorded the sixth of his motorcycle wins for Yamaha in 1998 and now he wants a first car title to go with that.
But the Nissan driver realises it will not be easy to lift his first car crown against the likes of Germany’s Jutta Kleinschmidt, of Mitsubishi, who last year became the first woman to win the Dakar.
Peter Hansel’s fellow Frenchman Jean-Louis Scheller, a car category winner in 1999 and 2000, is back for his third title attempt in the Renault-engined Schesser.
Peter Hansel said: ‘‘There are new emotions for the Nissan team with two new cars, two promising pick-ups which reach 190kph top speed.
‘‘We tested them in South Africa and it seems that these vehicles are reliable and powerful.’’
