The 2008 DKR: The Latest Lion With A Voracious Appetite For The Challenges That Await It
The Peugeot 208 DKR's muscular, thoroughbred yet beastlike forms provide a clear indication of its serious desire for success. It is behind the wheel of this purpose-designed machine that Carlos Sainz and Cyril Despres will defend the colours of Team Peugeot Total on next year's Dakar rally. Three weeks after the exciting news that Peugeot, Red Bull and Total have decided to join forces to contest the 2015 Dakar, the car that will spearhead the team’s challenge has finally broken cover. The 2008 DKR shares an unmistakable family resemblance with Peugeot’s road-going crossover, although with more muscular forms and more imposing overall proportions that have been honed to meet the challenge that lays ahead. Its spectacular lines are the fruit of close cooperation between the experts at Peugeot’s Style Centre and their colleagues at Peugeot Sport’s Design Department, and the newcomer’s likeness with the production version is quite astonishing.
Far more than just another styling exercise, the 2008 DKR features an aggressive stance dictated by the technical constraints associated with its mission. “We provided Peugeot’s Style Centre with a very precise brief,” explains the Project Leader at Peugeot Sport, Jean-Christophe Pailler. “We supplied them with the basic key dimensions, as well as other information such as the cabin space we required, plus the wheel size and the suspension travel. They also had aerodynamic data resulting from our early simulation work.”
Between September 2013 and January 2014, it was this close working relationship that inspired the 2008 DKR’s spectacular final design which represents a move away from the cues traditionally associated with cross-country rallying. Having already contested the Dakar seven times in the colours of Red Bull, in both two-wheel and four-wheel drive cars, Carlos Sainz is perfectly aware of the technical constraints that go hand-in-hand with the exacting South American stages, and he was immediately won over by the new car’s design.
What lies beneath the bodywork remains a secret for the moment, but the 2008 DKR’s breath-taking forms are sure to cause a stir even before the new car starts to kick up dust as it begins to be put through its paces in the colours of Red Bull and Total.
Credits: Oneshift News Team
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