One of the embellished rally raid pairings has damaged up as Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel half methods after a decade collectively. Neither have introduced their companions for the remainder of the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship, although stories have indicated Édouard Boulanger will develop into Al-Attiyah’s navigator beginning with the upcoming Abu Dhabi Desert Problem.
Al-Attiyah and Baumel started working collectively in 2015, shortly making waves after they gained the Dakar Rally. From there, they added three extra Dakars in 2019, 2022, and 2023, in addition to back-to-back W2RC titles. The duo additionally gained the W2RC’s predecessor FIA World Cup for Cross-Nation Rallies 4 occasions from 2015 to 2017 and 2021, in addition to the 2023 World Cup for Cross-Nation Bajas (now World Bajas Cup). The lattermost made them the primary to win each the rally raid and Bajas world titles in the identical 12 months.
Their successes additionally prolonged to conventional rallying, profitable 5 Center Japanese Rally Championships in 2015 and from 2019 to 2023 in addition to the 2015 World Rally Championship-2.
Nonetheless, the connection fell aside throughout the 2024 W2RC season opener on the Dakar. Now racing for Prodrive after shifting over from Toyota, they gained a stage however had been pressured to retire midway by way of the rally after struggling an engine failure, one in every of many mechanical points that plagued their automotive. Two weeks after the Dakar, Giovanni Bernacchini changed Baumel as Al-Attiyah’s rally navigator for the MERC’s Qatar Worldwide Rally, the place Al-Attiyah’s unhealthy begin to 2024 continued as he acquired an early penalty earlier than retiring on the ultimate day.
Though a disappointing finish, each gave an amicable joint assertion on Monday thanking one another.
Boulanger at the moment works because the navigator for Stéphane Peterhansel of Audi. The duo gained the 2021 Dakar Rally collectively in addition to the 2022 Abu Dhabi Desert Problem. They added a stage win on the 2024 Dakar however had been set again by mechanical points that relegated them to supporting Audi team-mate Carlos Sainz en path to his fourth Dakar victory.
Whereas Boulanger publicly refuted preliminary stories of becoming a member of Al-Attiyah after they surfaced in late January, a supply who lately spoke with him advised The Checkered Flag that his remark was solely the case at the moment, indicating issues have modified since.
No matter who’s by his aspect, Al-Attiyah’s first race with out Baumel would be the Abu Dhabi Desert Problem on 25 February.
