Vaidotas Zala to pilot Prodrive Hunter at Dakar 2023

Vaidotas Žala‘s eighth Dakar Rally will be in perhaps the best equipment of his career to date as he announced Thursday that he will pilot a Prodrive Hunter T1 in the 2023 Rally. He will race under the Teltonika Racing banner like in his previous entries, except Bahrain Raid Xtreme has also come aboard to provide support.

“It’s a massive opportunity for me to drive the Prodrive Hunter in Dakar 2023 as it will be my first ever chance to start the rally with factory-level machinery,” Žala stated. “I am especially looking forward to driving alongside Sébastien Loeb who is an icon for any upcoming rally driver. After my first test in Dubai, I was astonished by the capabilities of the Prodrive Hunter and it put a big smile on my face so I’m sure Dakar 2023 will be the most interesting rally in my career.”

The two-time Lithuanian Rally Champion has competed at Dakar every year since 2016. After driving a SEAT rally car in the first two years, he contested the 2018 and 2019 rallies in a Toyota Hilux. From 2020 to 2022, he piloted a Mini John Cooper Works Rally, winning the opening stage in 2020 to become the first Lithuanian Dakar stage victor.

His 2022 Rally saw him finish eleventh in the Cars category with a best stage position of fifth on the final leg.

BRX has fielded the Prodrive Hunter since 2021. The car was designed by Ian Callum, and a street-legal version was revealed in March.

In 2022, the BRX trio of Loeb, Orlando Terranova, and Nani Roma finished runner-up, fourth, and twenty-first in the Dakar overall. Loeb is also doing the full World Rally-Raid Championship in the Hunter and currently leads the T1 standings by one point, while Terranova did not run the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge but will enter the Rallye du Maroc in preparation for Dakar. Roma is undergoing recovery following his battle with bladder cancer and expressed hopes of competing in Morocco or Dakar, but will not rush himself back if he feels he is not ready to return.

“Having Vaidotas with us for Dakar 2023 is proof of how much the rally raid world is watching us and how they admire the Hunter car and the BRX Team,” added BRX team principal Gus Beteli. “We’re planning a four-car team on Dakar 2023 with further names being announced soon. But first, we are focused on Morocco and Andalucía Rallies, the final rounds of the 2022 FIA World Rally Raid Championship. These are exciting times for us here.”

The 2023 Dakar Rally begins on 31 December 2022.