2011 Dacia Duster No Limit - Pikes Peak International Hill Climb review and pictures

Dacia Duster No Limit - Pikes Peak International Hill Climb review:

Dacia Duster No Limit: poised to tackle the world's most prestigious hill climb event

• Dacia has decided to take on the world's most famous and most challenging hill climb - the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb - which will take place in Colorado, USA, on June 26.
  
• Dacia will enter the American event with a purpose-built 850hp prototype, Dacia Duster 'No Limit'. The car will be driven by three-time Troph?e Andros champion Jean-Philippe Dayraut whose ambitious target is quite simply to challenge for the win.

DACIA: A SUCCESS BLEND OF AUDACITY AND ENTHUSIASM

The Renault Group brand Dacia has caused a genuine stir in the motoring world.

In the space of just seven years of consistent growth, it has become one of the market's mainstream players. Indeed, thanks to a range of particularly reliable, spacious and carefully designed vehicles which all deliver an unbeatable performance and equipment package for their price, Dacia has emerged as one of the industry's genuine success stories.

Launched in April 2010, the sixth vehicle of the brand's line-up, the Duster off-roader, was an immediate hit and sales to date have reached almost 127,000 vehicles worldwide. The model has also become the star of the brand's motorsport activities, taking part in competitions like France's Troph?e Andros ice-racing series with Alain Prost (two runner-up titles), the Rallye A?cha des Gazelles (2nd and 3rd places in 2011) and, very soon, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Its passion for motorsport mirrors the bold and ambitious values promoted by the brand.

DACIA DUSTER 'NO LIMIT': A ONE-OFF VEHICLE

Dacia Duster No Limit is an exceptional, extremely powerful car. It was purpose built by teams from Tork Engineering (design, production, assembly, development) and Sodemo (engine), in association with Renault Sport Technologies, which brought its unique motorsport expertise to the table, as well as the supply of certain components.

Dacia Duster No Limit complies with the specific regulations of the American competition's 'Unlimited' class which sets no upper limit on the size or power output of the engine. There is no minimum weight, any tyres may be used and there are no restrictions concerning either the transmission system or aerodynamics.

Beneath its glass-fibre outer skin, Dacia Duster 'No Limit' conceals a number of sophisticated features, including:

• A powerful 850hp engine:
  
• Specially built by Sodemo and based on the Nissan GT-R's NISSAN VR 38 DETT block (3.8-litre V6), the powerplant of Dacia Duster No Limit has been tuned to deliver maximum performance despite the high altitudes visited by the course which starts at 2,860 metres and finishes at 4,300 metres.
  
• A specific gearbox:
  
• The engine is mated to a sequential six-speed Sadev box specially developed to cope with so much power, while at the same time ensuring quick, precise gearshifts.
  
• Advanced aerodynamics:
  
• The sort of aerodynamic package featured on Dacia Duster 'No Limit' is of a sort that is rarely authorised in motorsport. It was developed in the wind tunnel and the rear wings are especially impressive.

JEAN-PHILIPPE DAYRAUT: A DRIVER WITH A DREAM

Jean-Philippe Dayraut has long dreamed of contesting the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in such an exceptional car. It was he who managed to convince Dacia and Renault Sport Technologies to join him in this extraordinary adventure.

The Colorado-based event calls for impeccable traction, despite the fact that grip varies as the half-asphalt/half-dirt course surfaces switches from one type of surface to the other. Only professional drivers with experience of circuit racing and competing on loose surfaces (gravel, ice) can hope to figure at the top of the order. With no fewer than six French titles in single-seater and touring car racing and three Troph?e Andros crowns - including the last one - to his name, Jean-Philippe Dayraut is ideally qualified for the mission.

"The Pikes Peak Hill Climb is the only event where you get to keep a monster like this in check while drifting at speeds of 200kph on a course which features a mix of asphalt and dirt," notes Jean-Philippe Dayraut. "I can't think of any other form of motorsport where such cars are authorised."

PIKES PEAK INTERNATIONAL HILL CLIMB:

• Location: Colorado (USA)
  
• Course length: 20km
  
• Start altitude: 2,860 metres
  
• Finish altitude: 4,300 metres
  
• Surface type: half-asphalt/half-dirt
  
• Course record ('Unlimited' class): 10m 1.42s
  
• Record established by Japan's Tajima Nobuhiro (Suzuki) in 2007