Toyota

Big talent in a Mini

‘Kuba’ made his rally-raid debut back in 2009 in the motorcycle category, finishing best ‘rookie’ for his efforts. His best result on two wheels came in 2014 with a 6 th place, before he switched to cars in 2018. Since then he has made steady progress, finishing runner up in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies in 2017 before going on to win the series in 2018. For the third consecutive year the Polish driver has been accompanied by the experienced German co-driver Timo Gottschalk, who guided Al Attiyah to his first Dakar win back in 2011. Twice on the World Cup podium alongside Yazeed Al Rajhi (2014 and 2016), the German is highly experienced in navigating for top level drivers. The pairing switched cars at the end of the 2021 season for the Rallye du Maroc, moving to the Mini buggy that Peterhanel used to win the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies in 2019 and the Dakar in 2020. Progressively ‘Kuba’ and Timo have adapted to their new vehicle after mechanical problems in Morocco. 11th on the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, then 6 th at the final of the World Cup in Ha’il last winter, for their third outing aboard the X-Raid buggy, they hoovered between 5 th and 10 th overall throughout the last Dakar to take 6 th place in Jeddah for the opening round of the W2RC On the second round of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, "Kuba" kept his 4th place overall. At the foot of the podium behind Al Rahji, he even pulled back 2 points. With 58 points against 71 points for the Saudi, the Pole is just 13 points behind. Unlucky last year on the Rallye du Maroc, he has finished twice on the podium on previous participations. X-Raid is counting on him to defend their second place in the manufacturers' ranking. Between “Kuba” and Halpern, the Mini buggies have 70 points against the Bahrain Raid Xtreme pair of Loeb and Terranova who have 65 points. Armand Monleon will make his debut alongside "Kuba" in Morocco. The Spaniard, who was 9th in the standings in Alvarez' Hilux, finished on the podium of the Rallye du Maroc in 2021. A new navigator to take on the second half of the championship. In Agadir “Kuba” will celebrate his first year with X-Raid.