http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2012/us/rider/rider-list-cars.html#ancre

there are two race cars from Great Wall .. it´s going to be interesting

it will be nice to see two cars from great wall :)

Yes and this time the new driver is Portuguese Dakar veteran Carlos Sousa.
It will be the 13th Dakar for him.

http://www.marathonrally.com/news/sa_dakar_2012_great_wall_team_with_carlos_sousa_an d_secret_bmw_x3cc.19775.0.html

http://www.marathonrally.com/news/sa_dakar_2012_great_wall_team_with_carlos_sousa_an d_secret_bmw_x3cc.19775.0.html

typical press article...if chinese car is good, he is immediately a copy :confused:, i don't understand why the media can't understand that great wall have cooperation with many other car brands and part makers

http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2012/us/rider/307.html
http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2012/us/rider/345.html
here are driver statistic

Its not really a bad idea that GW used the BMW X3CC as a rally raid car.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-2ndieANowAs/TwNQUNtoUMI/AAAAAAAAGSQ/h6kexLVgNsY/s912/20120101_f4ef5d443be336c6ad23fngtnNGInHuN.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u8HH8mvH-D8/TwNQSOXnOiI/AAAAAAAAGSI/g9uH4jqtUbE/s912/20120102_f68785f9fdbc6a644164QxfqqbJ92c5T.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-IIKA3svloOo/TwNQROZ1OdI/AAAAAAAAGSE/XxRETWqq1jI/s912/20120102_e40ca04fc22dbc0c40e5jLjd5DAuwGrq.jpg

All-reets! Tis a cool-looking race SUV.

Every year, I write a few articles about the Chinese pilots at the Dakar.

Here is the first one for 2012:
http://www.leblogauto.com/2012/01/dakar-2012-un-premier-point-sur-les-chinois.html

For the Chinese, it's so far so good with all 5 pilots still in the race. Carlos Sousa with the second Great Wall is now between 4th and 6th place. Therefore, he has a great chance of podium.

http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/7313207/img/7313207.jpg
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/7313208/img/7313208.jpg
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/7313210/img/7313210.jpg
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/7313211/img/7313211.jpg

http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/7313213/img/7313213.jpg
http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/7313214/img/7313214.jpg
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/7313215/img/7313215.jpg
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/7313216/img/7313216.jpg

http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/7313219/img/7313219.jpg
http://www2.picturepush.com/photo/a/7313220/img/7313220.jpg
http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/7313224/img/7313224.jpg
http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/7313226/img/7313226.jpg

http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/7313223/img/7313223.jpg
and a support as well :thumb::thumb::thumb:

Just a coment:

As you probably know i am Portuguese.
Ever since I was a kid I watch the Dakar, because its such a special competition.

This year I had a particular interest because a Portuguese driver is racing with the Great Wall Team.
So far I am disgusted with the media coverage, the air time is much lower than before.
When Sousa competed with VW and Mitsubishi he was passing all the time in the television, now that he races with GWM almost no media coverage.

Also just yesterday I listened to this pearl of wisdom from the official tv Dakar commentator: “ Sousa is doing a great race, it was out of G.W.M. expectatives to finish the 1st half of the rally”
If they finished the last 2 editions with much lower budgets I am sure they want at least complete the rally.

Here's a mid-rally review on Chinese pilots:
http://www.leblogauto.com/2012/01/dakar-2012-un-point-sur-les-chinois-a-mi-parcours.html

They're already thinking about 2013!

ah...forget the media, the same is when some luxury car is on fire, nobody will write about it, but imagine that chinese car burn somewhere on highway...god damn i think that it will be on main news late evening

the same is at dakar, i think that other brands give their money for strong marketing and because of that nobody mention other cars

have you even know that on dakar there it latvian team i think, which is driving electric car sponsored by their goverment??? :thumb:

It was the same way with Kia Motors in the U.S. The American people are stubborn. I bought a '99 Kia Sephia, and liked the car. I would go on Edmunds.com and the other posters would make fun of the car and act like it's total crap. This went on for years...now Kia and especially Mitsubishi are the fastest growing car companies in the U.S. It takes time...for some carmakers and for some people it takes a lot of time to penetrate the grey matter and really learn about the manufacture of a vehicle. There's a real disconnect between perception and reality.

This is true in car manufacturing and it is also true with workers at a particular place of employment. If people don't know you they can tend to hyperactively judge you. A lot of you will probably know what I'm talking about with this job perception classification thing. The unimportant things can sift to the top when they really shouldn't and someone can be discarded when they really have way more to offer than they are given credit for.

sousa 7th place
zhou 20th place
:thumb::thumb::thumb:
i think this is really respective result from great wall

I do agree with you, micodelija, that ending number 7 in Dakar is a great result! In one or two years the podium is within reach!

k i want to see that race

Final report on the Chinese pilots at the Dakar:
http://www.leblogauto.com/2012/01/dakar-2012-bilan-final-des-chinois.html

excelente, los felicito. ahora si great wall pisa fuerte, ya no mas ignorancia con great wall. en el dakar estuvieron mejor que otras marcas como Nissan, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Hiunday.

two race car really will b more interesting.

Kazakhstan took 3rd place on Dakar 2012 on KAMAZ!!!! =))
congratulations!

Have to admit I did not watch this year or really last year.

Did keep an eye on this thread to see how GW were going, glad to read Sousa got the Hover to 7th position :thumb:

Good luck next year GW :cool:

It will be very amazing and there will be more crowd.

Recently the organizing committee of 2012 Dakar Rally announced that the race record of the famous American racer Gordon was cancelled as he illegally refitted his Hummer racing-car. During the Rally, Gordon was already complained for his refitting behavior, but at that time the organizing committee chose to keep silent and allowed him to complete the competition so as not to make a misjudgment. Two months later, the authority of Dakar officially announced the survey result of the complaint, and this means that the ranks of all the scores of the racing-drivers behind Gordon will go up for one number.

hahaha....great wall then finish the race on 6th place :D

Gee, what a surprise. An American who cheats. Pretty much par for the course, actually, mic!