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Dacia Duster Claims Victory in the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles

Isabelle Charles (driver) and Dounia Bennani (co-driver), the Dacia Duster winning crewDacia Duster in the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles
Renault's Dacia-related marketing engines are running at full throttle: after the French carmaker developed an ice-racing version of the upcoming Dacia Duster SUV that took the Silver medal in the Trophee Andros, the company created a Duster off-road racer, entering two examples of the vehicle in the 20th anniversary Rallye Aicha des Gazelles, a competition held in Morocco.

Now, Renault announces that one of the cars, driven by Isabelle Charles, the Duster’s color and materials design manager, managed to claim victory in the crossover class of the rally. The second car was steered into fourth place by Nathalie Descout, who is in charge of Dacia Duster’s global advertising campaign.

"Dacia Duster is a vehicle that is capable of going just about anywhere," said Isabelle. "I drove it over stony trails, hilly terrain and sand dunes, and I was really impressed. […] It was very nice, too, to see the public showed a keen interest in our Duster and who were clearly up to speed with its specification, even though it hasn't gone on sale officially yet!" added the design manager.

The Rallye Aicha des Gazelles is a woman-only off-road competition that challenges gazelles (this is how the rally’s participants are called) to cover the shortest distance possible, rather than drive as fast as they can, only allowing them to use a compass and two maps.

Dacia’s win comes at the perfect time, as the standard Duster is just about to go on sale in France, with other markets following soon.
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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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