Team "X-Raid" and Monster Energy are puffing their proverbial chest out as next year's Dakar Rally draws near with a dramatic display of hoonage in their new MINI ALL4 Racing vehicle.
Making a proper mess of a little town called Erfoud before tearing into the Sahara, this MINI as actually pretty porky at around 4200 pounds dry. A 3-liter, 307 horsepower diesel and six-speed transmission have it max out at 110 MPH.
That speed may sound unimpressive to someone unfamiliar with desert racing, but MINI is no dark horse at Dakar— variants of the car won both this year and last with Stéphane Peterhanse at the wheel. That very same 11-time world champion will return to South America with MINI again in January, and should put on one hell of a show.
Yes, that's him doing the Obi-Wan Kenobi routine and wringing out the ALL4 like a used Landspeeder.
Images: Team X-Raid
Monster MINI Moshing Moroccan Motorways