Following in the footsteps of the 1985 BMW team!
The year is 1985. BMW wants to be back at the top of the motorcycle rankings and thus cement its supremacy. Although the G80GS were extremely heavy in contrast to the Japanese competition, Frenchman Hubert Auriol and Belgian Gaston Rahier were already able to claim victories for BMW in 1981 and ´83.
Since you can only finish a DAKAR successfully as a team, the then race director Dietmar Beinhauser engaged delta4x4 founder Josef Loder, Dr Alois Schneck, Georg Gattinger and Dr Helmut Pohl as “Assistance Rapide” for this purpose. Loder and Schneck each drive a Puch 280GE prepared by Puch Graz. Pohl and Gattinger on a MAN 6×6.
This race brought BMW one of its greatest successes. Gaston Rahier won the motorcycle classification with aplomb. All other vehicles crossed the finish line in classification.
Out of 362 vehicles that started in Paris, Alois Schneck reached the finish line in Dakar in 29th place and Josef Loder in 99th.
Back to the present. Laurence and Maximilian Loder have long been driven by a common thought. As the sons of a Dakar participant, they listened to their father’s stories as children. Now they want to embark on this adventure themselves. Together, as a team, in a PUCH 280GE, just like their father! The registration for the Paris-Dakar Classic 2024 was made! The adventure began! If you want to compete in a Classic Rally, you need a Classic vehicle for it. There was no choice. A PUCH 280GE was needed. And now we are in the middle of it. At that time Loder started in a 3-door Puch. Today, these vehicles have virtually all fallen victim to corrosion or the scrap press. With the 4-doors it looks a little better. Some fire departments have maintained these vehicles for a long time and with a little luck one can find such a vehicle. This luck had at least the two Loder brothers.
In Graz, they found an acceptable specimen. Negotiated briefly and brought home. Here the good piece did not stand for long in one piece. Within a very short time it was disassembled by the experienced mechanic Achim Grauert. Everything has to be checked. Everything is important on a Dakar. A Classic is no exception. As an off-road tuner, the delta4x4 team knows its stuff. And if there are questions, they fall back on the wealth of experience of Josef Loder. There is no substitute for experience. 12 hard stages on 14 days are waiting for the participants. Among other things a 48h-Stage. There is no time to compensate for insufficient preparation. Everything must fit!
We wish Maximilian and Laurence Loder much success, memorable memories and as much satisfaction after the Dakar as their father once had in 1985!
The preparation of the vehicle will of course be documented by video, as is customary in 2023. You can take part in it.
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