DETROIT -- HUMMER Division and Robby Gordon Motorsports have joined together to take on the Dakar Rally, widely considered to be the most grueling off-road race in the world due to its brutal terrain and extreme environmental conditions. Gordon will lead his Team Dakar USA from behind the wheel of a HUMMER H3 race truck. His relationship with HUMMER will also include driving an H3 in the 2006 Baja 1000 and Baja 500 desert races.

“Team Dakar USA's main objective will be to prove to the world that American innovation and determination can compete on the world stage,” said Gordon. “We started planning for this just after my first Dakar Rally, where we won two stages, and I know we are prepared and ready to take on the world.”

According to Susan Docherty, HUMMER general manager, HUMMER jumped at the chance to partner with Gordon in this international race. “This summer we took the first step in making HUMMER a true global brand, with the sale of the first H3’s in Europe,” said Docherty. “This international event will give us a wonderful stage to show people around the world that the H3 is an exceptional off-road vehicle and one they should consider buying.”

Gordon’s H3 will consist of an H3 body paired with a specially developed chassis featuring a suspension designed by him and his Off-Road team. The H3 will be a tube-chassis vehicle similar to Trophy Trucks races in the famed Baja 1000, except that it will have a fully enclosed air-conditioned cockpit, including windshield and side windows. It will be powered by a production-based General Motors V8 engine.

The 16-stage Dakar race covers more than 6,000 miles (nearly 10,000 km) in just over two weeks. While the event is gaining popularity in the United States, it has a broad following around the globe. The 2006 Dakar begins on December 31 in Lisbon, Portugal and runs through Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, and Guinea before finishing in the capital city of Dakar, in Senegal . The race covers all types of terrain, from mountains to sea level and farmland to desert. Competitors can encounter snow and sub-zero temperatures as well as sandstorms and searing heat in the desert. More information on the Dakar race is available at www.teamdakarusa.com or www.dakar.com.






who thinks they're gonna fall on their face going agains VW/Mitsu/etc??

Gee, I wonder why they didn't use the H2.

That thing will flip over on the first turn .

Uh, they're trying to promote the new model.

so this will prove that...the H3 body can stand up to the Dakar rally...whoo hoo...go H3 bodies!

this is a completely new chassis which has nothing to do with the atcual H3 trying to prove how good an H3 is? Thats stupid...why dont you just base your expectations for the Jaguar XK on the performance of the XK CAN-AM car?

Give me the good old days when Porsche would take a factory fresh 911, put straight pipes on it, strap a spare tyre to the boot lid, and win the Dakar...thats how you prove a car is made of the tough stuff!

To bad your car wouldn't even make it to the first turn. Anyways, I'm interested to see how well they do. This could be an exciting event for Hummer....may not.

Wel.. he is one of the few members here who have a truck..

And he also off-roads every chance he gets.

Are you really this stupid?

No I'm not stupid...this wont prove that the H3 is a decent off road car...its a tube frame chassis with a race built engine (based on the H3 block) special suspension and a H3 body...you could take a H3 body and put it on a Land Rover Chassis and have the same effect...This says nothing about the H3 as a car.

What do you think this will prove?

Or do you think that all the cars in NASCAR really represent the performance of the cars they are based on?

The Nismo Dakar Nissan Navara .

The McKhaos Nissan Navara .

Nissan has been running Navaras with resonable success in the Dakar for 3 years now.

makes me wonder how well my



would do...so far it has kicked the ass of the blizzard (25-50cm in 8 hours) we just had...it was me and the snow-plows out on tuesday morning (and a smattering of Audi Quattros and other Subarus of course)

The Subaru has a very good AWD system . Some body lift , serious structural reinforcements and a 300 liter gas tank and it could very well hold it's own .

The H3 is crap off-road. On a recent sand-duning trip, we had a convoy consisting of a 2005 Land Cruiser, a 2003 LX470, a 90s Pajero, and a brand new H3. The H3 couldn't make it up the dunes...and it wasn't the driver either

It doesn't prove anything. It's just marketing. It is neither new nor unique to GM. Honda touts it's participation in the IRL and Toyota it's involvement in the NASCAR truck series in current ads.

I hope it breaks.

Tuesday morning me and my buddy made it to school across the city in his Alero. No problem. So there goes that theory.

OMG YOU GUYYYYYYZ AWD IS T3H AWESOMES.

Awd will save your newborn child from certain doom if you are petering next to a cliff. AWD will save your soul from eternal damnation with its super shield of mega protection. AWD will save cars from wrecking because it puts a +3 shield of invincibility on your car.

AWD is so fucking overrated.

It did?

I'd like to try out my dad's to see for myself when I go later on this year.

looks neat.

(i have nothing to contribute to this convorsation)

It is over rated, but none the less...if you know how to use it...and dont over-estimate its ability to save your ass...AWD is much better on snow and ice.

if you get stuck in a ditch with a FWD car, your sunk...with an AWD system, you may still be able to sort things out with out calling CAA

Chicken Anemia Agent?
Catholic Anthropological Association?
Centre d’Acheminement des Abonnés?
Christian Anime Alliance?
Coordinated Atomic Actions?

Canadian Auto Assoc.

Whatever.