Frédéric Chesneau is the next driver to enter the world of T1 rally raid as he will pilot a Century Racing CR6 in the 2024 Dakar Rally. His Team FS outfit announced the news on Wednesday, while also revealing a name change to Skybox Rally-Raid.
Chesneau and his older brother Stéphane Chesneau have competed at the Dakar Rally since 2021, racing a Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo in the T4 category. After finishing twenty-fifth overall in their début, they improved to twenty-second in 2022. The siblings were twenty-fourth in the 2023 edition and scored a tenth-place finish in class in the rain-shortened Stage #3; while not classified as a finisher due to retiring from Stage #5, they were able to bring their car to the finish line as part of the Dakar Experience.
The younger Chesneau was previously an aerobatic pilot, winning the FAI World Advanced Aerobatic Championships in 2002. He also claimed the 2002 and 2004 WAAC Team crowns with the French national team, with whom he was a member from 1997 through 2008. Stéphane, who runs a construction company on the island of Réunion, has competed in enduro.
The CR6 is Century’s current primary rally raid model, with ten appearing at the 2023 Dakar Rally under the Century Racing Factory Team, Astara Team, Coronel Racing, and Off Road Concept banners. The factory team, which had Brian Baragwanath and Mathieu Serradori as drivers, fielded an upgraded version of the CR6 dubbed the CR6-T with a turbo engine. Following Dakar, Century has started development of the Century CR7 for competition in the higher T1+ subcategory.
Century is a fairly common and affordable option for those hoping to race in the top-flight T1 class but do not want to spend too much on premier vehicles like the Toyota Hilux. The CR6 is placed in the T1.2 subdivision for diesel four-wheel-drive modified cars.
Skybox intends to reveal the Chesnaus’ new CR6 “before the end of June.”
