Geneva, 4 September 2008 – Luxury watch brand Wyler Genève will take on the role of official timekeeper for the 2009 Dakar in South America as part of a new long-term partnership with the event. The company will also produce the official Dakar watch and make a significant contribution to help reduce the event’s environmental impact. Dakar legend Stéphane Peterhansel, Wyler Genève’s newly appointed ambassador, will put the company’s shock-absorbing chronograph to the test along the arduous South American route.

The first Paris-Dakar rally was held in 1979 in exploration of a “world without barriers” and has since brought together annually a mixed bag of adventurers, celebrities and professional drivers seeking the adrenaline rush from pushing themselves and their machines to the limits of their capabilities. For its 30th anniversary, the rally heads for South America for a 9000km challenge from the Argentinean capital Buenos Aires to Valparaiso in Chile and back again, taking on the forbidding Andes and the Atacama desert.

Wyler Genève takes on the role of official timekeeper for this exciting 30th edition of the Dakar. It will be a chance to showcase its unique shock-absorbing chronograph, which has already withstood harsh desert conditions on last year’s Paris-Beijing centenary expedition, also sponsored by the brand. As Wyler Genève’s Managing Director, Bruno Grande, explains, “We have favoured presenting our watches through projects that focus on travel more as a means than as an end. The 2007 Paris-Beijing anniversary not only proved that the same car could still tackle the same route 100 years later, it also highlighted the numerous changes that had since taken place across two continents. More recently we viewed the historic El Camino Real route on the US west coast through the eyes of a famous photographer to give another perspective on travel. Now, with the Dakar, we are partnering with an event that has been bringing cultures and adventurers together for 30 years. It is, of course, also the most difficult rally in the world and is therefore a perfect competition to show off the robustness of our watches.”

The luxury watch firm considers the environmental impact of all its actions. It has already been certified CarbonNeutral® and this year launched the world’s first CarbonNeutral® watch. To take the environment into consideration for its sponsorship of the Dakar, Wyler Genève will develop a prize to reward environmental endeavours by the participants, organizers or anyone else involved in the Dakar. The first Wyler Genève prize will be awarded at the 2010 edition of the rally and its scope will be based on a wide-ranging scientific study of the Dakar commissioned by Wyler Genève.


DAKAR LEGEND STEPHANE PETERHANSEL BECOMES WYLER GENÈVE’S FIRST OFFICIAL BRAND AMBASSADOR

Stéphane Peterhansel is the first official brand ambassador of Wyler Genève, the official timekeeper of the Dakar 2009. The Dakar legend has chosen the brand’s shock-absorbing chronograph as his timepiece of choice on the events of the Dakar Series. He will also put the watch to the test along the arduous South American route of the Dakar 2009, where he will be looking to secure his tenth victory at the event.

By showing the superlative performance and endurance required to win the Dakar, then adding a remarkable consistency to repeat this nine times, Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel has achieved the status of a legend in the Dakar fraternity. He secured his first victory on two wheels, riding for Yamaha, at the age of 25 and started an unparalleled winning streak of 6 victories in 8 editions with the same team. In 1999 he switched to the relative comfort of the cars and quickly worked his way up through the field, winning three of the last five editions with Mitsubishi. Cumulatively, Peterhansel holds one-third of all Dakar victories over a period which, he admits, accounts for “just about half of my existence.”

“My first Dakar and my first taste of Africa back in 1988 were a major shock,” he says. “I was immediately hooked on this race, so fascinating in terms of complexity, difficulty and ruggedness. Since then the Dakar has influenced every aspect of my professional life.”

Peterhansel will put the new official Dakar watch by Wyler Genève to the test on the Dakar 2009. In the meantime, his shock-absorbing Wyler Genève Chronograph is accompanying him on the Dakar Series events.

Stéphane Peterhansel’s Dakar victories

Motorbike
1991 (Yamaha)
1992 (Yamaha)
1993 (Yamaha)
1995 (Yamaha)
1997 (Yamaha)
1998 (Yamaha)

Car
2004 (Mitsubishi)
2005 (Mitsubishi)
2007 (Mitsubishi)

Press Release