{"id":3231,"date":"2013-01-23T10:39:41","date_gmt":"2013-01-23T09:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/?p=3231"},"modified":"2013-01-23T10:39:41","modified_gmt":"2013-01-23T09:39:41","slug":"cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231","title":{"rendered":"Cooper Tire wins Dakar Rally T2 class"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cooper competitors in the 2013 Dakar Rally were celebrating at the weekend weekend as Xavi Foj took his second consecutive T2 class title, while the Race2Recovery team secured its place in the\u00a0<\/span>history books by completing the world\u2019s toughest rally.<\/span><\/p>\n

Foj, who used Cooper Discoverer S\/T MAXX tyres on his production-based Toyota Land Cruiser, took the lead in the T2 category on stage four. The Catalan rally star then consolidated his lead and entered the final day of the 9,000-kilometre rally with a 17-minute lead over nearest rival, Nicolas Gibon.<\/p>\n

\"FojAn exciting duel between the T2 frontrunners on the final stage made for a tense day in the Foj camp, but the Spaniard expertly negotiated the route from La Serena to the finish line in Santiago over 13 minutes clear of Gibon to seal the T2 class title for the second year in succession, finishing 27th overall in the car standings.<\/p>\n

More success for Cooper racers followed as the Race2Recovery team \u2013 made up of injured servicemen and able-bodied civilians \u2013 overcame the physical and mental demands of the 15-day challenge to become the first disability team to complete the Dakar Rally.<\/p>\n

Major Matt O\u2019Hare and Corporal Philip \u2018Barney\u2019 Gillespie used their Bowler Wildcat on Cooper Discoverer STT tyres to cross the finish line in Santiago and seal their place in the history books, embodying the team\u2019s motto \u2018beyond injury, achieving the extraordinary.\u2019<\/p>\n

Captain Tony Harris, a below-the-knee amputee who was integral in getting the Race2Recovery team to Dakar but retired early in the rally, paid special thanks to Cooper for its continued support of the team\u2019s mission, saying, \u201cThe support we received from Cooper was invaluable; the tyres were phenomenal and Matt and Barney didn\u2019t get a puncture during the whole Dakar race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking after the rally, Gillespie hoped that the team\u2019s achievements would inspire others, saying, \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s sunk in yet. We\u2019ve just taken it stage by stage and now we\u2019re here at the finish. There were times when we were tackling huge sand dunes in the middle of the night, that we thought we couldn\u2019t possibly continue but somehow we kept each other going. Like so many of the team, I\u2019ve experienced some dark times over the past few years and I hope that by completing the Dakar I\u2019ll inspire others to take on extraordinary challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah McRoberts, European Marketing Manager for Cooper Tire Europe, praised both Foj and Race2Recovery for their \u2018extraordinary\u2019 achievements, saying, \u201cThe Dakar Rally is regarded as the world\u2019s toughest rally with good reason; the terrains and altitude that the crews and tyres are forced to deal with, combined with the navigational demands of the course make the rally tough for even the most experienced competitors.<\/p>\n

\"Foj\u201cT2 class victory for Xavi Foj in 2012 was a phenomenal achievement, but to go back and repeat that in 2013 is quite incredible. Once he took the lead, he masterfully struck the balance between conservative driving and being aggressive and we\u2019re proud to have supported him on his way to victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for the Race2Recovery team, it\u2019s hard to put into words quite how special this achievement is. The crews, mechanics and supporters have been on a real rollercoaster of a journey and their first week was beset with problems, so I\u2019m absolutely delighted that they\u2019ve achieved their goal and made history against the odds.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cooper competitors in the 2013 Dakar Rally were celebrating at the weekend weekend as Xavi Foj took his second consecutive T2 class title, while the Race2Recovery team secured its place in the\u00a0history books by completing the world\u2019s toughest rally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[454],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cooper"],"yoast_head":"\nCooper Tire wins Dakar Rally T2 class - TyreTrade.ie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cooper Tire wins Dakar Rally T2 class - TyreTrade.ie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cooper competitors in the 2013 Dakar Rally were celebrating at the weekend weekend as Xavi Foj took his second consecutive T2 class title, while the Race2Recovery team secured its place in the\u00a0history books by completing the world\u2019s toughest rally.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TyreTrade.ie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-23T09:39:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Foj-finish-celebration-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"363\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"241\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Connor ORourke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Connor ORourke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Connor ORourke\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/dbd4949e603f1126c5f3fecb5cf11a97\"},\"headline\":\"Cooper Tire wins Dakar Rally T2 class\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-23T09:39:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231\"},\"wordCount\":586,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Foj-finish-celebration-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"cooper\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231\",\"name\":\"Cooper Tire wins Dakar Rally T2 class - TyreTrade.ie\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Foj-finish-celebration-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-23T09:39:41+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Foj-finish-celebration-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Foj-finish-celebration-1.jpg\",\"width\":363,\"height\":241},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cooper Tire wins Dakar Rally T2 class\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/\",\"name\":\"TyreTrade.ie\",\"description\":\"Ireland's Publication for the Tyre & associated Industries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#organization\",\"name\":\"TyreTrade.ie\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/www.tyretrade.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/www.tyretrade.jpg\",\"width\":615,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"TyreTrade.ie\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/dbd4949e603f1126c5f3fecb5cf11a97\",\"name\":\"Connor ORourke\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d45a9affbaa25d9215c1913f7c53f4cc4fa639b840fa8291bab831b0c7aa98f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d45a9affbaa25d9215c1913f7c53f4cc4fa639b840fa8291bab831b0c7aa98f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Connor ORourke\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/author\/connor-orourke\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cooper Tire wins Dakar Rally T2 class - TyreTrade.ie","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cooper Tire wins Dakar Rally T2 class - TyreTrade.ie","og_description":"Cooper competitors in the 2013 Dakar Rally were celebrating at the weekend weekend as Xavi Foj took his second consecutive T2 class title, while the Race2Recovery team secured its place in the\u00a0history books by completing the world\u2019s toughest rally.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231","og_site_name":"TyreTrade.ie","article_published_time":"2013-01-23T09:39:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":363,"height":241,"url":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Foj-finish-celebration-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Connor ORourke","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Connor ORourke","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231"},"author":{"name":"Connor ORourke","@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/dbd4949e603f1126c5f3fecb5cf11a97"},"headline":"Cooper Tire wins Dakar Rally T2 class","datePublished":"2013-01-23T09:39:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231"},"wordCount":586,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Foj-finish-celebration-1.jpg","articleSection":["cooper"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231","url":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231","name":"Cooper Tire wins Dakar Rally T2 class - TyreTrade.ie","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Foj-finish-celebration-1.jpg","datePublished":"2013-01-23T09:39:41+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Foj-finish-celebration-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Foj-finish-celebration-1.jpg","width":363,"height":241},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/cooper-tire-wins-dakar-rally-t2-class\/3231#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cooper Tire wins Dakar Rally T2 class"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/","name":"TyreTrade.ie","description":"Ireland's Publication for the Tyre & associated Industries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#organization","name":"TyreTrade.ie","url":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/www.tyretrade.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/www.tyretrade.jpg","width":615,"height":300,"caption":"TyreTrade.ie"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/dbd4949e603f1126c5f3fecb5cf11a97","name":"Connor ORourke","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d45a9affbaa25d9215c1913f7c53f4cc4fa639b840fa8291bab831b0c7aa98f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d45a9affbaa25d9215c1913f7c53f4cc4fa639b840fa8291bab831b0c7aa98f9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Connor ORourke"},"url":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/author\/connor-orourke"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tyretrade.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}