[Nick Koan]

Okay, I don't know how I feel about this. I kinda want to root for Gordon, but not for Hummer... I haven't been this confused since the end of "No Way Out"

NASCAR driver Robby Gordon has joined forces with Hummer to take on next year's Dakar Rally, as part of a wider deal that will also see the renowned off-road ace pilot an H3 model in both the 2006 Baja 1000 and Baja 500 desert races.

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

“Team Dakar USA's main objective will be to prove to the world that American innovation and determination can compete on the world stage,” Gordon, who competed on the 2005 Dakar with VW's Toureg, said "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 brand manager Susan Docherty, Hummer jumped at the chance to partner Gordon in perhaps the best known international rally raid.

“This summer, we took the first step in making Hummer a true global brand, with the sale of the first H3's in Europe,” Docherty explained, “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.”

The 2006 Dakar begins on 31 December in Lisbon, before running through Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Guinea before finishing in the Senegalese capital.