“We also do the navigation like back in the time”
CREW FACTS
E.A.
- Growing up in the mountains of South Tyrol, Ernst Amort developed an adventurous mind with a knack for sports and thrills: ski, paragliding, rafting, cycling… and off-road adventures, with enduro races or just for the sake of exploring.
- Amort notably roamed through Africa and eventually discovered the Dakar in 2022, aboard his friend Adolf Ruhaltinger’s Peugeot 504 Coupé. It’s not a car for the win, they admit. But it’s one that propels extraordinary adventures.
A.R.
- Adolf Ruhaltinger has spent a big part of his life collecting and repairing cars, including a Peugeot 504 Coupé from 1977 that was in the back of his garage, just like his dreams of the Dakar never left the back of his mind since the birth of the event, in 1979.
- With Frank Thiel, “Adi” puts his mechanical skills at the service of Montana Racing, who have entered three cars in the Dakar Classic 2025.
2025 AMBITIONS
E.A.: “We always thought the Dakar Classic is to be done with proper classic vehicles. At the beginning of the Dakar, there were a lot of two-wheel drive cars and Adi had this Peugeot 504 that we already used in 2022. We also do the navigation like it used to be back in the time.
We thought about coming back a couple of years ago but he had a health issue. And now we’re back! We have made a few changes to the car, with a shorter gearbox. Then we reinforced the clutch and we’ve also made it lighter. And with the assistance we have arranged this year, with a 6x6 service truck for Montana Racing, it should be a smoother run. Last time, we brought our friends, but they are not real mechanics… It will be all more professional.
We want to be competitive every day, to maintain good averages. Winning is extremely difficult, with a rear-wheel drive, it’s virtually impossible. But we would like to move up in the rankings. The Dakar is the race of all races but we’ve also seen that in this environment, with other people who are here for victory, you just lend a hand to anyone in need and that’s beautiful.”
A.R.: “I fulfilled a dream in 2022, being part of the Dakar, and now I do it again because it’s so much fun. It’s… a fantastic event! It’s an investment but it really is a great event, the big one in our world; It’s like doing the Tour de France when you’re a cyclist, or a grand slam like Wimbledon in tennis. When it comes to off-road, it’s the Dakar. And I live for this dream.
Last time, I had some health issue, but this year, I asked Ernst: ‘Can we do it again?’ And he said: ‘Okay, if you prepare the car.’ It hadn’t been used since we came back from the Dakar 22. So I started working on it in August and I saw the engine was broken. And these parts are very rare in Germany. I found them in France and it’s been very intense to get the car ready!
I have a special relationship with this car. I love its shape, I’ve done the Dakar with it and I will never sell it.”
