Photo of the day: is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the flying Dacia Sandrider

The next stage of Dacia’s reinvention involves an attempt at the 2025 Paris-Dakar rally with a jumped-up, off-road buggy called the ‘Sandrider’. And to update the world on how preparations are going, here are some striking new shots that show it being strenuously tested. By which we mean, really very airborne.

It’s been built alongside British motorsport specialists Prodrive, with the aim being to conquer the world’s most notorious rally when it kicks off next January. And to help it do just that, Dacia has supplied the Sandrider with a 360bhp twin-turbo V6, a lightweight tubular chassis, much suspension travel and, most importantly, a Sebastian Loeb.

The legendary Frenchman has won the World Rally Championship a record nine times, and he’s (presumably) also the chap that’s giving the Sandrider a good ol’ workout in the images provided. Look, it flies!