The Dakar Rally, simply put, is a gruelling 14 day cross-country event where vehicles race between some of the most hardcore off-road courses with hopes of emerging victorious in the World’s longest official race, stretching over a total of 4,800 race kilometres in some of the most beautiful destinations in the world.
The race will kick-off in Paraguay, and will continue through to Bolivia and Argentina, where the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires will host the closing leg on January 14th, 2017. The South American tour will cover a grand total of nearly 10,000 kilometers of travel, including the 4,800 race kilometers, putting each and every contender through their paces.
It’s not uncommon in motorsport for fans to have a favourite, and the Dakar Rally is no exception to this with all eyes focused heavily on the developments of Toyota Gazoo Racing SA.
After completing their final pre-Dakar 2017 test session, Toyota Gazoo Racing SA announced their two-car all-star line-up for the event, featuring two former Dakar winners between Giniel de Villiers, partnered with Dirk von Zitzewitz; and Nasser Al Attiyah, with Matthieu Baumel as his right-hand man.
The De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz team have raced the “tougher-er” Toyota Hilux in Dakar since 2012, successfully achieving podium finishes in all but one attempt since then. Adding to their already impressive track record is their 2009 Dakar victory, which is not surprising considering that De Villiers has one of the highest start-to-podium ratios in the entire history of the Dakar Rally, and has only experienced the taste of a missed Top 10 finish once since he first hit the scene in 2003.
Albeit being the new kids on the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA team, Al Attiyah and Baumel are more than acquainted to the Toyota Hilux. The pair captained a locally built Toyota Hilux all the way to the top of the 2016 FIA Cross-Country World Cup, winning each and every round they entered before taking the trophy. It seemed as if one victory was not enough for the dynamic duo as they also cruised right to the top to win the infamous Rally of Morocco in October 2016, proving once again that the Toyota Hilux, paired with an all-star team, is capable of running the show on any stage.
Another impressive addition to the team dynamic is a partnership with Austrian energy drink manufacturer, Red Bull. With the brand already supporting both De Villiers and Al Attiyah, a 2017 Dakar partnership seemed inevitable.
“We’re pleased to be able to partner with Red Bull for 2017,” says Toyota SA Motors’ Glenn Crompton, Vice President of Marketing. “As a global media and communications brand, Red Bull is the perfect match for our all-star line-up.”
The crews will tackle the challenging Dakar 2017 with the same version of the Toyota Hilux that secured victory for Al Attiyah/Baumel in the FIA World Cup, although new updates and modifications will ensure that it is capable of performing at its optimum.
“We were all very excited about the arrival of the Toyota Hilux Evo, which we unveiled earlier this year,” says Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Team Principal, Glyn Hall. “However, despite the promising performance of the car, we’ve found significantly more performance in the four-wheel-drive during parallel testing. This, together with Nasser and Matthieu’s victories abroad, has made it clear to us that the four-wheel-drive is more than capable of taking on the very best cars and drivers in the world.”
“We’re also in the fortunate position to have two of the most experienced crews in the world in our team this year,” continued Hall. “Giniel and Dirk have consistently performed well on the Dakar, and Nasser and Matthieu have just won the FIA’s World Cup – and that’s in addition to winning the Dakar in 2011 and 2015. So we have the best of the best, driving our proven four-wheel-drive Toyota Hilux for Dakar 2017.”
The crews conducted their last testing session near Upington in the Northern Cape this week, where the coarse and sandy terrain of the area allowed Toyota Gazoo Racing SA to put the Toyota Hilux through its paces in conditions that replicate those encountered on numerous Dakar stages, including notorious rocky and soft dune sections.
“The performance of the Toyota Hilux at this week’s test was highly encouraging,” says Hall. “It was also great to have Nasser and Matthieu here on South African soil, putting the car through its paces, and giving invaluable feedback in preparation for the race.”
The next step in preparing for the illustrious Dakar Rally is packing for the trip, which includes the cataloguing and storage of hundreds and thousands of spare parts. These parts will be shipped to South America over the next few days in preparation for the opening leg in the Paraguayan capital of Asunción on January 2nd, 2017.
SA Car Fan will be joining Toyota SA on Dakar 2017 and we’ll bring you lots more news.
