Bite the dust: The Toyota Gazoo Racing team used the Namibian desert near Walvis Bay to prepare for the Dakar rally
Walvis Bay, Namibia: the dust may have settled after a gruelling seven-day final test in the dunes before the teams go to Saudi Arabia for the 2023 installation of arguably the greatest off-road endurance test for man and machine, the Dakar.
It’s a race so plagued with danger that anything can happen along the way to end it. It’s the high-risk/high-reward situation that keeps seeing teams returning. It is the one you want to win.
Catching up in an online press conference with the Toyota Gazoo Racing team, we’re joined by the driver/navigator line-up of three T1+ Toyota Hiluxes: Henk Lategan, Brett Cummings, Giniel de Villiers, Dennis Murphy and Nasser Al-Attiyah (on a Zoom call from Qatar) and Mathieu Baumel. Mastermind and team principal Glyn Hall was in attendance, too, to answer questions.
“Dakar 2023 is around the corner, and we are excited to take on the world’s toughest automotive race with a three-car team in January. We’ve worked hard at refining our GR DKR Hilux T1+ over the year, and we’re confident that we are well-prepared to take on the rigours of the race, as well as our competition,” said Hall.
Fresh from their South African Rally Raid 2022 championship, De Villiers and Murphy appear calm, collected, and confident.
This year’s changes to the T1+ class are mainly to level the playing field through the balance of performance. T1+ gets a 30kW reduction in power, which is a substantial amount given the nature of the class, that runs restrictors on the turbocharging system that limits the power delivery to match that of a naturally aspirated motor. There is little to play with here. The focus has been on the suspension components and setup to maximise power delivery in changing conditions. The software has been tweaked to accept the latest racing fuel and ensure that the car conforms to the Balance of Performance requirements set out by the FIA (the International Automobile Federation).
Lategan’s fitness is up, something he cited in 2022 could be improved upon, and he has done just that. He’s upbeat about the coming challenge, saying that the weak points from 2022 in the desert have been focused on in the past seven days.
It’s interesting to watch the transition from vibrant youth and all-out speedster to a more steady, reliable performer that comes with experience unfolding in front of our eyes. It’s Lategan’s third Dakar. Toyota Gazoo Racing knows that and is playing the long game with him, leveraging off and soaking up the wealth of experience from Al-Attiyah and De Villiers. Success plans are in place.
With stiff competition coming from Audi, hoping to turn its misfortune from 2022 around after showing such blistering pace, and Mini, with its proven platform in the mix, the 2023 Dakar is ramping up to be one of the most competitive yet and one that may have Toyota up against the ropes.
But one thing we’ve learnt about motorsport is that past successes do not ensure future success, and Toyota knows that. It’s more than capable of absorbing the pressure and leading the charge.
Dakar 2023 starts on 31 December 2022 on the northwestern coast of Saudi Arabia. Put it in the calendar.