On January 1, the Dakar rally raid will start for the 45th time, in 2023 its route of almost 5,000 km will once again cross the territory of Saudi Arabia.
Last year’s winners, the Toyota Gazoo Racing factory team and Nasser Al-Attiyah, underlined during today’s presentation that they are determined to repeat that success again.
The team will be represented by three teams running specially prepared GR DKR Hilux T1+ race off-road vehicles. Number 200 is driven by Al-Attiyah and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel, number 205 by South African rally-raid champion Giniel De Villiers and his co-driver Dennis Murphy, number 217 by another South African duo of Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings.
In 2023, the Al-Attiya-Bomel crew will start all five stages of the World Rally Raid Championship, which will begin with the legendary Dakar.
Over the past year, Toyota has upgraded its championship SUV to improve efficiency, durability and reliability. The crews of the factory team of the Japanese concern drove more than 25 thousand km on these cars in races and tests, and the experience gained has significantly improved the technical characteristics of the GR DKR Hilux T1 +.
First of all, it concerns the chassis and transmission of the car: the suspension has been strengthened, the geometry has been adjusted, differentials, gearboxes and transfer cases have been modernized. In addition, changes have been made to the software associated with the engine, in accordance with the new requirements of the technical regulation.
In addition to the three factory Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+, seven more such cars will start, which will be driven by independent racers.
Alan Dujardin, team leader: “This year has been a fantastic success for us. We started with the victory in the Dakar and added to the list of our achievements the title in the World Rally Raid Championship, which was held for the first time this year.
In addition, Giniel won the South African Championship and I would like to thank all three of our crews for their performance. We are constantly pushing the boundaries, our technicians work tirelessly to constantly improve our car and try to prepare us better than ever for Dakar 2023.”
Nasser Al-Attiyah: “Winning the World Rally Raid Championship was my main goal and I am proud that we achieved it. It should also be noted that the car has been improving throughout the year, and after the final testing, which took place in Namibia, I can say with confidence that we have made the most efficient version of the GR DKR Hilux T1+. Now we only have to go to the race in Saudi Arabia.”
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
