ShowMe South Africa

The Dakar 2024 is well underway, and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) is making its mark at the 2024 event with an impressive stage win.

The team faced significant challenges preparing the cars for the race, involving reassembly in Saudi Arabia and rigorous technical inspections. Race crews also underwent thorough safety checks and gear assessments.

After completing all necessary checks and inspections, the team focused on shakedown sessions to confirm the readiness of each car for the race, making last-minute adjustments to the dampers.

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing celebrated its first stage victory at Dakar 2024 during the demanding third stage. Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon, driving the GR Hilux EVO T1U, secured the victory by maintaining a clean run with no punctures and precise navigation. Despite starting as the ninth car on the road, they clinched the stage win, finishing just 9 seconds ahead of their closest competitor in the challenging 437km stage.

This achievement not only earned them the stage win and valuable W2RC points but also elevated them to 4th place in the overall standings, with a deficit of 9 minutes and 17 seconds to the race leader, Yazeed Al Rajhi, who drives a near-identical Toyota Hilux T1U.

Stage 3 presented challenges for TGR’s Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dennis Murphy, who faced two early punctures, resulting in a 16th-place finish. Despite setbacks, they hold 14th place in the overall standings. Teammates Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz encountered puncture troubles as well but received swift assistance from Lucas and Armand, sacrificing their stage win for camaraderie. Seth/Dennis dropped out of the Top 10 in the overall standings.

Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet, TGR’s young gun, fought through the challenges of navigation, securing 21st place on the stage and holding the 18th position overall. Guy Botterill and Brett Cummings faced punctures but managed to maintain the 17th place overall.

Stage 3 marked the beginning of a ‘mini-Marathon’ stage, where technical crews had only two hours to repair and prepare cars for Stage 4. The race crews camped at a remote bivouac without team support, facing a liaison, timed section, and a second liaison in the upcoming stage.

QUOTES: Shameer Variawa (SVR Team Principal): “Winning a Dakar stage is a great achievement. Congratulations to Lucas and Armand. Despite punctures, our teams are holding strong, a testament to the toughness of our GR Hilux EVO T1U.”

Lucas Moraes: “Unbelievable! The navigation was tough, but Armand was on point. Thanks to the whole team for the support.”

Seth Quintero: “Unlucky with punctures, but there’s a long way to go. Hoping for better luck and aiming for the podium.”

Guy Botterill: “Difficult with punctures, but we survived. It was a day of endurance.”

Giniel de Villiers: “Tough day with punctures, but we made it to the end.”

Saood Variawa: “A tough three days so far! Today, we went into the stage and wanted to up our pace to catch the guys ahead. Which we did in the first part of it. I mean, we caught quite a few guys and overtook them. Unfortunately, two waypoints were a bit tricky. We lost quite a bit of time there, and also in the last one that we couldn’t find. We came back through a canyon and one of the other competitors overtook us, so we were stuck in his dust from then on.”

DAKAR 2024 – STAGE 3 RESULTS:

DAKAR 2024 – STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 3:

The stage win and team spirit propel TOYOTA GAZOO Racing forward in Dakar 2024, with anticipation building for the challenges that lie ahead.