RALLY DAKAR 2023

Gazoo Racing ready to tackle the 2023 Dakar Rally

Toyota Gazoo Racing is set to tackle the 2023 Dakar Rally in early January with a three-vehicle team. Defending champions Nasser Al-Attiyah and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel will once again lead the way along with recent Rally-Raid South Africa winner Giniel de Villiers and his co-driver Dennis Murphy, as well as Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings.

This race will mark the beginning of the 2023 season of the World Rally-Raid Championship - World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), where Nasser and Mathieu will again measure forces in the toughest off-road races in the world.

The pair will compete in all five stages of the FIA W2RC throughout 2023. The championship starts with the Dakar Rally in January, which will be followed by the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge at the end of February; Rally Sonora, in Mexico, in April, and Desafío Ruta 40, in Argentina, at the end of August. The season will end with the Morocco Rally, again scheduled for mid-October.

The other two teams will compete for the rest of the season in the South African Rally Raid Championship (SARRC) as part of Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa (TGRSA), which is also a key part of the GR's testing and development strategy. DKR Hilux T1 . In 2022, the winner of the SARRC after seven races was Giniel, and previous champions Henk and Brett finished second in a championship regarded as one of the toughest rally-raid series in the world.

The demanding 2022 competition season has provided TGR with many opportunities to improve the Dakar-winning GR DKR Hilux T1 in terms of quality, durability and reliability. In line with Toyota's philosophy of “creating better and better vehicles”, the team took advantage of the more than 25,000 km of competition and testing covered by its teams in the W2RC and SARRC. In addition, the teams further improved their respective skills, thanks to a total of 130 days on track, which allowed them to claim the W2RC and SARRC titles.

For the 2023 season, the FIA has adjusted its criteria with the aim of balancing the performance of T1 and T1U (Ultimate) category vehicles. The main priority of the new rules is to level the playing field, so that the competition is even fiercer. Thus, for example, the maximum power developed by both Category T1 and T1U vehicles was reduced by 30 kW. The power curves have been adjusted so that the transition is as proportional as possible, and the altitude compensation for turbocharged T1 vehicles has been removed.

At the same time, TGR has continued to constantly improve the GR DKR Hilux T1, aiming to further improve its quality, durability and reliability, ensuring that the vehicle is fully prepared for the rigors of the Dakar Rally, the W2RC and the SARRC. Thus, improvements were made to the vehicle's differentials, suspension components and forks, which were strengthened. The single damper setup as well as the shifting characteristics of the transmission have also been optimised. Finally, the software has been retouched to accept the most modern competition fuel, and to ensure that the vehicle meets the performance balance requirements imposed by the FIA.

The team's commitment to the development of the GR DKR Hilux T1 is reflected in the private pilots community: seven versions of the model were entered for the Dakar 2023. These vehicles have configurations and specifications similar to those of the GR DKR Hilux T1 presented by the company's team.

TGR also supports Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body (TLC), a Toyota Auto Body Co Ltd rally team that competes with the Toyota Land Cruiser. At the 2022 Dakar Rally he achieved his ninth consecutive victory in the production model category. In the 2023 Dakar Rally, the team will participate with a new Land Cruiser 300 GR SPORT and will seek its tenth consecutive victory in the same category.

Hino Team Sugawara participated in the 2022 Dakar Rally with a vehicle equipped with a competition hybrid system for the first time, and ended up in 22nd place overall in the truck category. In the 2023 Dakar Rally, they will participate with a truck equipped with an improved hybrid system.

The 2023 Dakar will kick off on December 31, 2022 on the northwest coast of Saudi Arabia, before traveling inland to the city of Ha'il. From there, the route heads southeast, crossing the dreaded Empty Quarter, before eventually turning north to the Dammam goal on January 15, 2023.

Autonews