Colin-on-Cars - Ford dominates in the desert

The Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM) Ford Castrol Team scored an emphatic one-two finish in the EcoBoost V6-powered T1+ Ford Rangers at Round 3 of the South African Rally Raid Championship (SARRC), which was held in Jwaneng, Botswana, from 23-25 June 2023.

As the longest and toughest event of the year, the Toyota Gazoo Racing Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race is a three-day marathon event which covers almost 1 000km of racing through semi-arid terrain, characterised by unforgiving thorn bushes and lots of soft sand.

Despite the punishing conditions destroying bodywork on all the competitor cars and pushing the crews to the limit, the pair of NWM Ford Castrol T1+ Rangers ran almost fault-free throughout the weekend. The team wrapped up each of the three days on top of the overall standings to beat arch-rival Toyota – a team that currently holds the SARRC, Dakar Rally and World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) titles.

“This was a perfect weekend for us, and what a fantastic way to follow up our recent announcement that we will be going to Dakar Rally in 2024, in partnership with Ford Performance and M-Sport,” said Neil Woolridge, NWM Ford Castrol team principal. “We’re up against the world’s best rally raid team in the toughest conditions we face in our local championship, so dominating all three days and finishing first and second is an amazing result.

“We’ve been pushing extremely hard to develop our car this year, the team has been training hard and we’ve been practising changing key components like the differential which we swapped out on Lance’s car during the 30-minute service on Sunday due to a small oil leak,” Neil says. “Our drivers and navigators didn’t put a foot wrong the whole weekend, and we didn’t even get a single puncture. It’s immensely rewarding to see all of our hard work and long hours paying off with such a great result.”

Lance Woolridge and co-driver Kenny Gilbert (#234) set the wheels in motion for the NWM Ford Castrol squad by topping the timesheets during Friday’s 61km sprint qualifying session, with team-mates Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer (#277) placed fifth. A mere 23 seconds separated the top five competitors.

On Saturday the crews faced two loops of a 220km route east of Jwaneng through narrow, tight and twisty tracks lined by punishing thorn bushes and trees that decimated the bodywork of the vehicles, and had the drivers and co-drivers extremely busy for each stage kilometre. 

Although the cars looked decidedly worse for wear at the end of the day – which resulted in the team working until the early hours of Sunday morning to repair the damage – the pair of Ford Rangers were mechanically sound and had stamped their authority on the proceedings. Gareth and Boyd worked their way into the overnight lead with a margin of 2 min 54 seconds over Lance and Kenny, who were almost four minutes ahead of Toyota’s Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings.

Two loops of a 214km route west of Jwaneng remained for Sunday’s thrilling action, with more open and faster terrain providing some relief for the competitors, as well as the mechanics. Other than the rear diff replacement due to the minor oil leak on Lance’s car – which was swapped out within the allotted 30-minute service interval – the T1+ Rangers had a hassle-free run to the finish line while many of their rivals faltered with punctures, damage and mechanical issues.

Gareth and Boyd set an astonishing pace and cemented their advantage to claim a confident victory, with their team-mates backing them up and finishing 3 min 42 seconds adrift after more than 11 hours of flat-out racing over the three days.

“We couldn’t have scripted it better,” Gareth said. “A one-two for the team at the Desert Race, which is the toughest event of the year, is really special. It’s indicative of all the work we’ve been doing on the car, and we still have several upgrades that will be coming later in the year that we can look forward to.”

There was delight for Lance and Kenny too, as they celebrated finishing second overall to hand the NWM Ford Castrol Team a dominant one-two result, which also secured the pair’s first podium finish together since joining forces for the 2023 SARRC season. They ended 4 min 37 sec ahead of the third-placed Toyota of Guy Botterill/Simon Vacy-Lyle, and more than 21 minutes ahead of Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy in another Toyota.

“With us winning prologue on Friday, having Gareth and Boyd leading on Saturday, then wrapping it all up with our cars finishing first and second overall is a dream result for the team,” Lance said. “I think the last time a brand other than Toyota won the Desert Race was about seven years ago, so to get a one-two today for Ford is amazing.

“We could never have done it without our fantastic team. They worked until 03:30 this morning to fix all the damage from the route conditions, and were up again at 5am to get the cars ready for the day,” Lance said. “So they are the real heroes this weekend.”

NWM privateers

Wors Prinsloo and Andre Vermeulen (#241) in the NWM-supported privateer T1+ Ford Ranger were among the top contenders during Friday’s qualifying loop, finishing an impressive seventh overall, just over a minute off the leading time set by Lance Woolridge and Kenny Gilbert.

Unfortunately, they were hampered by a driveshaft issue both on Saturday and Sunday, but their qualifying pace was certainly noteworthy and outgunned several of the far more seasoned SARRC competitors.

There were two V8-powered NWM Ford Rangers competing in Class T, and both crews made it to the finish line. Hendrik and Heinrich du Plessis (#T16) took the class win and finished this arduous race in a highly commendable 12th place overall, while Bernard and Minette Johnstone (#T22) joined them on the second step of the podium, having crossed the line 25th overall.

2024 Dakar Rally

Ford Performance is set to expand its global motorsports effort by competing in the legendary Dakar Rally, one of the toughest off-road competitions on Earth.

A purpose-built, race-ready Ford Ranger T1+ will compete in the 2024 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in the Rally Raid T1+ class. Ford Performance is collaborating in a comprehensive test and development program with M-Sport and Neil Woolridge Motorsport to prepare for what is expected to be an extremely tough challenge come January 2024.

Words and Images: Colin Mileman

https://bit.ly/3pmBgI1

Colin-on-Cars - The desert bites back

The second week of Dakar bit hard as crews returned to action on Tuesday. Nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb and navigator Fabien Lurquin took their fourth stage win of the race at the top of a Prodrive Hunter 1-2-3. Loeb continues in his relentless pursuit of comfortable overall leader Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel’s TSA-built Gazoo Racing Toyota Hilux.

Sebastian Loeb

It’s not that simple in the bikes, however. Luciano Benavides’ Husqvarna took the day from Toby Price’s KTM, which closed third place Skyler Howes and his Husqvarna’s overall lead down to just three seconds after 3,000 km of racing! South African riders, Malle Moto leader Charan Moore and second in the rookies, Michael Docherty continued to star.

CARS: LOEB WINS, NASSER STILL IN CONTROL

Week 2 started with Tuesday’s 358 km stage comprising mainly of gravel roads and tracks, with a few dunes lurking towards the end of the day at Haradh. Lower altitudes were said to favour the rear wheel drive cars, which do not enjoy turbo boost compensation, as the 4x4s do. And with 7% of rocks announced, punctures were inevitable as teams pondered the best tyre pressure strategy.

Prodrive was clearly on a mission. Loeb, Chicherit and Zala’s Prodrives led the rear wheel drive trio of Jakub Przygonski’s Mini, Frenchmen Mathieu Serradori’s Century CR6-T, South African Brian Baragwanath’s Century CR6-T, and Mattias Ekstrom’s Audi.

Overall leader Nasser Al-Attiyah was initially the best of the SA-built Toyota Gazoo Racing Hiluxes in a row in eighth, ahead of second overall Lucas Moraes, Le Mans winner Romain Dumas and South Africans Giniel De Villiers and Dennis Murphy.

Giniel de Villiers

The week did not start well for Carlos Sainz Sr. and Lucas Cruz when they rolled their Audi RS Q e-Tron quattro into retirement only five kilometres into the stage. Second overall, South Africans Henk Lategan and Brett Cumming’s factory Gazoo Toyota was also in trouble but only lost 40 minutes thanks to Saudi home hero, Yazeed Al Rajhi and Dirk von Zitzewitz’s stopping to assist in their Hilux. 

It was tight up front with 12 minutes covering the top 20 cars at mid distance. The field also shuffled significantly through the morning as crews struggled to find the way. Zala led Loeb, Ekstrom and Dumas, but it was Loeb from Zala and Serradori at the next point.

Loeb duly fought Zala off, with Chicherit third for a Prodrive 1-2-3 from Ekstrom’s surviving Audi. Dumas was the first Toyota home in fifth, ahead of Przygonski’s 4x2 Mini, de Villiers, Attiyah, Sebastain Halpern’s Mini, and Moraes in tenth. The Centuries had a tough day. Baragwanath fought home in 11th as Serradori lost 33 minutes. Lategan ultimately dropped 53 minutes.

This all means that Al Attiyah now leads the overall standings by just over an hour ahead of Brazilian rookie, Lucas Moraes, who has really made an impression thus far. Relentless Loeb’s fourth Dakar 2023 stage win sees him move up to third, a further 28 minutes clear of the hapless Lategan, de Villiers and Dumas making it five SA-built Toyotas in the top ten. Martin Prokop’s Ford Raptor is seventh from Baragwanath’s SA built 4x2 Century.

All-Chinese crew Wei Han and Mai Li’s Hanwei SMG sits ninth from Juan Cruz Yacopini’s sixth SA made Toyota in tenth. Still running as we wrote, class leaders Daniel Schröder and SA navigator Ryan Bland’s SA-built Red-Lined VK50 led the T1.1 amateur class with Tom Bell and another SA navigator Gerhard Schutte second and 41st overall.

JUST AS TOUGH IN THE BIKES

Tough conditions up front and tricky virgin road navigation challenged Sunday’s bike frontrunners, who struggled to open the road. Mason Klein’s KTM, Honda Riders Adrien van Beveren and Pablo Quintanilla, Daniel Sanders’ GasGas, Botswana’s Ross Branch on his Hero and SA rookie Michael Docherty’s Husqvarna all got lost and tumbled down the day’s order. 

That left Toby Price, who started 17th on his Factory KTM, and Husqvarna counterpart Luciano Benavides, who set off 21st, trading the stage lead. Husqvarna duo R2 privateer Toni Mulec and overall leader Skyler Howes, fought over third and fourth. 

They took early advantage of finding their rivals returning from getting lost to lead the day. It went even worse for eighth overall, the hapless Joan Barreda who crashed out of the Dakar yet again after 16 km. He was airlifted to hospital in Riyadh. Third overall, Klein also fell and lost his roadbook.

Luciano Benavides

Luciano Benavides hung on for the win ahead of Price, Howes, Jose Florimo’s Honda, Kevin Benavides’ KTM and rookie Mulec. Van Beveren ended 12th, Quintanilla 18th, Sanders was 20th, SA hero Docherty 21st, Klein 23rd and Branch 28th. Overall, Howes leads Price by just three seconds after 3,000 km of racing! Kevin Benavides is five minutes back with Quintanilla and Klein more than 15 minutes adrift.

Of the SA riders, Docherty is 20th overall, second of the rookies by 9 minutes, and fifth in amateur R2. HK Husqvarna teammate and compatriot Charan Moore delivered another epic Malle Moto no service win to open up his lead in the Dakar Original class to over 23 minutes. 

Fellow South Africans, Stefan Wilken in 68th, and Malle Moto duo, Stuart Gregory and Kirsten Landman, were still racing in 83rd and 90th at the time of writing. Gregory was a virtual 68th overall,  Landman 78th and Wilken 80th as we wrote. The quads were also still running as outsiders Laisvydas Kancius and Marcelo Meredius led second overall Moreno Flores and overall leader Alexandre Giroud.

Elsewhere, Mitch Guthrie led the surprising Dania Akeel and overall leader Guilaume de Mevius in the T3 Prototype side by sides. SA crew, rookie leaders and 7th overall, Eben Basson and Abertus Pienaar’s GR Rally sat third on the day. 13th overall, another SA duo Geoff Minnitt and Gerhard Snyman’s HBE Can Am was running in 11th on Tuesday.

Up to a virtual second overall, Eryk Goczal led T4 side by side leader Rokas Baciuska and Jermais Gonzalez at the time of writing. And second overall Janus van Kasteren, Darek Rodewald and Marcel Snijders’ Iveco led Jaroslav Valtr’s Praga as overall leader Ales Loprais’ similar machine sat 7th among the trucks.

It’s a murderous 114 km of sand, sand, and more sand on Wednesday’s tenth Dakar 2023 stage from Haradh to Shaybah on Wednesday. The perfect scenario to turn the race once again on its head. 

Words: Motorsport Media

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Colin-on-Cars - Al-Attiyah still on top

Dakar 2023’s opening week has been a stunning success for South African men and machines, with incredible results across all categories. SA-built cars lead three of Dakar’s four car categories to the traditional midway rest day, as South African riders led the way among the two wheelers too.

Nasser Al-Attiyah

2022 car winners, Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah and navigator Mathieu Baumel’s Gazoo Racing Hilux leads a proudly South African built Toyota 1-2-3 overall. Five SA Hiluxes occupy the top six after the first half of the race. South Africans, Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s Century also leads the T1.2 4x2 class. German Daniel Schröder and his South African navigator, Ryan Bland,  also lead the amateur T1.1 4x4 car class in their South African built PS Red-Lined VK50 .

Sunday was a red letter day for Southern Africans on two wheels too. Botswana star Ross Branch stormed to victory amongst the bikes. SA rookie Michael Docherty was sixth to take the day in the amateur R2 class and slash his rookie class second overall to just five minutes behind leader Neels Theric. 33rd overall, Charan Moore took yet another Malle Moto win to consolidate his lead in the no service class.

Ross Branch

CARS: SOUTH AFRICAN DOMINATION

Navigation and opening the road up front appeared difficult on Sunday. Saturday’s car top five languished well down the order at mid distance. 31st place starters Carlos Sainz Sr. and Lucas Cruz’ Audi RS Q e-Tron led the way from overall leader Al Attiyah, and Sebastien Loeb in his Prodrive Hunter. Loeb later overtook Al Attiyah for second. 

Sainz’ woes continued as a speeding penalty cost him an almost certain stage win. Loeb therefore won the stage ahead of Al Attiyah and penalty-stricken veteran, Carlos Sainz Sr. in third. SA duo Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings were fourth as top ten runners, Romain Dumas and Max Delfino Dumas ended ninth, with Baragwanath 20th and Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy’s Gazoo Hilux 21st.

So, Al Attiyah leads a Toyota 1-2-3 by an hour from Lategan and rookie Moraes. Loeb has clawed back to fourth, seconds clear of de Villiers. Le Mans winner Dumas makes it five SA Hiluxes in the top six from Martin Prokop’s Ford Raptor in seventh and Baragwanath and Cremer’s SA-built Century that leads the T1.2 4x2 class in eighth overall.  Schröder and Bland’s SA Red-Lined also leads the amateur T1.1 4x4s. 

Looking back at the first week, the petrol-electric Audis hit the ground running. WRC legend Sainz took both the prologue and day 1 in the Audi. Al-Attiyah then won Day 2 as Sainz stayed ahead overall. Guerlain Chicherit’s Hunter took Day 3 as Attiyah in 13th moved into a lead he would not relinquish. Loeb then bounced back from his trouble the previous day to win on Wednesday.

Al Attiyah then consolidated his lead with double wins Thursday and Friday. Toyota GR Hilux duo, Saudi hero Yazeed Al Rajhi and Dirk van Zitzewitz hit back from a horrid week to win on Saturday before Loeb benefited from Sainz’ penalty to take a second win on Sunday.

Of the pros, Serradori sits 12th, Al Rajhi provisionally 17th, Prodrive trio Chicherit in 16th, Vaidotas Zala 39th and Orlando Terranova has retired. Sainz’ progress is scant reward after Dakar’s first week was particularly cruel to the highly vaunted petrol electric Audi team. He sits 37th overall with Ekstrom struggling and Stephane Peterhansel out after a disastrous first week.

Henk Lategan

BIKES: SA HEROES BRANCH, DOCHERTY, MOORE WIN

Sunday was also splendid for Southern Africa on two wheels. Botswana’s Ross Branch put a torrid first week behind him to take a storming win on his Hero. He ended a minute and 33 seconds clear of Mason Klein’s KTM, Daniel Sanders’ GasGas, Pablo Quintanilla and Adrien van Beveren’s Hondas, and SA rookie and R2 amateur class winner, Michael Docherty on his FK Husqvarna.

Branch and Docherty were in the mix from early Sunday, with Ross second behind Klein, and ahead of Sanders and Docherty. Branch moved into the lead as Pro riders, van Beveren on a Honda and Hero man Seb Bühler moved past Docherty as the morning wore on, but Iron Mike fought back to end sixth. 

South Africa’s no service Malle Moto Original class leader Charan Moore meanwhile enjoyed another productive ride to 33rd overall. Compatriots, Malle Moto duo Stuart Gregory was 80th, rookie Stevan Wilken 86th, and Iron Lady heroine Kirsten Landman 89th.

Kirsten Landman

The bike race has delivered exceptional racing with eight winners in eight days of racing. Toby Price’s KTM took the prologue before Ricky Brabec won day 1 on his Honda and then Klein took Monday’s race to lead overall. Sanders won on Tuesday, as Joan Barreda’s Honda then took Wednesday ‘s win as Sanders led overall.

Adrien van Beveren won Day 6 as the consistent American Skyler Howes took the overall lead on his Husqvarna. His teammate Luciano Benavides took Friday’s win as Howes stayed ahead overall. Saturday’s bike race was cancelled, before Branch made it 8 out of 8. Klein moved a mere 40 seconds clear of Howes overall, with Benavides, Price, Quintanilla, and van Beveren within 5 minutes of the lead.

Michael Docherty got off to a flying start early in the week, mixing it up with the pros up front, before struggling a little on the tough third and fourth days. He regrouped and forged back to second among the rookies. A fired up Sunday run saw him back up front to end sixth as he climbed to a provisional 21st overall at the rest day.

Charan Moore took control of Malle Moto from the get-go, winning the no service class on the prologue and four of the first seven days to emerge a comfortable original leader on Friday before Saturday’s stage was cancelled. 33rd on Sunday, he won Malle Moto again to sit 31st overall. Ross Branch suffered a dreadful midweek, before winning on Sunday to claw back to 35th overall.

Although exhausted by Friday, amateur SA Malle Moto duo Stuart Gregory and Kirsten Landman starred throughout. They sit 10th and 12th in the no service class, and 68th and 77th overall. Rookie Stevan Wilken had a clean run until a fall on Friday, but he bounced back to 80th overall.

Dakar has also been cruel to the bikers. 2022 winner Sam Sunderland and SA amateur Bradley Cox crashed out on Day 1. Sunday winner Brabec went out Monday and Hero rider Joaquim Rodriguez was one of ten bike retirements on Thursday. Sherco pro Rui Goncalves went out Friday, while Dakar has not been kind to troubled Hero duo Branch and Seb Bühler, among others.

Michael Docherty

EPIC ACTION IN ALL DAKAR CLASSES

Elsewhere, Christina Gutierrez Herrero took the T3 side-by-side prototype prologue. Red Bull teammates Francisco Lopez Contardo won Day 2, Mitch Guthrie day 3 and Austin Jones day 4. Guthrie won Thursday, and Seth Quintero Friday before Guilaume de Mevius broke the Red Bull stranglehold on Friday. Guthrie took a third win on Saturday and Joao Ferreira took the Sunday win.

Overall, de Mevius and Francois Casalet’s GR Racing leads a Red Bull throng of Jones, Quintero and Contardo after form man Guthrie fell well down after several issues. 7th placed  South African crew Eben Basson and Abertus Pienaar enjoyed a strong week to lead the T3 rookies in their GR Rally, with compatriots Geoff Minnitt and Gerhard Snyman 14th in their HBE Can Am.

Rokas Baciuska leads Marek and Eryk Goczal in the T4 side-by-sides. Baciuska won the prologue before teen sensation Eryk Goczal took Day 1 and dad Marek Goczal won Day 2. Cristian Batista won Tuesday, Eryk Goczal Wednesday, and Baciuska took Thursday’s stage. Marek won Friday, Baciuska Saturday, and Jeremias Gonzalez on Sunday. Mozambican Paulo Oliveira and Miguel Alberty sit 26th overall.

Dominant throughout the early days, Frenchman Alexandre Giroud took control of the quads. He then rolled back the throttle to control the pace over Pablo Copetti, Friday winner Moreno Flores, Saturday and Sunday winner Manuel Andujar, and rookie Juraj Varga overall.

Ales Loprais, Petr Pokora and Jaroslav Valr’s Praga leads the trucks overall from Martin van den Brink and Janus van Kasteren’s Ivecos. Martin Macik’s Iveco took the Prologue and Day 1 before Loprais won on Monday. Gert Huznik’s Iveco won on Tuesday before retiring on Wednesday when Macik won again. Loprais, van den Brink, van Kasteren and Macik took the next four stage wins.

Monday’s rest day will bring a much needed recharge to the four-wheeler crews after eight gruelling days of racing, while the bikers will enjoy their second day off in three. The action resumes on Tuesday with a rather different and mainly gravel 358 km long track. Tuesday’s stage will be the ninth of 14 stages to Haradh, where a few dunes will test crews toward the finish. 

Words: Motorsport Media

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Colin-on-Cars - Confident about the Dakar

There is a quiet air of confidence permeating the Toyota Gazoo Racing squad ready to tackle the 2023 Dakar Rally – and so there should be.

Fresh from a long stint of testing in the Namib Desert in Namibia, the three-car team consists of the current (and inaugural) World Rally-Raid Championship and winners of Dakar 2022, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel along with South Africa Rally-Raid Champion Giniel de Villiers and navigator Dennis Murphy as well as Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings.

Pretty much a ‘dream team.’

Giniel de Villiers

Nasser Al-Attiyah

Glyn Hall, TGR Dakar & SARRC Team Principal and Technical Director, says: “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 course of the year, and we’re confident that we are well-prepared to take on the rigours of the race, as well as our competition.”

This Dakar will mark the start of the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) 2023 season, with Nasser and Mathieu again taking on the world’s toughest cross-country races. The remaining crews will compete the rest of the season in the South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC), which also serves as a key component in the ongoing testing and development of the GR DKR Hilux T1+.

The tough 2022 racing season offered TGR comprehensive opportunities to improve the Dakar-winning GR DKR Hilux T1+ in terms of quality, durability and reliability.

The team capitalised on more than 25 000 km of racing and testing completed by its crews in both the W2RC and SARRC. Furthermore, the crews further built on their own competencies, thanks to 130 combined days on the road, securing both the W2RC and SARRC titles for the team.

For the 2023 season, the FIA has refined its criteria aimed at balancing the performance between the Class T1+ vehicles, and their counterparts in Class T1U (ultimate). The primary focus of the updated rules is to close up the field, making competition even tougher. 

For example, both the Class T1+ and T1U cars have had their peak power output reduced by 30 kW. The power curves have been adjusted to blend the change proportionately, and the altitude compensation for turbo powered T1+ cars has been removed.

At the same time, TGR has been constantly upgrading the GR DKR Hilux T1+, with the aim of improving its quality, durability and reliability even further, ensuring that the car is fully prepared for the rigours of the Dakar Rally, the W2RC and the SARRC.

As such, improvements have been made to the car’s differentials, suspension parts and wishbones, which have been reinforced. The single damper setup has also been optimised, as has the transmission’s shifting characteristics. Finally, the software has been tweaked to accept the latest racing fuel, and to ensure that the car conforms to the Balance of Performance requirements as set out by the FIA.

Dakar 2023 is set to start on December 31, 2022 on the North Western coast of Saudi Arabia, before traveling inland towards the city of Ha’il. From there, the route continues in a South-easterly direction, bisecting the feared Empty Quarter, before finally swinging northwards towards the finish at Dammam, on  January 15, 2023.

“Winning the 2022 W2RC title was my first goal, and I’m proud to say that we achieved it. Also, the car has been getting steadily better throughout the year, and with a final test in Namibia, I’m sure that we’ve locked in the best possible version of the GR DKR Hilux T1+yet. Now, all that remains is to go racing in Saudi Arabia,” says Nasser Al-Attiyah.

Giniel de Villiers added: “This year has offered some tough challenges, especially in terms of the SARRC.

“With that said, we managed to prevail to win the 2022 title, and as such we’ve grown considerably as a team. The car has also matched our personal growth, and we are excited to be back at the Dakar Rally this January. Winning the SARRC title has affirmed our belief that we are in the mix for overall victory this January, and we can’t wait for the race to start.”

https://bit.ly/3FxlIGz

Colin-on-Cars - Proudly South African Gazoo Hilux leads cars, but it's all change in the bikes

Proudly South African Toyota Gazoo Racing stars Nasser Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel kept an iron fist on their overall 2022 Dakar Rally lead on Day 10 in Saudi Arabia. Petrol-electric Audi duo Stephane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz dominated the day's 384 km car race to Bisha.

Stephane Peterhansel

KTM rider Toby Price meanwhile made up for a disastrous day for KTM by winning Wednesday’s race. But Yamaha’s Adrien van Beveren moved back into the 2 wheeler lead.

Dominate

While it was all about the Toyotas among the cars Tuesday, it was the chance of the Audi Sport RS Q e-trons to dominate on Wednesday as the Hiluxes opened the road. It may have taken Mr Dakar a while, but Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger finally scored his 49th Dakar day win.

They fought teammates Sainz and Lucas Cruz off for the honour. That moved Peterhansel to just one stage win short of Dakar legend Ari Vatanen’s record 50 stage victories in Audi’s third stage win of 2022.

Orlando Terranova and Daniel Carreras came home third in their BRX Hunter, ahead of the best of the South Africans, Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings’ Gazoo Toyota Hilux. Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s Hunter was next from Jakub Przygonski and Timo Gottschalk’s Mini.

Henk Lategan

Penalty

Overall leaders Al Attiyah and Baumel’s Gazoo Hilux in seventh, to keep their lead to Loeb and Lurquin above 30 minutes. That despite a 5 minute seatbelt penalty overnight. Yazeed Al Rajhi and Michael Orr’s Hilux is third from Terranova and Przygonski.

Tuesday winners, SA crew Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy’s Gazoo Hilux had a tougher day in 15th, as they slipped to sixth overall behind Przygonski. Compatriots, Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s SA built Century CR6 was 20th, Chris Visser and Rodney Burke’s similar machine 22nd and Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen’s Gazoo Hilux 23rd. Century pair, Ernest Roberts and Henry Kohne were 32nd and Schalk Burger and Henk Janse van Vuuren 47th.

SA navigators, Taye Perry ended 19th and Ryan Bland 57th.

Toby Price

Wednesday claimed another major bike scalp as 2021 winner and an overall contender for 2022 honours, Kevin Benavides retired with mechanical problems. KTM’s day went even worse, when overnight leader lost over seven minutes, something he could ill afford in such a tight race.

Front

Polish privateer Maciej Gizema was the surprise leader early on in a close race, before the big guns took over at the front. Juan Barreda's Honda then led until mid distance, when teammate Pablo Quintanilla took over. 

But Toby Price was having none of it and made up for KTM’s earlier disappointment to move ahead later in the day and take a two minute win. Luciano Benavides’ Husqvarna was second from Barreda, van Beveren's Yamaha, Lorenzo Santolino's Sherco and Andrew Short's Yamaha after Quintanilla also lost time later on.

The upshot of that is that Adrien van Beveren has moved back into a 5 minute bike lead over Sam Sunderland’s Gas Gas, Quintailla, Walkner, Barreda and Price.

Rookie

South African Aron Mare finished 16th on his Hero and sits 17th overall. His rookie compatriot, Bradley Cox was 30th on the day and sits 27th overall on his KTM. Original class quartet, SA rookie, Charan Moore was 46th and sixth in the no-service category, and Botswana's John Kelly 46th and 7th in class.

Fellow ‘Malle Moto’ SA men, Stuart Gregory was 65th overall and 16th in class and Werner Kennedy 94th overall and 23rd in Original. Swaziland’s Walter Terblanche was 87th and Mozambican Paulo Oliveira 100th on the day.

In the other Dakar classes, Marcelo Medeiros took the quad win in a decimated field. Overall leader Alex Giroud cruised to third after closest rival Pablo Copetti also hit trouble.

Trucks

Overall leader Austin Jones maintained a watching brief in the Side by Sides, while new UTV leader Seth Quintero led Christinia Gutierrez home. And overall leader Sotnikov was in charge of a Kamaz 1-2-3-4 among the trucks.

Just 510 kilometres of racing remain of the 4,000 km Dakar 2022 over the final two days. Thursday is a 346 km blast around Bisha, before the final 164 run to Jeddah on Friday.

ENDS

Issued on behalf of Dakar 2022 Daily News

For further information please contact info@motorsportmedia.co.za

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Colin-on-Cars - De Villiers beats Lategan as Attiyah extends overall lead in third

Tuesday’s eighth Dakar Rally 2022 proved the best ever from a South African point of view. Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy led teammates Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings and overall leaders Nasser Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel to a delightful Gazoo Toyota Hilux 1-2-3.

Giniel de Villiers

Al Attiyah and Baumel meanwhile consolidated their rally lead, while several other South African car and bike crews impressed. Honda rider Jose Florimo won the bike day as Mattias Walkner moved ahead overall for KTM.

Romp

It was a purple day on the Dakar time sheets for the Proudly South African team. Lategan and Cummings led the way early on, before de Villiers and Murphy took over up front after 120 km of the mountainous 287 km romp around Wadi Ad-Dawasir.

Giniel went on to take his 18th Dakar stage win by just nine seconds from Henk. Attiyah and Baumel came home a minute adrift, with Monday’s winners Audi RS Q e-Tron rookies Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist next home. Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s BRX Hunter was fifth.

Brian Baragwanath

It was a good day all round for South African crews. Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s made in SA Century CR6 was 9th, Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen’s Gazoo Hilux 11th. Three more all-South African Century CR6s, Chris Visser and Rodney Burke ended 27th, Ernest Roberts and Henry Kohne 37th, and Schalk Burger and Henk Janse van Vuuren 44th.

SA navigators, Taye Perry ended 23rd alongside bike legend Cyril Despres in a Peugeot and Ryan Bland 44th with Daniel Schroder in their SA-built Red-Lined VK 50.

Overall

Overall, Al Attiyah and Baumel opened their overall advantage over Loeb and Lurquin, who escaped a time penalty for losing a spare wheel in the desert on Monday with a fine, to almost 40 minutes. Saudi home hero Yazeed Al Rajhi and Michael Orr’s Hilux sat a further 19 minutes adrift in third.

De Villiers and Murphy meanwhile jumped two more places up to fifth, just nine minutes behind Orlando Terranova and Daniel Carreras' BRX Hunter. Variyawa and Stassen sit 14th, Baragwanath and Cremer 16th. 

Tuesday’s bike stage proved a straight fight between Honda teammates, Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo and Californian Ricky Brabec, who swapped the lead a few times through the day.

Matthias Walkner

Cornejo won, but KTM’s Argentine Honda refugee Kevin Benavides sneaked into second ahead of Brabec late in the day. Another factory KTM man, Mattias Walkner rode in fourth ahead of Spain’s Juan Barreda Bort’s Honda and American Andrew Short’s Yamaha. 

Tough

Overnight leader Sam Sunderland had a tough day in 14th, eight minutes off Flormino’s pace. Which means that he now slips to second, two minutes behind Walkner. Yamaha’s Adrien van Beveren, Honda rider Pablo Quintanilla, Benavides and Barreda are all close enough to benefit any mistakes up front.

South African super sub Aron Mare ended 21st on his Hero and sits 17th overall. It was not a good day for SA rookie Bradley Cox, losing time as he lost an hour in the stage to come home 90th and slip to 27th overall.

Another SA rookie, Charan Moore was 35th overall and second in the no-service Original class. Botswana's John Kelly rode home 46th after breaking into the top 40 earlier in the day, and 7th in Original.

They remain fourth and seventh overall in Original. Fellow ‘Malle Moto’ men, Stuart Gregory was 83rd overall and 17th in class and Werner Kennedy 91st overall and 22nd in Original. They sit 12th and 21st overall in Original. Swaziland’s Walter Terblanche ended 82nd on Monday, Mozambican Paulo Oliveira 113rd.

Quad

In the other Dakar classes, Pablo Copetti beat Marcelo Medeiros to the quad win as Copetti took a couple of minutes out of overall leader Alex Giroud’s half hour advantage.

Overall leader Austin Jones split Goczal brothers Marek and Michel in the Side by Sides and Seth Quintero beat overall leader Francisco Lopez Contardo to lightweight honours. And the Russians remain unbeaten in the tricks, where Nikolaiev took the day ahead of overall leader Sotnikov.

Tuesday’s 384 km race from Wadi Ad Dawasir to Bisha is said to be one of the fastest of Dakar 2022’s 4,000 km of racing through the Saudi Arabian Desert. The Dakar Rally concludes in Jeddah on Friday.

Henk Lategan

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Colin-on-Cars - SA-built Toyotas 1-2-4-5 as South Africans star in Dakar Rally Day 6

Nasser Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel now lead a proudly South African Toyota Hilux Dakar 1-2 by over 50 minutes after another tough day in the Arabian dunes.

Argentine duo Orlando Terranova and Daniel Carreras' BRX Hunter won day 6 in the cars. It was a positive day for South African crews. Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s Century fourth and Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen’s Gazoo Hilux seventh.

Brian Baragwanath

Gas Gas duo Sam Sunderland and Daniel Sanders led a truncated bike stage as Botswana  hero Ross Branch tumbled out of the race.

The cars and other four wheelers swapped their Thursday routes with the bikes and quads for Friday's 421 kilometre Dakar Day raid around Riayadh ahead Saturday’s well-earned rest day. It was not without those regular Dakar dramas. Despite many tracks to follow, the day-to-day results yo-yo continued as the first cars and bikes on the road once again suffered greatly while opening the way. 

First and second cars away Friday morning, Toyota Gazoo Hilux duo Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings and Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s BRX Hunter fared well enough through the first sector. But they dropped well out of contention by the second waypoint to join third and fourth crews away, Luciano Alvarez and Araman Monelon’s Hilux and Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier’s Century CR6 well outside of the top 30.

Nasser Al Attiyah

Seventh away Friday morning, overall leaders Nasser Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel’s Gazoo Hilux moved ahead by the 120 km waypoint. They were pursued by Terranova, Swedes Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist’s petrol-electric Audi and Baragwanath and Cremer’s CR6. Saudi home hero Yazeed Al Rajhi and Michael Orr, and Variawa and Stassen’s Hiluxes were next. All of them had started outside the top 15.

The drama escalated later in the stage, when positions, and the lead chopped changed as crews struggled to find their way. By the time the dust had settled, Terranova had taken the day from Ekström, Al Rajhi and Baragwanath. Nani Roma and Alex Bravo's BRX Hunter popped up in fifth ahead of Bernhard ten Brink and Sébastien Delaunay’s Hilux, which pipped Variawa to sixth. Al Attiyah ended up tenth, but well ahead of his closest overall challenger, Al Rajhi, who moved to second, 6 seconds clear of Loeb.

South African factory Hilux crew, Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy’s ended a provisional 14th, but their day was made when their 5 hour penalty for bumping a biker was retracted on new evidence, catapulting them back up to fourth on Friday evening. Which means that there are four Toyota in the top five with Attiyah leading Al Rajhi, with Loeb's Hunter third ahead of de Villiers and Alvarez.

Shameer Variawa

of the other South Africans, Lategan and Cummings 30th. Thursday’s heroes Chris Visser and Rodney Burke’s ended 33rd, while Century teammates Ernest Roberts and Henry Kohne were running in the top 30, Schalk Burger and Henk Janse van Vuuren in the top 60. SA navigators Taye Perry was 35th and Ryan Bland 56th. Overall. Visser provisionally sat 14th, Variyawa 17th and Baragwanath 18th.

It was a similar scenario in the bikes, which did not start well for Thursday's top two. MotoGP hero Danilo Petrucci crashed his KTM and dropped out of the top 50. Even worse off, Ross Branch tumbled from his Yamaha and was forced to retire. Up front meantime, in spite of the many tracks to follow, the route challenged the riders who opened the special are having serious navigation problems after 100 km, so as with the cars, the order was shaken up early on

The motorcycle race was stopped at the second of the day’s planned 8 checkpoints as the track had become dangerous after being churned up by the cars ad trucks on Thursday. At which point Gas Gas duo, third man overall Sam Sunderland led overall leader Daniel Sanders and  second overall Mattias Walkner’s KTM. SA riders, Aron Mare was 26th, Charan Moore 28th, John Kelly 34th, Stuart Gregory 67th, Werner Kennedy 81st, Paulo Oliveira 96th and Walter Terblanche 97th. Mare is 16th overall, Cox 20th and Moore 38th.

Giniel de Villiers - back in the hunt

In the other Dakar classes, as ever in the trucks where overall leader Karginov led overall leader Sotnikov and Nikolaiev home in a Kamaz 1-2-3. Marek Goczal beat overall leader Rodrigo de Oliveira, and Sergei Kariyakin in the Side by Sides and Seth Quinterio and Christina Gutierrez led overall leader Francisco Contardo home in the  for UTV honours. And Alexandre Giroud and Russian Alexei Maksimov headed overall leader Pablo Copetti in the quads. 

78 of the 92 cars, 130 of the 144 motorcycles, 100 of the 117 lightweights and quads and 53 of 56 trucks that started 2022’s 44th Dakar Rally on New Years Day, reached the halfway point at Riyadh on Friday. Saturday is Dakar’s traditional rest day, before crews continue on their epic 4,000 km race on a 6,500 km route across the Saudi Arabian Desert to the finish in Jeddah on Friday 12 January. Sunday’s seventh stage is a 299 km race over the dunes to Al Dawadimi.

ENDS

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