Colin-on-Cars - The sting in the tail

Saturday’s 154-kilometre stage through the dunes to Al Hofuf would prove a dramatic dream breaker for some. South African T1.2 leaders Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer, who suffered a hard landing, flipped, and damaged their Factory Century. The car was towed out of the stage. Another Century driver, Yannick, was airlifted to hospital after another crash.

Up front, Sebastien Loeb and his navigator Fabian Lurquin stormed to an unprecedented sixth straight Dakar stage win and his seventh of 2023 in their Factory Prodrive Hunter. His relentless pursuit has however hardly made a dent over second place in todays stage, the wholly unflustered Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel who have an hour and 21-minute overall lead in their Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux DKR T1+.

Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel

Mattias Ekstrom’s surviving Audi was third ahead of South Africans Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings’ Gazoo Hilux, home hero Yazeed Al Rajhi’s GR Hilux, and best of the 4x2s Jakub Przygonski’s Mini. Rookie sensation Luca Moraes was seventh in his Hilux from Guerlain Chicherit’s Hunter, Juan Yacopini’s Hilux, and SA duo Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy’s Gazoo Hilux.

Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings

Outside the top ten, Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier’s second Century recovered to 12th after a difficult start to close on new class leader Wei Han’s 4x2 advantage down to 2 minutes 30. Overall, Attiyah leads Loeb, Moraes, de Villiers and Lategan. Martin Prokop’s Ford Raptor sat sixth after a tough day, from Yacopini, up four places overall but closely followed by Han and Serradori.

Thomas Bell and SA navigator Gerhard Schutte led Daniel Schröder and his SA notes man Ryan Bland home to another South African Red-Lined Racing T1.1 amateur class 1-2. Schröder and Bland lead Bell and Schutte in a comfortable Red-Lined 1-2 overall, with all four of the maker’s cars still running into Sunday’s short final stage.

MORE DRAMA IN EPIC BIKE RACE 

As it was in the cars, the bikes also delivered great late Dakar drama. The day started with news that tenth overall US KTM youngster Mason Klein had thrown in the towel after struggling since a Day 9 crash. Then ninth overall KTM factory rider Matthias Walkner crashed heavily, as third overall, teammate Kevin Benavides stopped to help until Walkner was airlifted out.

Kevin Benavides

Benavides would ultimately gain his lost time back, but that kept him invisible through the day.  His pace was however clearly quicker than the men up front. Heroic South African rookie Michael Docherty’s FK Husqvarna led the way from brother Luciano Benavides’ Factory Husqvarna and Adrien van Beveren’s Honda, as overall top two, Price and Howes fought in sixth and seventh.

Docherty ultimately benefited a Luciano Benavides penalty to top the times, with overnight leader Toby Price’s KTM third from Husqvarna privateer Romain Dumontier, second overall Skyler Howes’ Husqvarna, Pablo Quintanilla’s Honda, privateer Tosha Schareina’s KTM and Botswana’s double ‘23 stage winner Ross Branch’s Hero in ninth. Kevin Benavides was provisionally placed 31st overall.

All of which left Price leading Howes overall. But the world awaited news of Kevin Benavides’ corrected time, which ultimately saw him regain over 23 minutes. So, Kevin Benavides not only took the day win, but he also moved up to second overall, just twelve seconds from KTM teammate Price.  Howes sat just a minute and 31 seconds off the pace in third.

SOUTH AFRICANS STAR ALL THE WAY

Another South African, Charan Moore made more waves in the desert sand a little further back. He stormed home 29th on Sunday to move back into a 17 minute overall Malle Moto Original class lead on his R2 FK Husqvarna. Considered the ultimate Dakar iron man adventure, Malle Moto riders are not allowed backup of any kind, and must service their own machines out of small metal box.

Charan Moore

SA lady and gentlemen riders, Stuart Gregory goes into the final day in 63rd overall and tenth in Malle Moto, lady star Kirsten Landman 71st overall and 12th in Malle Moto and rookie Stevan Wilken 73rd overall. Marcelo Medeiros took another quad stage win from Giovanni Enrico and Moreno Flores, but Alexandre Giroud takes a 44-minute lead over Flores going into the final stage on Sunday.

Mitch Guthrie again won the T3 SSV day. SA rookie leaders Eben Basson and Abertus Pienaar were ninth and Geoff Minnitt and Gerhard Snyman 24th. Austin Jones has a strong overall lead with Basson seventh and Minnitt 12th. Second overall, Eryk Goczal beat leader Rokas Baciuska on Sunday, to close Baciuska’s advantage down to 3 minutes 24 in T4 SSV. Janus van Kasteren led the trucks overall. 

A 134 km short, sandy and gravel track road through a pan or two is all that now separates the 2023 field form the Dakar finish in Damman. Judging by Saturday’s late dramas however, it will not be over until that fat lady sings.

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.”

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Colin-on-Cars - Poised to strike

With titles at stake the final round of the SA Endurance Championship takes on an international flavour in the form of Italians Gianmaria Gabbiani, Alberto Huober and Mags Govender in Backdraft Roadster #33 as part of the mix.

The finale is set to be a title-deciding thriller fought out over nine hours at the Killarney International Raceway in Cape Town as part of the Southern African Endurance Series Cape Motorsport Festival on December 9 and 10.

There are 10 teams racing the open-topped rumbling Lexus V8-powered Backdraft Roadsters are riding high in the fight for the coveted Index of Performance Championship, while the overall points table features seven Backdraft teams in the top 10.

Adding to the pressure to deliver strong results is the Class E title which will also be resolved at the Cape Motorsport Festival.

Against the backdrop of South Africa’s largest motor sport music festival, Team Pesty Racing’s Harm/Barend Pretorius will be out to defend their slender six point lead by repeating their Index victory last time out at Aldo Scribante, while also fighting off their rivals for the Class E crown which they also lead by nine points.

Hot on Team Pesty’s heels is Benjamin Morgenrood (Ben Morgenrood Ford and Mazda) who will be helped by his brother Crisjan, who missed the Scribante double header due to exams and plummeted to 11th in the standings. Father Ben, a doyen of SA motor sport missed the opening round and lies ninth on the points table. The Morgenrood trio will do everything in their power to help Benjamin take one or both of the titles up for grabs.

Alone

Colin Ellison is third in the Index standings – seven points adrift of Morgenrood – having raced his black and gold Titan Historic F1 Racing Backdraft to an Index victory in East London. Ellison is alone in his fight having raced with multiple co-drivers during the season. He has, however, elected to sit out the 9-Hour.

Team Qhubani’s Baphumze Rubuluza/Fikile Holomisa has been a model of consistency until round six which saw their first non-finish in over a year. Their third place on Index in round five has been their best result so far, and they will be joined by Xolela Njumbunxa for this occasion. They are 37 points off the lead but with 100 available, anything can still happen.

Rejoining the fray is the PPLE and Adapt entry of Philip Meyer, Mark Harvey and Dean Wolson with their fully re-furbished Backdraft. The trio won the Index of performance in round two and could be a dark horse this time around in their Panda-liveried machine.

An interesting entry is the #33 car to be driven by Italians Gianmaria Gabbiani, Alberto Huober and Mags Govender. Gabbiani has raced go-karts, single-seaters, touring cars and stock cars and won a Class One World Powerboat Championship and scored two Endurance Powerboat World Championships. Huober is a classic car restorer and dealer and has also raced powerboats.

Other key players in the Class E and Index of performance title chase include the trio of Trevor Graham, a veteran rally and endurance racer teamed with Mark Owen and Richard van Heerde.

Four drivers make up the #8 Backdraft entry headed by former Off-Road Class D Champion Manfred Schroeder, Meredith Wills, Michael Gaines and KZN regional racer Reg Sutton who should be chased by Joburg newcomers Malcolm and Mpostine Bhengu.

The Index of Performance has been won four times by Backdraft Roadster teams in the preceding six rounds. It is not a foregone conclusion that a Backdraft entry will win the Index of Performance Championship but the fight for the title will be breath-taking to watch.

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