Qatari prince Nasser Al-Attiyah together with his faithful French co-driver, Mathieu Baumel, successfully defended the Dakar title won with the Toyota Gazoo Racing team in 2022, bringing their Gr Dkr Hilux T1+ to the finish line of the final stage on January 15 at the first place in the general classification with a lead of 1 hour and 20 minutes and 49 seconds. Dakar 2023: highlights of the most demanding rally raid in the world We were two days following the caravan of the Dakar 2023, when it stopped in Ha’il and we realized, touching first hand, the commitment, dedication and passion that the organizers, teams and crews put into the success of this event. Departure with prologue on January 31st at Sea Camp on the Red Sea to then cross Saudi Arabia and reach Dammam on the shores of the Persian Gulf on January 15th. There are therefore 14 internships with a rest day set for January 9 in the capital Riyadh. In total, the crews covered 8,549 kilometres, 4,706 of which are useful for classification purposes. We remind you that in some stages, rings have been provided, so as to keep the bivouac in the same place. After half the race several twists had already happened: Audi received the Balance of Performance but first Peterhansel and then Sainz had to raise the white flag due to accidents so as to give Nasser Al-Attiyah the keys to victory as the another suitor, Loeb, had already fallen behind a long way. Dakar 2023: the last stage with the coronation of Nasser The final stage of the Dakar 2023 was a 136 km long trial which started from the Al-Hofuf bivouac. The competitors had to complete a short 167km liaison before tackling stage 14, which was then followed by a final 100km connection to the podium in the coastal city of Dammam. For Nasser this was his fifth victory in the Dakar Rally, while for Mathieu, his co-driver, it is the fourth victory of the race. The pair have won three times for Toyota, with the latest victories coming in a back-to-back demonstration of quality, durability and reliability for the Japanese manufacturer. The crew took the lead of the race on the second stage and never relinquished their leadership position. Excellent second place for Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin who, despite the delay accumulated in the first stages, managed to get back together in the final stages bringing home an excellent performance. Rounding out the podium were the young Brazilian Lucas Moraes and Timo Gott Schalk again on Toyota who lost a position right in the final stages of the race. Dakar 2023: four Toyota Hilux T1+ in the Top 5 Giniel de Villiers, who completed his 20th consecutive Dakar Rally by crossing the finish line near Dammam, finished the rally fourth in the overall standings. This accomplishment brings his total number of Top 5 finishes to 15, including a win in 2009. Dakar 2023 will long be remembered by Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings as a race that could have gone very differently for them. They went as far as second in the overall standings, before two setbacks pushed them down the order. The pair showed great pace throughout the rally and hope to be able to demonstrate their speed more clearly in future editions. Despite the struggles, they finished fifth overall, less than 5 minutes behind their fourth-placed teammates. Dakar 2023: a bitter taste for Audi despite the good results A Dakar 2023 not like expectations for the German team from Ingolstadt which has developed a truly innovative and competitive car with a leading line-up but which, unfortunately, had to deal with the perils of the desert seeing a only crew of the three reach the finish line in 14th position. But despite the unforeseen events, the Audi Sport team has seen the technical competitiveness of the electric RS Q e-tron E2 confirmed. In fact, the innovative electric prototype with range extender achieved a total of 14 podiums in 15 days of competition, including the prologue. In addition, for the first time the crews of the four rings held the absolute leadership of the race for three days. And, even seeing the external passages, the impression is of an innovative car that makes noise (it’s the internal combustion engine that acts as a range extender) and that easily climbs the most impervious dunes. The road seems to be that of the future which can give concrete performance (with Toyota which has extensive experience in motorsport it was a good testing ground) perhaps with a little more luck.
