SA-built Hilux wins Dakar 2019!

The number 301 Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Toyota Hilux of Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel took overall honours at the 2019 Dakar Rally yesterday, bringing home the first-ever Dakar Rally victory for Toyota.

“We are so happy to win the Dakar – not only for ourselves, but also for Toyota and the entire Toyota Gazoo Racing SA team. Everyone has worked so hard for so long, and really deserves this. Thank you for letting us drive this car,” the race winner said.

Al Attiyah/Baumel and teammates South African Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz, in the number 302 Hilux, completed the final stage of the rally together. With the stage having been started in reverse order, De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz pulled out their deck chairs (literally) and waited nearly 55 minutes for the leaders to start the stage, in order to shadow them to the finish.

De Villiers’s hopes of another Dakar win (his previous being in 2009) were dashed early on when his Hilux suffered serious damage after hitting a hidden rock. He showed his class, however, and managed to pilot the 302 Hilux up to a top-ten finish, ending the 2019 event in ninth place, 7:59:16 behind the overall winner.

“Obviously we came here to try to win the race,” said De Villiers, who actually lost a place in the overall rankings during the 55-minute wait. “Once that dream ended, we were happy to support Nasser and Mathieu’s effort. If we couldn’t win it ourselves, the next best thing was for one of our teammates to take the victory, and I am overjoyed at the final result.”

Full of emotion, team principal Glyn Hall commented that the victory was long overdue. “Winning the Dakar is never easy – there are a lot of people trying. This year’s race was no exception, and brought a rollercoaster of emotions and results for the team.”

Another victory for Kamaz in the Trucks category
Russian driver Eduard Nikolaev piloted his number 500 Kamaz to another Dakar victory, 25:36 ahead of the second-place finisher, teammate Dmitry Sotnikov in the number 514 Kamaz. This was Nikolaev’s third Dakar victory on the trot.

The third step on the podium was taken by Gerard De Rooy in the 503 Petronas Team De Rooy Iveco, 1:34:44 later. With De Rooy holding firm in third place since stage four, the two Kamaz Master Team vehicles jostled for the top spot in almost every stage of the race.

“The race pushed people and vehicles to the end of their tether. We constantly felt the pressure of our rivals. We are particularly happy that the truck did not let us down. This is a brand-new generation of race trucks, created in accordance with the new regulations of the race. During the last year, the whole team spent a lot of effort on its development, construction and adjustment,” said Nikolaev.

Vladimir Chagin, Kamaz Master Team leader, commented: “Dakar-2019 will be remembered for its extreme complexity. An intense struggle kept everyone in suspense until the last day of the race. For us, it was important to prove the advantage of the Russian technology and our motorsport school. It is especially pleasant that we managed to get this victory in the year of Kamaz’s 50th anniversary.”

The top-ten Trucks category finishers were: