TOYOTA GAZOO Racing to Compete in Four Cars at 2022 Dakar Rally

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will participate in the Dakar Rally, which will start on January 2, 2022, in Saudi Arabia, with a team of four cars. As in 2021, Nasser Al-Attiyah and his navigator Mathieu Baumel will lead the team. Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy in the second car; Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings, who will compete in the Dakar races for the second time in the third car, and Shameer Variawa Danie Stassen in the fourth car will race.

The team will compete in the all-new Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+ vehicle, built according to the updated regulations for the T1 category. The prototype vehicle, on the other hand, continues its tests before it will be shown in late 2021, covered with carbonfibre.

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, which has become more assertive on the Dakar 2021 experience, will compete with experienced names such as Nasser and Giniel, as well as rising names in sports such as Henk. Shameer, on the other hand, will aim to further his 21st place achieved in the previous race.

Nasser and Mathieu, who won in 2019 and finished second in 2021, have won the Andalusia Rally and Spain Aragon Baja races and want to carry this high performance to Dakar.

Giniel and Dennis, who will compete in the team's other vehicle, performed successfully in the South African Cross-Country Series, where the development of the Toyota Dakar Hilux was also carried out. Henk, who made a start in Dakar that attracted the attention of the whole world, gained experience by winning several times in South Africa.

Along with Toyota's philosophy of making better cars, the racing team continues to further develop the Hilux with its experience from rallies. Made according to the new regulations, the new Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+ will have larger and wider tires and updated suspensions.

The Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+ is equipped with a 300-liter twin-turbo V3.5 engine from the all-new Toyota Land Cruiser 6. Producing 415 PS and 650 Nm of torque in its standard form, this engine will have much higher powers in the racing version.

Although the final route for the 2022 Dakar race has not been announced yet, stages similar to 2020 and 2021 are expected. The race, which will start on January 2 in Hail, Saudi Arabia, will end on January 14 in Jeddah.