A day at Gerotek with Toyota Gazoo Racing was an eye opener for me, even after 20 years of motoring journalism including many on-track and off-road experiences. Before you ask if I got to drive the Yaris GR, the answer is no.
That will come later. What did excite (at first) and then frighten me was a couple of quick, special stage laps in the navigator’s seat of a Dakar Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux, driven by one of my heroes, Giniel de Villiers.
Assuring me that he did not require my help with navigating, he proceeded to scare the jeans off me by trying his best to destroy all of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s mechanical expertise at creating a bomb-proof Dakar bakkie.
If I could have navigated, all I would have said would be “slow down, danger ahead”. Large boulders are to be avoided but large rocks are there to test the tyres and suspension. Being mechanically minded, I have no idea how both those and the rest of the car can cope with that sort of punishment over a few weeks of Dakar torture.
I often joke with a friend that we should modify one of his old Jaguar XJ6 cars and Join in on the fun (in the classics section, of course). Well, I’ll now put that idea to bed as I don’t think I would last 10 minutes in any car if this is was what to expect. Let’s hope Giniel gets another win next year.
We also were taken for a few laps of the twisty handling track at Gerotek. This in a Toyota Gazoo Racing Global Touring car driven by Mandla Mdakane. Thankfully this was less stress on the back but the helmets took a beating against the roll bar as you tried to keep your head attached to your neck. The noise levels were high from a lack of any sound deadening and vibration was harsh.
The final event was a new product launched by Toyota SA called Easydrift. This consists of a low friction tyre cover that is placed over the rear wheels of any car. In this case automatic Toyota Corollas were used. The rear-end brakes away with a flick of the steering wheel at low speeds (around 35 km/h) and can be used for the vitally important training of drivers to control a car that gets into a skid.
Many accidents can be avoided by this training. Most of us have seen the results of an uncontrolled skid when someone swerves to avoid a dog on a freeway or to avoid a collision, goes into a skid and fails to apply opposite lock, sometimes more than once to maintain stability. The beauty of this product is that it obviates the need for an expensive skid pan.
It was a tough opening stage at Dakar 2020 for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, as a total of eleven punctures hamstrung the four Toyota Hilux crews.
Defending champions, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel, set the early pace, but three punctures just 100 km from the end of the 319 km-long special stage saw the Qatari and his French co-driver drop down the order to fifth place, some 5min 33sec behind stage winners, Vaidotas Zala and Saulius Jurgelenas (MINI).
“It was a disappointing end to a fantastic stage for Nasser and Mathieu,” said TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Team Principal, Glyn Hall, after the crews reached the bivouac at Al Wajh. “They set the pace from the get-go, and they were on for an emphatic victory. But then fate intervened, and as a result they’ll have a bit of a fight on their hands for the next few days.”
Teammates Giniel de Villiers and Spanish co-driver, Alex Haro, had it even worse than the Qatari and his French co-driver. The pair suffered four punctures during the stage, and had to stop three times to change wheels. The final puncture was a slow leak, and the pair managed to make their way to the finish after inflating the tyre using the manual on-board inflation system.
“It was nervous end to the stage, as we had no spares left,” said the South African motorsport legend. “The fact that I was under the weather didn’t help either.”
The punctures set the crew on the back foot, and they ended the day in 14th place, some 23min 16sec behind the leaders.
They were bested on the day by teammates Bernhard ten Brinke and Tom Colsoul, who had only two punctures during the stage. The flying Dutchman went fifth-fastest, losing just 6min 30sec to the stage winners. He reported a clean run, other than the punctures, and praised the Toyota Hilux’s performance.
The Spanish duo of Fernando Alonso and Marc Coma successfully completed their first ever Dakar stage together. They also suffered two punctures, and lost additional time due to some problems with navigation. Beyond that, however, the pair sailed through their maiden Dakar stage together, and are ready to tackle Stage 2.
The next stage will see the Dakar crews take on a 367 km-long special stage between the cities of Al Wajh and Neom, on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast. The terrain along the Red Sea promises more hard-pack and rocky tracks, which could play havoc with the tyres again. Dakar 2020 is scheduled to conclude in Riyahd on Friday, 17 January, after 12 competitive stages.
STAGE 1 Results – TOYOTA GAZOO Racing:
5. Nasser Al-Attiyah / Mathieu Baumel +05:33
6. Bernhard ten Brinke / Tom Colsoul +06:30
11. Fernando Alonso / Marc Coma +15:27
14. Giniel de Villiers / Alex Haro +23:16
