AL-ATTIYAH/BAUMEL LEAD DAKAR 2022 WITH ONE STAGE TO GO

Jan 13, 2022

Nasser/Mathieu extend their overall lead
Giniel/Dennis fastest of the TGR crews on Stage 11
Strong result for Shameer/Danie
Time loss for Henk/Brett despite great team spirit

The penultimate stage of Dakar 2022 saw TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel maintain their lead at the head of the field, when they went 7th-fastest on Stage 11, just 6min 42sec behind the stage winners. At the same time, their nearest competitors were handed a 5min penalty for speeding in a controlled zone, which helped to increase the GR DKR Hilux T1+ crew’s lead to 33min 19sec in the overall standings.

Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings started Stage 11 three cars ahead of Nasser and Mathieu, but pulled over shortly after the start to let the leaders pass. This would allow Henk and Brett to assist the leading car, should anything happen during the 346km stage which started and finished near the bivouac at Bisha. This gave Nasser and Mathieu some peace of mind, as they picked their way through a tough stage, with many tricky dunes to navigate.

Unfortunately for Henk and Brett, the plan came to nothing when they first suffered a puncture, dropping them down in the ranks, before breaking a lower control arm during a dune crossing. The latter problem cost them nearly 2hr on the stage, and left them well behind Nasser and Mathieu at the end. The pair battled on despite their setbacks, and brought the car home safely. They remain out of contention in the overall standings, after losing significant time early in the race.

Stage 11 brought another good result for Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy, who found themselves outside the Top 5 after ten stages. They pushed hard through the tricky stage, posting the 5th-fastest time on the day, only 5min 11sec behind the stage winners. This moved them up into 5th place in the overall standings, 12min 42sec behind the crew in 4th place.

Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen completed the penultimate stage of Dakar 2022 14min 6sec behind the stage winners. This was good enough for 23rd on the day, and saw the South Africans in 14th place in the overall standings, 3hr 51min 36sec behind the lead. The pair have steadily improved their stage performances, after a hesitant start to the rally, as well as a run of bad luck early one.

All four TOYOTA GAZOO Racing cars remain in the rally after 11 stages. Nasser and Mathieu took an early lead after winning both the prologue and the opening stage of the race, and managed to maintain their lead throughout the event. Giniel and Dennis started strong, but lost time due to a broken oil pipe mid-race. They’ve clawed their way back into the Top 5, with just one stage to go.

The final stage of Dakar 2022 is set between the cities of Bisha and Jeddah. At only 165km in length, this is the shortest stage of the event, but the team is sure to treat it with the necessary respect. There will be a long liaison of 230km before the stage, with another liaison of 286km after, taking the crews to the finish podium in Jeddah. The 12th and final stage will bring the total competitive milage of the rally to 4,261km, with the overall total, including liaisons, coming to 8,119km.

QUOTES:

Glyn Hall, Team Principal:“If someone had offered me the chance to lead the Dakar by more than 30min, with just the final stage to go two weeks ago, I would have grabbed it with both hands. So, I’m ecstatic to be in this position today, thanks to a controlled drive by Nasser and Mathieu. I must commend Henk and Brett on their amazing team spirit today, waiting for Nasser after starting ahead of them, and I’m sorry that they had such a tough day. At the same time, I’m glad that Giniel and Dennis managed to move into the Top 5, and I’m continually impressed by the steady drive that Shameer and Danie have put in, during the second week of Dakar 2022.”

Nasser Al-Attiyah: “It was a difficult stage today, but we’re happy with the result. We lost only a few minutes to Sebastien Loeb, and we are in a good position. Tomorrow is a short stage, and we’ll just continue at this same pace as it is very important to us to win this race. We weren’t worried at all starting today’s stage, as I respect my team, and we have a very good car each day. Our Toyota has been working well, and so have the BF Goodrich tyres. Now, we’re just looking forward to the finish line in Jeddah.”

Giniel de Villiers: “A very tough stage today, with many dunes, probably the toughest yet. There were also some very soft, small dunes in the middle, which made things very difficult. But overall we had a nice run, despite struggling with dust because of our road position. But 5th in the stage isn’t bad, and we made up one spot to 5th overall, which is great. I’m a bit disappointed that we’re not on the podium, but this is the best we could do after the time we lost. The most important thing is that Nasser is leading, which is fantastic for the team.”

Henk Lategan:“It was a tough day for us. Not great, I’m very disappointed. We started this morning 4th on the road, but stopped just after the start to wait for Nasser, in order to follow him through the stage. We struggled to navigate in his dust and lost some time there. Then, we reached some big dunes, and in one crossing we broke the lower control arm on our car. In the process, the brake line to that wheel was also broken, and we had to make a plan with both. We carry a spare control arm, but it isn’t quite as strong as the original part, so we had to nurse the car through the remainder of the stage.”

Shameer Variawa:“Eleven stages done, but today was probably the hardest for us. I think about half of it consisted of dunes, and it was really tough. But I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s final stage. Even so, at 165km anything can happen, and we need to keep our wits about us. Dakar is never finished until it is finished, so let’s wait until the end.”

Stage 11 Results:

1. Sainz (ESP) / Cruz (ESP) Team Audi Sport 3hr 29min 32sec

2. Alvarez (ARG) / Monleon (ESP) Overdrive Toyota +3min 10sec

3. Ekstrom (SWE) / Bergkvist (SWE) Team Audi Sport +3min 53sec

4. Roma (ESP) / Bravo (ESP) Bahrain Raid Xtreme +4min 10sec

5. De Villiers (ZAF) / Murphy (ZAF) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +5min 11sec

7. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Baumel (AND) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +6min 42sec

23. Variawa (ZAF) / Stassen (ZAF) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +14min 6sec

45. Lategan (ZAF) / Cummings (ZAF) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1hr 58min 01sec

Rankings after Stage 11:

1. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Baumel (AND) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 36hr 49min 51sec

2. Loeb (FRA) / Lurquin (BEL) Bahrain Raid Xtreme +33min 19sec

3. Al Rajhi (SAU) / Orr (GBR) Overdrive Toyota +1hr 3min 43sec

4. Terranova (ARG) / Carreras (ESP) Bahrain Raid Xtreme +1hr 31min 29sec

5. De Villiers (ZAF) / Murphy (ZAF) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1hr 44min 11sec

14. Variawa (ZAF) / Stassen (ZAF) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +3hr 51min 36sec

32. Lategan (ZAF) / Cummings (ZAF) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +11hr 59min 14sec

CONSOLIDATION FOR AL-ATTIYAH/BAUMEL AS TOYOTA GAZOO

Jan 12, 2022

Controlled pace for Nasser/Mathieu
Tough navigation holds back Giniel/Dennis
Henk/Brett fastest of the TGR crews on Stage 10
Shameer/Danie continue their run of good stage results

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel continued their measured pace at the 2022 Dakar Rally, recording the 7th-fastest time on Stage 10 of the 12-stage event. Their nearest competitor recorded a time only 1min 25sec faster than the GR DKR Hilux T1+ crew, who still hold a commanding overall lead of 32min 40sec, with just two stages to go.

Nasser and Mathieu took an early lead in the rally, winning the prologue as well as the opening stage. This set them up with a lead that they’ve maintained throughout the rally to date. With just two stages remaining, the crew will now focus on protecting their lead for the remainder of the race, with the aim of securing a second victory for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, following their win in 2019.

Stage 10 brought another strong performance from Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings. The Stage 5 winners finished in 2nd place on Stage 9, just 7sec behind the stage winners, Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dennis Murphy. This meant that Henk and Brett were the second car into Stage 10, just behind their teammates. However, opening the route proved tricky, and Henk caught up with Giniel roughly 100km into the stage. From this point forward, it was the young South African who had to find the route, with the help of co-driver Brett.

The pair picked their way across the Saudi Arabian landscape, following some spectacular canyons towards the finish near the city of Bisha. They posted the 4th-fastest time on the stage, despite their position at the head of the field, surrendering only 4min 11sec to the eventual stage winners. They are now in 30th position overall, trailing Nasser and Mathieu by 10hr 7min 55sec.

Giniel and Dennis not only had to contend with finding the route over the first 100km of the stage, but the pair also suffered a mid-stage puncture. Despite this, they went 15th-fastest, 11min 31sec slower than the stage winners. They remain in 6th place in the overall standings, trailing the leaders by 1hr 45min 42sec. They’re currently 4min 40sec behind 5th place.

Stage 10 saw Shameer Variawa and co-driver Danie Stassen record the 23rd-fastest time after they struggled with brake balance in the latter part of the stage. They decided to surrender some pace in exchange for safety, as they experienced a number of close calls due to the balance problem. The technical crew will track down the issue during service, preparing the Toyota Hilux for battle once more. Shameer and Danie have moved up into 13th place in the overall standings, 3hr 29min 12sec behind the lead.

Just two stages remain in Dakar 2022. The first of these is Stage 11, which is a looped stage starting and finishing near the bivouac at Bisha. Crews will complete a short liaison of 87km, before tackling the 346km timed section over mixed terrain. A liaison of 68km will bring them back to Bisha, before the final stage that takes the Dakar caravan to the city of Jeddah on January 14th.

QUOTES:

Glyn Hall, Team Principal:“After the ecstasy of our 1-2-3 on Stage 9, Stage 10 was always going to have big shoes to fill. Giniel and Dennis initially opened the road, but then Henk and Brett came past them. So, between the two crews, they opened most of the road today. This allowed Nasser and Mathieu to drive at a more controlled pace, staying in the lead of the rally without losing significant time to Sebastien Loeb, who is in second place. Shameer and Danie had yet another good result, despite struggling with some brake fade in the latter part of the stage.”

Nasser Al-Attiyah:“Stage 10 of Dakar was another good day for us.It wasn’t easy, and the route from Wadi Ad Dawasir to Bisha was tricky. But we managed to get through without any problems, taking no risks. I’m really quite happy to finish behind Sebastien Loeb, losing just one minute to him today. The gap is now 32min and we have a good road position for Stage 11. Our aim will be to control the pace, and get to Jeddah in first place on Friday.”

Giniel de Villiers:“It was definitely a tough stage to open, and it wasn’t easy from a navigational point of view. We made too many mistakes today, trying to find the way, and it cost us six or seven minutes easily. Henk caught up with us a one of the spots where we went wrong, and then we followed him for a bit. They did a good job up front, but we have to accept that mistakes happen when you open the road. We were 15th-fastest today, leaving us with a good road position for Stage 11 tomorrow.”

Henk Lategan:“It was a really difficult stage, and probably the busiest of the race so far. We started with a fast section, before going into some canyons where the navigation became really difficult. We started in 2nd position this morning, but caught up with Giniel after about 100km. We managed to pass him a bit later on, but then we were opening the road. Brett did a very good job, and we came across some of the most spectacular scenery on the race. I’m very happy with the day, especially since we had to open for a large part of the stage.”

Shameer Variawa:“I didn’t find today’s stage too tough, to be honest, since I generally enjoy more technical and rough routes. Unfortunately, we had a puncture that put us back a bit, and I kept struggling with the brakes. We had a couple of moments as a result, and then I decided to back off a bit for safety, and just to bring it to the end. I don’t like to think too far ahead, and just take things day by day. Tomorrow is a new race, and then we’ll see after that.”

Stage 10 Results:

1. Peterhansel (FRA) / Boulanger (FRA) Team Audi Sport 2hr 52min 43sec

2. Sainz (ESP) / Cruz (ESP) Team Audi Sport +2min 6sec

3. Terranova (ARG) / Carreras (ESP) Bahrain Raid Xtreme +3min 59sec

4. Lategan (ZAF) / Cummings (ZAF) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +4min 11sec

5. Loeb (FRA) / Lurquin (BEL) Bahrain Raid Xtreme +4min 25sec

7. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Baumel (AND) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +5min 50sec

15. De Villiers (ZAF) / Murphy (ZAF) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +11min 31sec

23. Variawa (ZAF) / Stassen (ZAF) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +14min 47sec

Rankings after Stage 10:

1. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Baumel (AND) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 33hr 13min 37sec

2. Loeb (FRA) / Lurquin (BEL) Bahrain Raid Xtreme +32min 40sec