Toyota Triumph in Raleigh Dakar with 1-2 in finish

The 47th edition and 6th edition of Toyota were completed with great triumph in Saudi Arabia. The finish line passed 175 vehicles, of which 77 motorcycles (including 67 Rally 2), 40 Ultimate cars, 1 Stock car, 21 Challenger, 23 SSV and 13 trucks, after covering the entire 7.453 km (FIM – motorcycles) or 7,828 km (FIA – cars) of the route. They also finished 52 vehicles using their jokers, i.e. re-entered the race with penalties, while 108 were forced into early departures from the rally (i.e. 32.24%). CORVERSE The Dakar Classic was completed with 80 vehicles, out of 95 that started. Big winner – surprise was Al-Razi with Toyota. Saudi driver managed to win Dakar in his 11th attempt. With the newcomer Ford and Dacia teams taking their first steps in the cross country rally and last year’s winner Audi having withdrawn from the institution, Dakar’s 47th edition was essentially a case exclusively Toyota. And while the Japanese manufacturer featured five factory cars, it was Al-Razi with private Toyota who got the win after two weeks of rallying in his country of origin. For the longest time, South African Lategan had the lead, but a navigation error on the last special routes, gave Al- Raji win. Third finished Matias Akstrom with Ford, on the debut of the “blue oval” brand in Dakar, while Nasser Al-Atiya who has won Dakar 5 times, stayed 4 o’clock with Dacia. Last year’s winner, Carlos Sinth, left with a broken roll cage in Ford, and Sebastian too. Leb left with a damaged Dacia. The motorcycles were dominated by Australian Sanders with KTM, second was Spanish Skareina with Honda and with the same motorcycle third was French van Beveren.