Game on! SA team put pressure on Peugeot

Wesley Bo on

Having experienced some ups and downs over the first few stages, the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA team were eager to keep up the fight at the Dakar Rally, after launching a lone chase against the favoured Peugeot outfit over the dunes in Peru.

“The Dakar isn’t a race of ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’. It is a gruelling event where every second won is ground out the hard way,” said Toyota Gazoo team principal Glyn Hall.

“We simply have to keep pushing as hard as we can, and today we saw that we certainly have the pace to take the fight to the competition.”

Qatari driver Nasser al-Attiyah surged back into contention on Monday for the local outfit, winning the third stage, while team-mate Giniel de Villiers (right) lost some ground.

Al-Attiyah covered the 296km timed section in 3:09:08, as the quickest competitor on the day despite picking up two punctures.

While Peugeot held three of the top four places, spearheaded by overall leaders Stephane Peterhansel, Al-Attiyah moved into third spot for the Toyota team ahead of the fourth stage to be held late yesterday.

De Villiers got off to a fast start on stage three, before taking his foot off the pedal with a more cautious approach to settle for sixth place, dropping two places to fifth overall.

“There were some tricky spots and we decided to back off a bit in the dust,” De Villiers said.

“Maybe we were too cautious, but we’re still very much in touch with the race, and there’s a lot of racing to come.”

The fourth stage, which was expected to be concluded late yesterday, included a 114km liaison section, followed by a 330km special in San Juan de Marcona.