Giniel settles for fifth at Dakar
DE VILLERS HIT BY PUNCTURES, FUEL PROBLEMS Toyota Gazoo Racing have three top-10 finishers.
Local outfit Toyota Gazoo Racing SA admitted yesterday they had struggled to adapt to the conditions, though they were satisfied with their allround performance with three top-10 finishes at the Dakar Rally.
“Dakar 2017 will be remembered for a variety of reasons,” said team principal Glyn Hall.
“The extreme weather certainly played a massive role, with stages cancelled and modified, reducing the competition’s overall race distance significantly.”
Holding off a late charge from his closest challenger, South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers took fifth place overall as the two-week race ended in Argentina on Saturday.
De Villiers, who won the annual contest in 2009, finished third on the 12th and final stage, covering the 64km timed section just 30 seconds slower than French stage winner Sebastien Loeb.
Though it was his worst finish in seven years, De Villiers brushed off multiple punctures and a fuel pressure problem to deliver another solid performance with German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz, securing a top-five finish for the 11th time in his career.
He was well behind Toyota Gazoo team-mate Nani Roma of Spain, who finished fourth, but he managed to hold off charging Argentine Orlando Terranova (Mini)by less than three minutes.
French driver Stephane Peterhansel won the race for the 13th time (cars and bikes), edging out compatriot Loeb to lead a Peugeot clean sweep of the podium.
Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach, who earned the Rookie-ofthe-Year award on debut for Toyota Gazoo, and SA navigator Rob Howie finished ninth overall.
Meanwhile, on the bikes, Joey Evans was the only SA rider to complete the race.
Evans was 95th of 97 finishers, well behind fellow KTM rider Sam Sunderland of Great Britain who took the title.
South African co-driver Sean Berriman finished 36th in the truck division with MAN teammates Mathias Behringer and Stefan Henken of Germany.