Another podium for Giniel
DAKAR: THIS MUST CERTAINLY BE MOTORSPORT’S TOUGHEST CHALLENGE
The Hilux 4-litre V8 on full song raises the hair on the back of your neck.
It is around 4.30am on a Sunday. I am watching the drivers of a convoy of 4x4 vehicles reduce tyre pressures in preparation for the second phase of our journey.
As we follow an almost indistinct trail the distant horizon shows signs of a new day dawning.
The sun finally appears and not long after we reach our destination where a welcome coffee and breakfast awaits.
There is a sudden cessation of conversation as a distant sound disturbs the silence.
Fading in and out of the auditory senses but rising to a howling crescendo plus the distant visual stimulation of a cloud of sand, and a low flying helicopter on the horizon announces the imminent arrival of the first of hundreds to come.
This all happened somewhere in the Pisco area of the endless Peruvian desert, south of the capital Lima.
It was day two and the second stage of the 2018 Dakar Rally.
Leading on the road was the first of three vehicles in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team from South Africa, driven by Nasser Al-Attiyah with co-driver Mathieu Baumel.
They had won the short 31km Stage 1 of the previous day and now led the field into a very tough 267km of mountainous sand dunes.
The sound of the Hilux’s 4.0-litre V8 on full song was enough to raise the hairs on the back of your neck and a sound that would ring in the ears of their competitors.
The Toyota team was strong, with Al-Attiyah, previous winners Giniel de Villiers with co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz and new team-mates Bernhard ten Brinke and co-driver Michel Perin.
Just 24 hours previously I had joined the throng at the start podium in Lima and it was cartainly fiesta time.
Loud Latin American music filled the air along with drones, helicopters and skydivers all vying for the best camera angle.
Thousands lined the route as the participants joined the Southern Pan-American Highway to Pisco.
We joined the South African team that evening at the first bivouac in the desert – in itself a sight to behold.
This moving village of tents, large and small, trucks, plus vehicles of all description was set for two nights before moving on to San Juan de Marcona and all points south through Bolivia and finally into Argentina.
Apart from being an area to service the vehicles it is home to crews, officials and caterers for the next two weeks, plus a mobile headquarters for the organizers.
It was expected that the fight for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team would be with the mighty Peugeot outfit who had taken victory for the previous two years with legendary driver Stephane Peterhansel.
Stage Two was won by Peugeot driver Cyril Depres but Al-Attiyah was to strike back and take honours on the 296km third stage.
The next stage proved costly to many.
Soft sand trapped both De Villiers and Al-Attiyah, while Ten Brinke finished eighth fastest.
It was a 1,2, 3 finish for Peugeot with Sebastien Loeb taking the win from Carlos Sainz and Peterhansel, but it was an end to the challenge for Depres who crashed and suffered rear suspension damage, crawling from the stage in 53rd place.
It was also to be the final stage for Loeb, with a crash injuring his co-driver Daniel Elena.
The next four stages through the Andes Mountains were wins for Peugeot shared between Peterhansel and Sainz, but the Toyota teams were in the mix and staying in touch with the leaders.
Stage 9 was cancelled due to unfavourable weather which had turned the roads into mud baths with copious amounts of standing water.
Into Stage 10 and it was Peterhansel quickest again, with De Villiers close behind, but it was to be the French manufacturer’s final stage win.
The remaining four stages, all in the Argentine, were controlled by the Toyota teams.
The infamous Fiambalá route, Stage 11, has a reputation of punishing many a competitor in past years, but there were no such problems for an elated Ten Brinke who won by more than four minutes.
Team manager Glyn Hall said, “Winning a stage on the Dakar Rally is always a big thing, but winning in Fiambalá is something truly magical. I can not praise Bernhard and Michel enough for their performance.”
Sadly the Dutchman was to retire in the next stage with an engine problem.
That stage was won by Al-Attiyah with De Villiers third.
The Qatari and the South African were to fill the same positions on the penultimate Stage 13, which set up an exciting final run to the flag.
Peterhansel crashed in the stage and lost some 57 minutes, which left Sainz with a comfortable lead going into the final 120 km stage with Al-Attiyah second and De Villiers third, just eight seconds ahead of the Frenchman.
It was a nail biter but De Villiers was to show his mettle, winning the stage by 40 seconds and ensuring his place on the final podium.
I was fortunate to share some of this epic event with the Toyota Gazoo Team and proud to witness their incredible efforts so well rewarded.
It may not have been the top podium step, but two brand new contenders flanking the victor is an achievement that they can be justly proud of.
I am still an F1 and WRC fanatic but this trip to the Dakar has shown me that the conditions, high concentration levels, unexpected terrain changes, plus the physical and mental demands must make this motor sport’s toughest challenge.