Toyota in late Dakar fightback
SA TEAM: SECURES FOURTH STAGE WIN
Wesley Bo on
While admitting they were gutted to remain just out of touch of the leaders, the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA team took some consolation from earning more stage victories this week, as the Dakar Rally headed for a thrilling finish in Argentina.
Tightening the screws in his relentless chase, Qatari driver Nasser al-Attiyah narrowed the gap with a gutsy performance on the 12th stage late Thursday, securing his third win of the race.
With Dutch driver Bernhard ten Brinke having taken the 11th leg on Wednesday, the local Toyota Gazoo outfit had racked up a total of four victories with two stages remaining.
“We came here to win the race, and as such we can’t help but be a little disappointed,” said team principal Glyn Hall.
“With that said, stage victories are great and we value them enormously.”
Setting up a cracking finish to the two-week race, Al-Attiyah was quickest over the 523km leg on Thursday with French navigator Mathieu Baumel, covering the longest stage of the race two minutes faster than Peugeot driver Stephane Peterhansel of France.
South African Giniel de Villiers finished third in a closely contested battle, with the first five cars completing the special stage within eight minutes of Al-Attiyah.
Despite settling for ninth place, Spaniard Carlos Sainz remained well clear up front, nearly 45 minutes ahead of Peterhansel at the top of the overall standings.
Al-Attiyah was a further 21 minutes back in the general classification, followed by team-mates Ten Brinke and De Villiers, who are fourth and fifth respectively.
Meanwhile, the terrain was deemed too dangerous for bikes and quads, and the 12th stage was cancelled for safety reasons in those two categories.
Austrian rider Matthias Walkner retained his lead in the two-wheel division ahead of yesterday’s penultimate stage between San Juan and Cordoba, and David Thomas was still the best of the SA contingent in 38th position.