De Villiers is No 1 in Morocco
VICTORY: SA DRIVER’S FOURTH OVERALL VICTORY IN THE EVENT BUT FIRST FOR A LONG TIME
‘It’s been a long dry spell, and I’m ecstatic to be on the top step of the podium again.’
South Africa’s most successful off-road racing driver, Giniel de Villiers, returned to the top of a world championship podium last week. De Villiers and Spanish co-driver Alex Haro took their Toyota Gazoo Hilux bakkie to victory in the 2019 Rally of Morocco.
It was De Villiers’ fourth overall victory in the event, which is one of the toughest cross-country races in the world, bar the Dakar Rally.
De Villiers and Haro shadowed their Gazoo Toyota Hilux team-mates Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel through most of the event, until the leaders dropped out with mechanical maladies on day four. That left De Villiers/Haro in the lead, under constant attack by Mini’s Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz.
It came to a head on the final day when the Toyota team dug deep to win both the final stage and the event overall.
Meanwhile Sainz/Cruz, suffered a broken waterpipe with the Mini just 20km from the end of the stage.
They were towed out by a fellow competitor, but ended up trailing De Villiers/Haro by 17min 42sec in the final classification.
Frenchman Mathieu Serradori and co-driver Lurquin Fabian (Belgium) occupied the final podium position in their South African-built CR6 buggy.
“It is really nice to win again, here in Morocco,” said De Villiers after bringing the Proudly South African Toyota Hilux to a halt at the end of the final stage.
“I have won this race three times before, but it has been a long dry spell, and I’m ecstatic to be on the top step of the podium again.”
De Villiers was also quick to thank the team for preparing the car, which never missed a beat during the five racing stages, but he reserved special praise for his new navigator, Haro:
“I am really glad for Alex as well. He did a great job in the car, and I’m sure this victory will give both of us confidence as we continue to prepare for the 2020 Dakar Rally,” he added.
Team principal Glyn Hall was overjoyed at the win, despite the disappointment of losing the Toyota of Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel from the lead of the event.
“Yes, that was a big blow to our campaign,” he said, “but for Giniel and Alex to come through and seal the deal is simply superb.”
Further back, team-mates Bernhard ten Brinke and navigator Tom Colsoul endured a tough time during the event, losing a lot of time after hitting an unmarked ditch at high speed in Stage Three.
They bounced back on the final stage, however, posting the second-fastest time of the day, just 26sec behind De Villiers/ Haro, and finished the rally in 20th place.
The final stage also brought a clean run for Toyota Gazoo’s Fernando Alonso and Marc Coma, who posted the eighth-quickest time, and was classified in 21st place in the overall standings.
The pair will continue their training with the team, with an eye on a possible entry to the Dakar Rally in 2020.
Next up for the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA team is the final round of the South African Cross-Country Series, which takes place in the Free State town of Parys, on the weekend of November 1 and 2.