De Villiers / Murphy into top 5 of Dakar 2023 after solid second stage

• 1^st place on Stage 2 for Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel
• 6^th place on Stage 2 for Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy
• Nasser and Mathieu move into 2^nd overall
• Giniel and Dennis move up to 5^th overall
• Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings move into 10^th overall

Stage 2 of Dakar 2023 saw TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) bounce back after a tough opening stage, with Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel winning the stage by 14sec over Toyota Hilux privateer Erik van Loon. The TGR crew moved into 2^nd place as a result, trailing the leader by just 2min 12sec.

The stage was punctuated by many sharp rocks, which played havoc with many competitors in the field. Nasser and Mathieu showed their experience, however, by adjusting their pace to match the rough terrain. They suffered only one puncture, and drove a well-controlled stage to record their first stage win of Dakar 2023.

At the same time, teammates Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy posted the 6^th-fastest time of the day, trailing the winners by 13min 12sec after suffering two punctures. The Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+ crew were forced to slow their pace for the final 200 km of the 430km-long stage, as they had no spare tyres left. Despite this, they reached the finish near the town of Alula safely, and have moved up to 5^th place in the overall classification.

The final TGR pairing of Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings had a second tough day on the Dakar. They suffered two punctures early on, and another in the latter part of the stage. This left them limping towards the finish as they are allowed only two spare wheels, until they were assisted by another Toyota privateer, Lucas Moraes. With a new tyre fitted, the crew managed to reach the end, losing 32min 12sec on the day. Despite their time loss, many other crews suffered even worse fates, and as a result the TGR crew are in 10^th place overall after the opening two stages.

Stage 2 of this year’s Dakar will long be remembered for the way in which it influenced the rally. Many of the top crews fell foul to the extremely rough terrain, and the entire field will be looking forward to the sandier stages to come. Next up is Stage 3, which takes the rally from Alula to the spectacular vistas around Ha’il. The route comprises 223km of liaison leading from the bivouac at Alula to the start of a 447km-long special stage and joining the stage to the bivouac at Ha’il.

Dakar 2023 consists of 14 stages and is scheduled to conclude in the city of Dammam on January 15^th.

QUOTES

Glyn Hall, TGR Dakar Team Principal: “What a great feeling! Nasser and Mathieu did a fantastic job today, over some of the toughest terrain we’ve seen on the Dakar in years. At the same time, Giniel and Dennis kept cool despite their two early punctures to bring the car home in 6^th place – a stunning result for them. Henk and Brett unfortunately had one too many punctures, and lost time as a result. Even so, they’re into the Top 10 and only 15 minutes from third, so overall a really good day for us.”

Nasser Al-Attiyah: “Today was another tough day on the Dakar, and I’m sure a lot of competitors will have problems to deal with. There were plenty of rocks and some tricky navigation, but I’m really happy that we managed to win the stage today.”

Giniel de Villiers: “This was not a great stage for us, unfortunately. We had a puncture quite early on, and since we carry only two spares, I had to take it a little easier over the many rocky sections. We also had to turn around quite a few times, to hunt for waypoints. But that’s how it is, and we’ll have to try again tomorrow.”

Henk Lategan: “We had a decent start, but I think we were going a bit too quickly across the rocks. We had two punctures really early on, maybe within 30km of the start. Then we knew we had to switch to survival mode, nursing the car towards the finish. But another puncture 60km from the finish cost us a mass of time.”

DAKAR 2023: Stage 2 Results

POS.	N°	CREW	TEAM	TIME	VARIATION
1	200	(QAT) NASSER AL-ATTIYAH(FRA) MATHIEU BAUMEL	TOYOTA GAZOO RACINGGR DKR Hilux T1+	05H 00′ 26”
2	215	(NLD) ERIK VAN LOON(FRA) SÉBASTIEN DELAUNAY	OVERDRIVE RACING	05H 00′ 40”	+ 00H 00′ 14”
3	207	(ESP) CARLOS SAINZ(ESP) LUCAS CRUZ	TEAM AUDI SPORT	05H 05′ 31”	+ 00H 05′ 05”
4	209	(FRA) MATHIEU SERRADORI(FRA) LOIC MINAUDIER	CENTURY RACING FACTORY TEAM	05H 11′ 55”	+ 00H 11′ 29”
5	219	(FRA) LIONEL BAUD(FRA) RÉMI BOULANGER	OVERDRIVE RACING	05H 13′ 26”	+ 00H 13′ 00”
6	205	(ZAF) GINIEL DE VILLIERS(ZAF) DENNIS MURPHY	TOYOTA GAZOO RACINGGR DKR Hilux T1+	05H 13′ 38”	+ 00H 13′ 12”
7	236	(FRA) SIMON VITSE(FRA) FREDERIC LEFEBVRE	MD RALLY	05H 14′ 56”	+ 00H 14′ 30”
8	210	(CZE) MARTIN PROKOP(CZE) VIKTOR CHYTKA	ORLEN BENZINA TEAM	05H 19′ 41”	+ 00H 19′ 15”
9	220	(ARG) JUAN CRUZ YACOPINI(ESP) DANIEL OLIVERAS CARRERAS	OVERDRIVE RACING	05H 22′ 53”	+ 00H 22′ 27”
10	239	(FRA) PASCAL THOMASSE(FRA) GÉRARD DUBUY	MD RALLYE SPORT	05H 25′ 32”	+ 00H 25′ 06”
16	217	(ZAF) Henk Lategan(ZAF) Brett cummings	toyota gazoo racinggr dkr hilux t1+	5h 33’ 38”	+00H 33’ 12”

DAKAR 2023: Standings after Stage 2

POS.	N°	CREW	TEAM	TIME	VARIATION	PENALTY
1	207	(ESP) CARLOS SAINZ(ESP) LUCAS CRUZ	TEAM AUDI SPORT	08H 34′ 26”
2	200	(QAT) NASSER AL-ATTIYAH(FRA) MATHIEU BAUMEL	TOYOTA GAZOO RACINGGR DKR Hilux t1+	08H 36′ 38”	+ 00H 02′ 12”	00H 00′ 10”
3	209	(FRA) MATHIEU SERRADORI(FRA) LOIC MINAUDIER	CENTURY RACING FACTORY TEAM	08H 59′ 21”	+ 00H 24′ 55”
4	236	(FRA) SIMON VITSE(FRA) FREDERIC LEFEBVRE	MD RALLY	09H 00′ 06”	+ 00H 25′ 40”
5	205	(ZAF) GINIEL DE VILLIERS(ZAF) DENNIS MURPHY	TOYOTA GAZOO RACINGgr dkr hilux t1+	09H 01′ 04”	+ 00H 26′ 38”	00H 02′ 00”
6	202	(SAU) YAZEED AL RAJHI(DEU) DIRK VON ZITZEWITZ	OVERDRIVE RACING	09H 02′ 25”	+ 00H 27′ 59”
7	210	(CZE) MARTIN PROKOP(CZE) VIKTOR CHYTKA	ORLEN BENZINA TEAM	09H 09′ 50”	+ 00H 35′ 24”
8	204	(FRA) STÉPHANE PETERHANSEL(FRA) EDOUARD BOULANGER	TEAM AUDI SPORT	09H 10′ 34”	+ 00H 36′ 08”
9	216	(ZAF) BRIAN BARAGWANATH(ZAF) LEONARD CREMER	CENTURY RACING FACTORY TEAM	09H 13′ 39”	+ 00H 39′ 13”	00H 08′ 00”
10	217	(ZAF) HENK LATEGAN(ZAF) BRETT CUMMINGS	TOYOTA GAZOO RACINGGR DKR Hilux t1+	09H 14′ 18”	+ 00H 39′ 52”

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TOYOTA GAZOO Racing enjoys a mutually beneficial relationship with its partners Red Bull, Kinto, Eurol and the Innovation Group. The team is also supported by Hallspeed, SKF, Spanjaard, Edgecam, Supreme Springs, Shatterprufe, Smith’s Manufacturing, Oakley, Lumotech, OMP, MSA, SACCS and the FIA. Thanks also to Ingco, Jonsson Workwear and USN for their support.