Dakar 2023 : Nasser Al-Attiyah, co-Driver Mathieu Baumel Move into Overall Lead

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Heavy rains forced the organisers of Dakar 2023 to shorten the third stage, between Al Ula and Ha’il, while punctures again played havoc with many of the crews. Fastest of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing crews on the day was Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings, who brought their GR DKR Hilux T1+ to the end of the truncated stage in the second-fastest time, just 3min 26sec behind the winners.

This would have moved him into the Top 5 overall, but a penalty from Stage 1 has hampered their progress up the leader board, and they currently find themselves in 11^th place overall, 40min 08sec behind the lead.

That lead now belongs to teammates Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel, who had two punctures early in Stage 3. This forced them to slow their pace considerably, as there is a limit of two spare tyres on board cars in the T1+ class. Despite a cautious approach, the TGR crew went 13^th-fastest on the stage, relinquishing 20min 58sec to the winners on the day.

However, with some of their nearest competitors in the overall standings falling by the wayside, Nasser and Mathieu moved into the overall lead of Dakar 2023, and found themselves 13min 20sec ahead of the privately entered GR DKR Hilux T1+ of Yazeed Al Rajhi and Dirk von Zitzewitz, in second place.

Further back, Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dennis Murphy also had to deal with two early punctures. The crew switched to survival mode, and steadily lost time during the stage. In the end, they managed to restrict their time loss to 28min 40sec on the day, but relinquished two positions in the overall standings. They are currently in 7^th place, 32min 08sec behind the lead. They remain in touch with the leaders, however, and will be hoping for less hostile terrain, in terms of punctures, for the coming stages.

Next up is Stage 4 of the event, which starts and finishes near the city of Ha’il. The stage comprises a liaison of 94km leading to the start, as well as a timed special of 425km. Finally, a liaison of 58km will bring the crews back to the bivouac at Ha’il, which serves as the rally’s base for the next three days. This year’s Dakar features 14 stages, with the route taking the crews across the Saudi Arabian landscape from coast to coast, with the final stage concluding in the city of Dammam on January 15^th.

Glyn Hall, TGR Dakar Team Principal: “We had another good outing today, all things considered. Punctures again played a major role, with both Nasser and Giniel having to be extra cautious after early punctures. With that said, Nasser is into the lead of the rally; and Giniel has provisionally dropped two positions. Henk had a stunning stage today, so overall no complaints.”

Nasser Al-Attiyah: “We had two flat tyres early on, which made it impossible to push in the rocks. But we’re very happy to be leading the rally, and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow, as we’ll have a much better road position.”

Giniel de Villiers: “If we had known earlier that the stage would be stopped, we might have been able to push some more. But with two early punctures, we had no choice but to drive very cautiously. Yes, we lost a lot of time, but at least we are here. There’s still a long way to go, so for the moment survival is the name of the game, especially given the very strange weather we’re experiencing in the desert.”

Henk Lategan: “This morning, Glyn Hall [Team Principal] pulled me aside and told me to forget about all the technicalities, and just drive the car. This is what we did today, and it clearly made a big difference. I was beginning to doubt myself after the first two stages, but today things felt right, and I’m in a much better space now.”

DAKAR 2023: Stage 3 Results

DAKAR 2023: Standings after Stage 3

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.