The toughest race On earth, yet again
The Dakar has pushed both driver and machine to the limit and even over it many times since the 1978 inaugural event which was staged from Paris to Dakar, in Senegal, on our beloved continent. Sadly, security threats in Mauritania led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally and from 2009 to 2019 the events were held in South America. This time around, the race took place in Saudi Arabia, which proved to be just as challenging as previous events. After the trials and tribulations of 2020, we were just happy that the event continued and we followed our local heroes every step of the way.
The build up
When we say we followed the Toyota Gazoo Racing team closely, we actually mean we stalked them. As avid Dakar and motorsport fans, we realise this journey doesn’t start when the first car pulls off from the starting line. It takes months and months of preparation, all following on the previous years and years of lessons learnt.
Shortly after the Level 5 lockdown restrictions were lifted, we visited Hallspeed where the vehicles were built. We got up close and personal with the team and saw the effort that goes into prepping for the Dakar first-hand. It really is not just about the driver and the car – it takes a special team of logistics experts, technicians, mechanics and many more role players we may not even be aware of to simply get the cars to Saudi. Thousands of vehicle parts and tools had to be shipped over too. This
