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Taking part in the Dakar had been a long-time dream of mine. I had to learn quickly. The first two stages were awfully difficult. We had to understand this new way of navigating. Then we were surprised to be competitive with the Dakar legends. Everything was going according to plan, and then we had this accident on stage five. At the time, I suffered a lot. I then stayed in the bivouac to gain more experience even though it wasn’t the situation I had hoped for. The objective was to come back stronger. I am looking forward to driving the new T1+ on the 2022 Dakar, especially after not having the new car due to my commitments in the SACCS (South African Rally Championship). Though I have done quite a bit of testing, and the new tyres and suspension are quite spectacular.”
The Toyota Gazoo Racing DAKAR Hilux T1+ will be powered by the manufacturer’s new twin-turbopetrol 3,5-litre V6 unit which will deliver 298 kW and 660 N.m of torque to the 4×4 system via a Sadev six-speed Sequential Shift gearbox supported by a front, centre and rear limited slip differential and a ceramic 215 mm twin-plate clutch. Fuel is fed through to the powertrain via a 540-litre FT# safety cell tank.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux DKR T1+ is built around a tubular frame construction and sits on a front and rear double wishbone suspension with 350 mm of travel. Its connection to the surface is via a set of 17-inch Method Race wheels fixed to 37-inch BF Goodrich tyres.
