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Issue #11:January 14, 2021
The 465 km Neom-Neom loop SS was held in Stage 9 on the 12th.
For TLC Toyota Land Cruiser 200, car #340 with Akira Miura and Laurent Lichtleuchter came in 42nd place overall in the car category, while Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato in car #345 came in 45th place.
This Neom-Neom loop SS was also held in last year’s rally, but this year, it runs along the hilly terrain in the opposite direction (clockwise).
109 km from the bivouac, the SS started near the coast, close to the border with Jordan.
Heading towards mountains, they climbed from an elevation of near-zero, to 1200 meters.
Huge changes in the terrain made it a tough stage. Everything from gravel to sand to wadi (dried up riverbeds) and fesh-fesh. Deep ruts are easy to get stuck in when your wheels fall in, and narrow paths were hard to avoid – a seriously tough section for a production car.
Overall, cars were at low speeds for the stage. The lack of wind meant that dust clouds created by the cars ahead were not quickly cleared away, affecting navigation. To make matters worse, there were sharp stones hiding in the sand. It was a long and ongoingly tough stage with a high risk of punctures.
Car #340 steadily ran the arduous course. They hit some stones that were hard to see in the dusty conditions and punctured two tires. They also hit the underbody on some rocks, but eventually made it to the finish without any major problems. Car #345 also suffered two punctures, and while they were changing a tire, they were overtaken by a slower vehicle that they couldn’t get past later in the dusty conditions. With about 50 km remaining, the sun began to set, so they had to slow things down even more. After both cars managed to safely complete the stressful SS, they travelled 6 km on the liaison back to the bivouac in Neom. In preparation for the last stages of the rally, the cars were carefully inspected and serviced by the mechanics.
For Dakar Rally 2021, the goal is once again in Jeddah on the 15th, and there are just three stages left. On the 13th, they will travel inland from Neom on the coast to AlUla for a 582 km stage which includes a 342 km SS.
Miura (driver): To put it simply, this was a stressful stage. The ruts made by the cars ahead were deep. For production cars like ours this can be tough. There were quite a few sections where we hit the underbody. The distance itself was also rather long and tiring, but I’m happy we safely made it to the finish.
Basso (driver): We punctured two tires about 50 km in from the start. At the end, we couldn’t overtake a slow truck up ahead, then the sun went down and our pace got even slower. It was a rough day.