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Team achieves 8 consecutive victories in the production car category with a one-two finish
Dakar Rally 2021 draws to a close after finishing in Jeddah

Issue #14:January 16, 2021

On the 15th, Dakar Rally 2021 in Saudi Arabia had its final competition stage between Yanbu and Jeddah, followed by a liaison section to the finish line in the city of Jeddah.
The two TLC Land Cruiser 200 cars competing in the production car category have finished the rally in the following positions after today’s SS: car #340 with Akira Miura and Laurent Lichtleuchter came in 42nd place overall, and car #345 with Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato achieved 44th place overall. Their performance gave them a final cumulative ranking of 38th for car #340, and 40th for car #345. They took 1st and 2nd places in the production car category. The team has now achieved an unprecedented eight consecutive victories in the production car category in a one-two finish.

Today’s SS started after a 105 km liaison section from the bivouac in Yanbu and took place on coastal hills. The 202 km SS traced an S-curve heading south from the hills, then headed for the finish line in Jeddah. The ground was an even mix of sand and gravel, and there were three difficult dune sections that had to be cleared. Although a short stage, the difficulty level was high. Car #340 took about ten minutes to free itself out after getting stuck, but apart from that they smoothly made it to the finish. Car #345 also lost some time at the start on a large sand dune but was able to safely complete the stage.

After finishing the SS, they drove the 142 km liaison to the multi-purpose sports facility King Abdullah Sports City for the closing ceremony. The venue had no spectators due to coronavirus infection prevention measures, as was the case for the opening. TLC arrived at the podium just after five o’clock in the afternoon. The drivers and navigators of both cars received trophies from the organizers for coming in 1st and 2nd place in the production car category, after which they exchanged fist bumps with team manager Kakutani, a greeting that has become the standard since the coronavirus situation started. They all waved when their achievements were announced, and the Dakar Rally 2021 came to a close.

This year, the Dakar Rally was once again held in the Middle East in Saudi Arabia, this time during an ongoing worldwide coronavirus pandemic. The rally organizers, ASO, worked extremely hard to carry out prevention measures such as PCR testing and limiting movement from the bivouacs. Despite the circumstances, the rally went ahead as planned and we were able to safely make it to the finish. Starting in Jeddah, the rally saw 101 bikes, 16 quads, 64 cars, 61 lightweight vehicles and 44 trucks, a total of 286 vehicles. Out of those participants, only 63 bikes, 11 quads, 48 cars, 41 lightweight vehicles and 20 trucks, a total of 183 vehicles, made it to the finish. The rally completion rate this year is 64%, down from last year’s 66%.

Miura (driver): In this year’s Dakar Rally I maintained a positive outlook every day, and I really enjoyed the driving in a very good way. I believe this is why we were able to win. I could strongly feel how much everyone contributed to creating an environment that enabled a focus on the driver. I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

Basso (driver): Today’s SS was short but there were many difficult sand dunes. It was tough. I’m so happy to be a part of the team’s one-two finish, which was our aim. It was my first time to enter the Dakar Rally in the production car category, and I could really feel the immense engine torque and toughness of the Land Cruiser.