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Issue #22:September 27, 2021
TLC will be participating in the 2021 Morocco Rally between October 7 and October 13, 2021, which is being held for the first time in two years in Morocco, north-west Africa. With this rally, which will be our final test before the 2022 Dakar Rally, our main aim is to evaluate the driving performance of the OPEN COUNTRY M/T-R tires by TOYO TIRES on sandy surfaces, which will be used in the next Dakar Rally, and, to further bolster our team’s skills. We will be taking on the rally with two Land Cruiser 200 rally specification AT test vehicles. We aim to test our vehicles in this rally and will be competing in the open class, not in the production car category.
The rally has its base set in Zagora, located in south-east Morocco, facing the Sahara Desert. From an infection control standpoint, the bivouac (camp area) will not be moved, and there will be five loop courses starting and finishing in Zagora for the rally.
The rally will start on October 8 with Stage 0 to determine the starting order. There will be a total of six stages, with a planned combined SS (competition section) distance of around 1600 km, and a planned total combined distance of around 2600 km. At least 300 km is prepared for each SS, and the rally is made up of all the highly challenging environments we expect to see at the Dakar Rally, such as sand dunes, sand, gravel, rocks and fesh-fesh.
The drivers and navigators who participate in the 2021 Morocco Rally are same as the 2021 Dakar Rally.Car #1 is driven by Akira Miura and navigated by Laurent Lichtleuchter. Car #2 is driven by Ronald Basso and navigated by Jean-Michel Polato. And, mechanic Naoki Anami from Fukuoka Toyota Corporation has joined the team and will be making his rally debut. Other members of our team include Japanese and French mechanics and other staff, bringing our total to 15 members.
TLC is taking the utmost care in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and aims to participate in motorsport activities with measures that exceed medical regulatory standards. We strive to prevent infection for our drivers, navigators, team staff and related staff as we compete it these rallies.
We appreciate and humbly request everyone’s warm and ongoing support.
Structure for the 2021 Morocco Rally
| Team Manager: | Yuji Kakutani (Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd.) |
| Driver (car #1): | Akira Miura (Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd.) |
| Navigator (car #1): | Laurent Lichtleuchter |
| Driver (car #2): | Ronald Basso |
| Navigator (car #2): | Jean-Michel Polato |
| Chief Mechanic: | Philippe Challoy |
| Mechanic (car #1): | Naoki Anami (Fukuoka Toyota Corporation) |
| Pedro Ambrosio | |
| Mechanic (car #2): | Yuta Nakatake (Fukuoka Toyota Corporation) |
| Lucas Beurois | |
| Truck Staff: | Gilbert Dieudonne |
| Michel Beaujean | |
| Coordinator: | Hiroyuki Okuchi |
| Tire Development Engineers: | 2 staff (TOYO TIRE Corporation) |