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Issue #1:January 3, 2022
The 2022 Dakar Rally started on January 1st with the first competition section (1A) being held between Jeddah and Ha’il over a distance of 19.51 km. Afterwards, a ceremonial start took place at Ha’il. The two Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series cars in the rally from the Toyota Auto Body rally team TLC (Team Land Cruiser), car #242 with Akira Miura (Toyota Auto Body staff) and Laurent Lichtleuchter, and car #245 with Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato, came in 60th and 62nd place overall in the car category, and 1st and 2nd place in the production car category respectively. Both cars safely cleared the stage.
In this year’s rally, the third since its move from South America to Saudi Arabia, competitors made their way to Ha’il in the north after conducting inspections and completing paperwork in Jeddah by the Red Sea between December 29-31. On the way, 225 km north of Jeddah, stage 1A waited for them on hilly terrain near the coast. A total of 409 participants joined the rally: 144 bikes; 20 quads (4-wheeled bikes); 89 cars (84 modified, 5 production); 48 light buggies; 47 prototype light buggies; 5 open class vehicles; and 56 trucks. Most of the tracks consisted of sandy terrain, and the overwhelming sand dunes didn’t hesitate to make an appearance. While only a short distance, it was a challenging stage and gave everyone a taste of what to expect from this year’s course.
The two TLC cars ran the SS calmly and with composure. The sand was softer than expected and the increased driving resistance raised water temperatures on occasion, but both cars made it to the finish without too much difficulty. After reaching the finish line they travelled a 595.71 km liaison to Ha’il. Both cars arrived at around 9 p.m. amidst a light spray of rain and took the podium for the ceremonial start in front of the bivouac. The four crew members waved back to their cheering fans while bracing themselves for the real competition stages starting from the 2nd.
Miura (driver): I was a bit nervous when I saw the huge sand dunes along the way, but once we started climbing they were mostly just sand tracks – they weren’t too difficult. The sand was softer than we expected, and with our new tires by TOYO TIRE we had excellent grip without lowering our tire pressure, and the feedback felt very good at the wheel.
Basso (driver): The liaison in the second half was quite long, but for our first day the SS was a good course. Once again, this year we want to support each other to achieve our goal, another one-two finish.