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Issue #3:January 5, 2022
The route on Monday January 3rd runs from Ha’il to Al Qaisumah. Both TLC Toyota Land Cruiser 200 cars cleared the 338 km SS (competition stage) without any trouble. Akira Miura (Toyota Auto Body staff) and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #242 came in 56th place overall and 1st place in the production car category. Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato in car #245 came in 58th place overall and made the finish in 2nd place in the production car category.
As of January 3rd, car #242 ranks 50th overall in the cumulative car category ranking and holds onto 1st place in the production car category. Meanwhile, car #245 is ranks 58th place overall and has risen from 3rd to 2nd place in the production car category, reclaiming the team’s one-two formation.
The original plan for today was to head south-east from Ha’il to Al Artawiya, but due to the bivouac being flooded by rain from the previous day, the destination was suddenly changed to Al Qaisumah further in the east, which was originally planned for January 4. Also, the marathon stage with no assistance that was planned for January 3-4 with the bivouac in Al Artawiya was cancelled. There were no changes to the 338.43 km SS (competition stage), and the teams reached Al Qaisumah via the newly set up 270 km liaison which started close to Al Artawiya.
At the heart of this SS were high-speed sand tracks and dunes. Towards the end of the stage at the 270-325 km mark, it was the continuous complex sand dunes that formed the day’s highlight. Car #242 pushed on and cleared the dunes without needing to adjust their high tire pressure that they started the stage with. They smoothly made it to the finish without a single puncture or getting stuck. The team is really happy with the tires made by TOYO TIRES which they’ve started using in this year’s rally – they can truly feel their potential.
Car #245 started in 64th place due to delays on the previous day, but in the later sections of the stage they passed a large number of cars. It was a clean run where they created a good leading gap between the trailing competitors while safely reclaiming 2nd place in the production car category.
On January 4 the route is changed again with the rally continuing from a loop stage starting in Al Qaisumah.
Miura (driver): The dunes were a challenge again today, but apart from that it was mostly high-speed sand tracks, and although a long distance, it was a comfortable run. The new tires by TOYO TIRES have excellent grip performance in the direction of travel, making it very easy to drive.
Basso (driver): Since our starting position in the SS was a little behind, we passed many cars at the start. I think it was because of the rainfall, but the sand was damp, making it easier to drive on than expected.