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Issue #8:January 10, 2022
For the 2022 Dakar Rally, Saturday January 8 is when everyone welcomes rest day in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. With no racing for the day, mechanics worked on the cars on university grounds in the suburbs of the capital where the bivouac had been set up, to prepare for the second half of the rally. Since yesterday evening, TLC has been working on the Toyota Land Cruiser 200 cars in the production car category, which will be fully refreshed by this evening. After this, they will be ready to take on the second half of the rally, which starts on Sunday January 9.
After completing the first half of the rally on Friday January 7, TLC are leading the production car category in 1st and 2nd place, with Akira Miura (Toyota Auto Body staff) and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #242 coming 41st in the cumulative ranking, while in their 2nd year with TLC, Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato in car #245 rank 45th.
This is the last run for the legendary Land Cruiser 200, which has performed over a span of 14 years since 2009, and for the team to win a 9th consecutive one-two victory in the same category, they will be taking on the second half of the rally while maintaining full focus.
To start off the second half of the rally, teams will be heading west from Riyadh to Al Dawadimi where a 401 km SS is planned.
Kakutani (Team manager): Once again, I take my hat off to the mechanics for always starting work earlier than planned. Rest day maintenance is a lot of work with many parts getting replaced, but as usual they are putting all the time and effort into their work and I’m watching them with confidence. We’ll be taking on the second half of the rally as one, combining our efforts to reach the finish.
Philippe Challoy (Chief mechanic): We didn’t suffer from any major damage in the first half and the cars are in pretty good shape. Apart from the usual maintenance, car #242 needed some work on the steering, while car #245 needed some work on the rear wheel areas. The tires by TOYO TIRES, being used by us for the first time, are performing remarkably well – I can’t believe how well! Our team will be maintaining focus for the second half from tomorrow all the way to the finish line.