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Issue #22:December 5, 2022
On December 1 in France, A.S.O. (Amaury Sport Organisation), the organizer of the Dakar Rally, announced the outline and route information for the 2023 rally.
Starting on December 31 at a specially set up camp on the outskirts of Yanbu in western Saudi Arabia, the 2023 rally will finish in Dammam in eastern Saudi Arabia on January 15 after 16 days and 15 stages.
The first half of the race starts with a prologue run on December 31, 2022, and will be a combination of technical routes in mountainous terrain and sand dunes. It is expected to be a difficult navigation stage with the risk of punctures and potential for running off-course. After two loop stages with the bivouac at Ha’il in north-central Saudi Arabia, where the participants have been pushed to their limits many times in past Saudi Arabian rallies, the rally will come to a break with a rest day on January 9 in the capital city of Riyadh. The main stage of the second half of the race will be a 2-day marathon stage in the Rub' al Khali Desert. In this marathon stage, the team must push through for two days without any support from the assistant team. A long sand dune stage is sure to take its toll on the cars and will test the team’s ability to calmly manage the race while avoiding damage to the cars and minimizing lost time. After passing through the Rub' al Khali Desert, the goal at Dammam on the east coast is finally in sight. The total distance of the race is approximately 8,500 km, including 4,700 km of competition stages (refer to the photo section for the route map).
On November 21, TLC conducted a shakedown test of two of its completed vehicles for the 2023 rally at an off-road course in the outskirts of Lyon, France. Unfortunately, it rained on the day of the test, but despite this, the team was very pleased with the results of the rally vehicles, which were completed after about two years of development. Furthermore, to ensure that the new generation rally cars would be ready for the Dakar Rally, the team carefully checked every detail of the cars’ settings and spare parts installation and confirmed the team's strategy for its 10th consecutive victory in the production car category.
Philippe Challoy, chief mechanic of TLC, said, "The nine consecutive victories up to now have not been easy, and the 2023 rally may present us with even more challenges than we expect. However, we were able to test for as many aspects as possible, and we honed our team's ability to handle unexpected situations, and I see our 10th victory not just as a goal but as a new beginning for our challenge in the Dakar Rally with the Land Cruiser 300.” He enthusiastically added, “I want to take the Land Cruiser 300 to the finish line with the faith of the entire team."
On November 30, the competition vehicles will be loaded in Marseille, France, and the team will come together in Saudi Arabia on December 28 for vehicle inspections before the start of the race. There is less than a month to go until the start of the rally, and as always, the TLC team greatly appreciates your continued encouragement and support!
*For more information on the rally, click here (Dakar Rally official website).
→https://www.dakar.com/en/overall-route