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Issue #3:January 3, 2023
On January 2, the 2023 Dakar Rally has a 430km competition stage (SS) which runs from the Sea Camp to AlUla. Akira Miura (Toyota Auto Body staff) and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #246 recovered after yesterday’s accident and reached the finish for this stage in 84th place in the overall car rankings and 1st place in the production car category. Their overall cumulative ranking until today is 133th place (provisional 1st place in the production car category since other cars have not arrived yet). Yesterday’s tumble had no effect on performance in today’s SS and the team had a steady run. Countless rocks hiding in the sand in the first half of the stage led to two punctures, but apart from that the team had a smooth run and didn’t lose any time due to course errors, and they safely made it to the finish line.
Meanwhile, Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato in car #250 kept the same pace as car #246 for almost the entire SS, but 14km before the finish line they encountered some trouble with the steering system, bringing them to a standstill on the course. Even at 12:00 local time, they still hadn’t arrived at the bivouac.
On January 2, the course runs from the Sea Camp to AlUla. The 159km liaison took teams to the east side of Yanbu, where the 430km SS (competition stage) began. While heavily winding and twisting through the course, teams headed north to AlUla. This route travels in the opposite direction to the AlUla/Yanbu route used in 2021, but the areas used are different. The first half of the SS wound through dusty wadi (dried up riverbeds) and slowly transformed into off-road terrain in the mountains. Sand dunes made an appearance in the last few kilometers, making it a tough and challenging route. The finish was near the town of AlUla, and after a 1km liaison the teams arrived at the bivouac.
As for car #246, which encountered a tumble towards the end of the SS on January 1, it was brought back to onto its feet with the help of a truck and started driving again. After getting to the SS finish, they eventually returned to the bivouac at about 4:00 a.m. It was at the 306km mark when they were trying to get around a sandy slope, that the sand under their tires crumbled, and the car took a tumble. Fortunately, it was a slow fall and there appeared to be no damage to the roll bar or other safety equipment, and with the crew still in good spirits a decision was made to have car #246 continue in the rally. The mechanics in charge worked together with everyone in the team to repair, inspect, and perform maintenance, and the car was sent off by 10:00 a.m. for the start.
Miura (driver): Today, we were driving with car #250 in an alternating front-back formation, but it was after sundown and we couldn’t see them at the end of the stage where they had stopped. Yesterday’s tumble was a bit of a shock. Thanks to the help we received from a local truck crew, and the mechanics and team who worked to fix the car, we were able to drive again. This is an incredibly precious opportunity that we have here at the rally, so I want to keep giving it my best.