Dakar Rally 2023 titbits

This is the 45th edition of the Dakar Rally.

With a total distance of 8,500km over 14 stages, Dakar 2023 will be the longest since 2014.

It will also be tougher than previous years, with more dune sections and special stages averaging 450km each day (roughly the distance from Joburg to the Kruger National Park), and  70% of the route in Saudi Arabia is new to the teams.

The official start day is December 31 2022 and the rally runs until  January 15 2023.

Nani Roma

Roma was due to join the Prodrive-run Bahrain Raid Xtreme operation, teaming up again with WRC legend Sebastien Loeb and Orlando Terranova as part of its three-car crew. However, the Spaniard who won the Dakar Rally riding a motorcycle in 2004 and took overall victory in the car category in the 2014 edition, is not taking part in 2023 after being diagnosed with a treatable bladder cancer in March this year.

Spaniard and former Dakar champion Nani Roma will not be taking part due to health issues.
Image: SUPPLIED

AUDI

Legendary racer Carlos Sainz Snr, father pf Scuderia F1 driver Carlos Sainz Jnr, has expressed displeasure at the minimum weight of T1U cars being raised by 100kg for the 2023 Dakar Rally, saying rules are hurting electric cars such as the Audi RS Q e-tron he pilots.

He teams up with other ace driver teams of Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist, Stéphane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger.

Rolf Michl, head of Motorsport at Audi, said:  “Our car is very reliable. The improvements compared to the first-generation RS Q e-tron are significant. Our processes are much more well-rehearsed as well. Our goal is a podium position. We’ve prepared as thoroughly as possible, but all external factors remain unpredictable. We won’t experience them until the Dakar itself.”

The Audi RS Q e-tron Dakar benefits from a 100kg weight penalty this time around, and the El Matador (Carlos Sainz Snr) is not happy
Image: Supplied

M-Sport

M-Sport, the UK-based motorsport outfit and rally car manufacturer, announced its latest motorsport development by way of a joint venture with Pietermaritzburg-based rally raid car manufacturer Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM).

The joint venture sees M-Sport become NWM’s European HQ and global distributor for the NWM Ford Ranger T1+ vehicle. The first NWM Ford Ranger T1+ is expected to arrive in Europe at the end of May and will be available for a testing and customer programme shortly afterwards and ready for the 2024 Dakar

The Neil Woolridge Motorsport designed racing Ford Ranger celebrates a new collaboration with legendary M-Sport from the UK
Image: Supplied

Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Hilux

Giniel De Villiers with Dennis Murphy at his side and South African young guns Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings in a third car are ready to fly the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA flag  again. 

There’s also a strong army of privately entered Made in SA Toyota Hiluxes taking part. They include Saudi Arabian Yazeed Al Rajhi and Michael Orr, Lithuanian entries Vaidotas Zala and Paulo Fiuza, and Benediktas Vanagas and Kuldar Sikk and Dutch crew Erik Van Loon and Sébastien Delaunay, among others.

The latest evolution of the GR DKR Hilux T1+
Image: SUPPLIED

Century Racing

Just around the corner from the Gazoo Toyota HQ in Midrand is Century Racing. The manufacturer of the CR6-T dune-buster will have no less than 10 cars entered for Dakar 2023.

They include two new factory team cars for Frenchmen Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier, and SA racer and Dakar stalwart Brian Baragwanath, who won the prologue stage in 2022, and Leonard Cremer.

The new Century CR6-T is powered by a 2.9l biturbo V6 engine from the Audi RS4.
Image: SUPPLIED

Red-Lined Motorsport

Also based close to the Grand Prix Circuit at Kyalami, another local rally raid race car maker Red-Lined Motorsport has four entries in Dakar 2023. Dubai-based Brit Thomas Bell and SA navigator Gerhard Schutte will return in a new TBR REVO.

German Daniel Schröder has South African Ryan Bland reading the notes again in the PS Laser VK50, and two more Dutch Red-Lined teams, Daklapak VK56 pair Dave Klaassen and Tessa Rooth and Ronald Van Loon and Erik Lemmen’s Oase.

Another SA-manufactured Dakar racer is the TBR REVO.
Image: Supplied

Husqvarna

Factory riders include American Skyler Howes and Argentine Luciano Benavides backed by privateer South African and specialist Michael Docherty. Botswana national Ross Branch is also in the mix.

Botswana resident and Dakar enthusiast Ross Branch
Image: Supplied

Side-by-sides

South Africans Geoff Minnitt and Gerhard Snyman return alongside rookie crew Eben Basson and Abertus Pienaar, while SA navigatrix Taye Perry reads notes for Yasmeen Koloccal.

Geoff Minnitt and Gerhard Snyman will tackle the Saudi Arabian terrain in a side-by-side buggy
Image: Supplied