Photo: Toyota
In a time when pretty much everyone prepares for the end of the year, one that will hopefully bring about a brighter future, the people in the business of making cars and racing them for a living (and kicks) are pretty busy getting ready for the 2024 edition of the Dakar Rally.
The most famous raid of them all will kick off on the fifth day of the new year in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, comprising this year no less than 12 stages, all of them taking place in the same country. The race is scheduled to end on January 19 in Yanbu, located 3,100 miles (5,000 km) from the starting point.
This year's edition of the race was clearly dominated by Japanese carmaker Toyota, whose Gazoo Racing team claimed the win with an advance of some 80 minutes over the runner-up. That means the expectations for the next event are even higher, and the Japanese plan to make the most of it in 2024 as well.
With less than a month left until the start of the race, Toyota announced it will take part in the 2024 event with the largest number of drivers and cars it has ever fielded in Dakar: no less than five Toyota teams will take to the desert next year (the full list of driver teams and car numbers can be found below this text).
Of particular interest to us is the vehicles the five teams will use for their exploits. An evolution of the truck from this year, the machines wear the complicated name GR DKR Hilux EVO T1U.
Breaking down that name we've got the initial of Toyota's racing efforts, a contraction of the Dakar Rally name, the name of the vehicle on which the racer is based, and the new FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) classification.
The Hilux in this form is not something we haven't seen before, but it does come with a few upgrades compared to last year. And the first thing one might notice is the fact that it's a bit wider then before, by 100 mm.
The double wishbone suspension system with 350 mm of travel front and rear has been tampered with as well, but Toyota does not get into specifics. To make the beast more efficient, the air conditioning unit, a must-have in the scorching heat of the desert, has been repositioned, and a new cooling package was devised for the truck.
The car's engine will now run on 70 percent biofuels, and it will be controlled by means of a six-speed sequential shift gearbox. The powerplant spins Evo Course just 17 inches in diameter and shod in BF Goodrich tires that come in at a much larger 37 inches.
Although the Dakar Rally in January 2024 will be the first official outing of the revised Hilux EVO, the truck has already undergone 18,600 miles (30,000 km) of testing this season.
Aside from taking part in Dakar, two of the cars there, the ones driven by Lucas Moraes and Seth Quintero, will enter the other races of the W2RC in 2024. There are four others planned for 2024, in Abu Dhabi, Portugal, Argentina, and Morocco.
Below are the driver pairings Toyota imagined for the 2024 Dakar Rally:
This year's edition of the race was clearly dominated by Japanese carmaker Toyota, whose Gazoo Racing team claimed the win with an advance of some 80 minutes over the runner-up. That means the expectations for the next event are even higher, and the Japanese plan to make the most of it in 2024 as well.
With less than a month left until the start of the race, Toyota announced it will take part in the 2024 event with the largest number of drivers and cars it has ever fielded in Dakar: no less than five Toyota teams will take to the desert next year (the full list of driver teams and car numbers can be found below this text).
Of particular interest to us is the vehicles the five teams will use for their exploits. An evolution of the truck from this year, the machines wear the complicated name GR DKR Hilux EVO T1U.
Breaking down that name we've got the initial of Toyota's racing efforts, a contraction of the Dakar Rally name, the name of the vehicle on which the racer is based, and the new FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) classification.
The Hilux in this form is not something we haven't seen before, but it does come with a few upgrades compared to last year. And the first thing one might notice is the fact that it's a bit wider then before, by 100 mm.
The double wishbone suspension system with 350 mm of travel front and rear has been tampered with as well, but Toyota does not get into specifics. To make the beast more efficient, the air conditioning unit, a must-have in the scorching heat of the desert, has been repositioned, and a new cooling package was devised for the truck.
The car's engine will now run on 70 percent biofuels, and it will be controlled by means of a six-speed sequential shift gearbox. The powerplant spins Evo Course just 17 inches in diameter and shod in BF Goodrich tires that come in at a much larger 37 inches.
Although the Dakar Rally in January 2024 will be the first official outing of the revised Hilux EVO, the truck has already undergone 18,600 miles (30,000 km) of testing this season.
Aside from taking part in Dakar, two of the cars there, the ones driven by Lucas Moraes and Seth Quintero, will enter the other races of the W2RC in 2024. There are four others planned for 2024, in Abu Dhabi, Portugal, Argentina, and Morocco.
Below are the driver pairings Toyota imagined for the 2024 Dakar Rally:
- Car 206 - Lucas Moraes / Armand Monleon
- Car 209 - Giniel de Villiers / Dennis Murphy
- Car 216 - Seth Quintero / Dennis Zenz
- Car 226 - Saood Variawa / Francois Cazalet
- Car 243 - Guy Botterill / Brett Cummings
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