Disappointment in Abu Dhabi for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing SA’s Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings as they fell foul to a boost-related problem in their GR DKR Hilux T1+ throughout Stage 2 of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, and so they elected to return to the bivouac in order to have an effect on repairs in preparation for tomorrow’s stage. They incurred the usual penalty of 5h, successfully eradicating them from competition. This is a disappointing outcome, provided that they had been in third total after Stage 1 of the race. The technical crew will put together the GR DKR Hilux T1+ in preparation for Stage 3, and the crew will proceed to combat for stage victories over the rest of the race.
Disappointment in Abu Dhabi for TGRSA
“We were very pleased with our performance yesterday, and were looking forward to building on our position during Stage 2. Unfortunately, we experienced an issue with our turbo boost shortly after starting the stage. We stopped to investigate and tried to find the fault, but in the end, we elected to return to the bivouac rather than risk damage to the engine. The technical crew has sorted the issue, and we’re looking forward to racing in Stage 3 of this amazing event.”
Henk Lategan
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Stage 2 of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge noticed the crews full a highway part of 106km from the bivouac at Qasr Al Sarab, earlier than taking over a timed part of 257km, bringing them again to the bivouac. The terrain consisted largely of dunes, with sections of sandy tracks in between.
A second consecutive stage win marked Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel’s progress on the 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. The pair began the stage as the primary automobile on the highway, however regardless of the problem of discovering the route, they introduced their Dakar-winning GR DKR Hilux T1+ to the end in a time of 3h 33min 39sec – effectively away from their nearest opponents.
For Nasser and Mathieu, the day posed no issues, as they handled tough navigation and difficult terrain on their option to a second consecutive stage win. Their nearest opponents had been once more Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk, in a privately entered Toyota Hilux T1+. Their deficit to the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing crew was 12min 14sec. At the identical time, Nasser and Mathieu’s win netted them one other 5 factors in the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), thereby growing their lead over their nearest opponents to eight factors.
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Stage 3 is subsequent
Stage 3 follows subsequent, and can see the crews full a highway part of simply 2km from the bivouac at Qasr Al Sarab, earlier than taking over a particular stage of 266km. As earlier than, the terrain is predicted to comprise largely of dunes and sandy tracks. A brief liaison of 35km will carry the crews again to the bivouac. The 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge will conclude on Friday, 3 March, after 5 robust phases.
Stage 2 Results
| CREW | CLASS | TEAM | TIME | |
| 1 | N. AL-ATTIYAH (QAT) / M. BAUMEL (FRA) | T1 | #201 – TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | 3:33:39 |
| 2 | Y. AL RAJHI (SAU) / T. GOTTSCHALK (DEU) | T1 | #207 – OVERDRIVE RACING | +12:14 |
| 3 | M. PROKOP (CZE) / V. CHYTKA (CZE) | T1 | #203 – ORLEN BENZINA TEAM | +14:55 |
| 4 | M. EKSTROM (SWE) / E. BERGKVIST (SWE) | T1 | #300 – SOUTH RACING CAN-AM | +18:30 |
| 5 | D. KROTOV (KGZ) / Ok. ZHILTSOV | T1 | #208 – X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM | +19:09 |
| 6 | S. QUINTERO (USA) / D. ZENZ (DEU) | T3 | #302 – RED BULL OFF-ROAD JUNIOR TEAM USA | +21:11 |
| 7 | S. HALPERN (ARG) / B. GRAUE (ARG) | T1 | #205 – X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM | +21:39 |
| 8 | A. JONES (USA) / G. GUGELMIN (BRA) | T3 | #301 – RED BULL OFF-ROAD JUNIOR TEAM USA | +23:04 |
| 9 | Ok. AL QASSIMI (ARE) / O. FLOENE (NOR) | T1 | #214 – ABU DHABI TEAM | +23:20 |
| 10 | J. YACOPINI (ARG)D. OLIVERAS (ESP) | T1 | #204 – OVERDRIVE RACING | +24:33 |
Standings after stage 2
| CREW | CLASS | TEAM | TIME | |
| 1 | N. AL-ATTIYAH (QAT) / M. BAUMEL (FRA) | T1 | #201 – TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | 6:47:15 |
| 2 | Y. AL RAJHI (SAU) / T. GOTTSCHALK (DEU) | T1 | #207 – OVERDRIVE RACING | +18:19 |
| 3 | M. PROKOP (CZE) / V. CHYTKA (CZE) | T1 | #203 – ORLEN BENZINA TEAM | +24:20 |
| 4 | J. YACOPINI (ARG)D. OLIVERAS (ESP) | T1 | #204 – OVERDRIVE RACING | +33:13 |
| 5 | D. KROTOV (KGZ) / Ok. ZHILTSOV | T1 | #208 – X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM | +33:53 |
| 6 | S. QUINTERO (USA) / D. ZENZ (DEU) | T3 | #302 – RED BULL OFF-ROAD JUNIOR TEAM USA | +36:06 |
| 7 | S. HALPERN (ARG) / B. GRAUE (ARG) | T1 | #205 – X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM | +41:58 |
| 8 | A. JONES (USA) / G. GUGELMIN (BRA) | T3 | #301 – RED BULL OFF-ROAD JUNIOR TEAM USA | +45:47 |
| 9 | Ok. AL QASSIMI (ARE) / O. FLOENE (NOR) | T1 | #214 – ABU DHABI TEAM | +47:04 |
| 10 | G. ZHANG (CHN) / O. MENA (ESP) | T1 | #209 – BAIC ORV | +49:32 |
Published by Toyota South Africa on MotorPress
For extra information in regards to the 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, comply with our motorsport web page.
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