The 2023 Dakar Rally has finally ended, with Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa's (TGRSA) Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel standing atop the victor's podium for the second consecutive year.
It is Al-Attiyah's fifth time winning the world's toughest endurance race, having done so in 2022, 2019, 2015, and 2011. Only France's Stéphane Peterhansel, with eight Dakar victories, has won the Dakar more times than Qatari Al-Attiyah.
"It was really a tough Dakar for everybody, but we managed to win again. It's amazing to defend our title. I am happy to win five times, Mathieu four times now," said Al-Attiyah.
"We need to keep going and to win more and more. We finished Dakar, and we try to defend our world championship. We didn't need to really push, to be crazy. We need to accept what we get. Just to finish and win the Dakar is very important to me."
Between 2009 and 2019, the Dakar was staged in South America before moving to Saudi Arabia in 2020 for every edition since.
Smiles for TGRSA
The TGRSA team relishes the joy of having all three factory crews finish one of the toughest Dakar's to date in the top 5.
South Africa's Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy finished fourth in the general standings, while Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings secured fifth. Five minutes separated these two crews, with De Villiers/Murphy 2hr 31min 12sec off Al-Attiyah's pace.
Expectedly, the team is overjoyed at having all three crews finish the race, given how easily the race can turn on its head.
Early on, the Audi team suffered major setbacks when Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz Sr first retired from the race. Both drivers are seasoned Dakar competitors and legends of the sport - alongside Al-Attiyah and De Villiers - highlighting that no one is
Read more on news24.com
news24.com
