Automotive Business Review February 2015 | Page 48

Dakar Rally |

by Tristan Wiggill

Imperial Toyota Dakar Team
Celebrates Second Coming
The Imperial Toyota Dakar team returned to South Africa on 19 January having secured 2nd place, again,
in the T1 car class at the 2015 event.

➲ Giniel de Villiers and Dirk Von Zitzewitz enjoy the spoils in Buenos Aires

T

he campaign to South America was
once again headed up by former
champion, Giniel de Villiers and
navigator Dirk von Zitzewitz, while the
“Young guns”- Leeroy Poulter and Rob
Howie - as Toyota South Africa President
and CEO Dr Johan Van Zyl described them,
finished in 16th place.

“It was a great race, one of the most
exciting that I’ve competed in,” said de
Villiers at a press conference at Emperors
Palace hours after landing at OR Tambo
International Airport. “This year we were
able to genuinely challenge for the lead
and had the speed to win.” De Villiers was
pleased with how the Hilux performed,
noting its increased speed and bullet-proof
reliability. “There are a lot of positives we
can take from the race and we have a
good base to work from,” he enthused.

“You need to be perfect to win the Dakar.
Unfortunately we made a navigational
mistake and Nasser (the Mini driving race
winner) was flawless.”
Poulter, competing in just his second Dakar,
was a little more philosophical about his
campaign. “This year was a bit easier.
We managed to finish in the daytime at
least”, he said somewhat self-disparagingly
to some chuckles. “The Hilux was amazing.
Every day we were quick…we’re getting
there.”

“There is a lot of press interest in the
20-man team, who, apart from German
von Zitzewitz, are all South African’s.
But you cannot win on your first time
out.
Wisdom wins the race. You have to
be patient when necessary and attack
when the time is right. You also cannot
win on your own,” he lamented.

Team principal Glyn Hall added that there
was no reason why the team couldn’t win
the race, although he conceded that the
team did not achieve the regulation changes
they had wanted. The rules were amended
this year, which saw the restriction limits on
the naturally-aspirated engine reduced.

| Wheels in Action

46

FEBRUARY 2015

With another 2nd place
finish in four years and with
contracts concluded, it will
be interesting to see if the
team continue their quest
for outright Dakar glory
come 2016...