The Dakar Rally 2023 It is just around the corner. The 45th edition of the toughest race in the world will be held entirely in Saudi Arabia, it will start on December 31 and end on January 15 after the dispute of 14 stages, with 8,549 km of route and 4,706 km of competitive specials.
It is expected that 365 vehicles will start on a Red Sea beach, of which 160 will compete in the Car category, the most important of the event. And between them there will be an unleashed fight between the official firms Toyota Y Audi.
The Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+
toyota gazoo racing will face the 2023 Dakar Rally with a three- vehicle team, with defending champions Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel in car number 200, escorted by former champion Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy (205), and with Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings (217) as squires.
They will all compete in the Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+, an improved version in terms of quality, durability and reliability of the winning model in the Dakar 2022. The brand indicates that the suspension components and forks have been reinforced, the single shock absorber configuration has been optimized, as well as the characteristics of transmission change. Finally, the software has been tweaked to accept the most modern racing fuel.
It is worth remembering that despite its name and exterior style, the GR DKR Hilux T1+ It is not based on a Hilux pick-up but on a Land Cruiser 300 designed with a tubular frame.
It mounts the V35A engine, a twin-turbo gasoline engine with 355 Hp of power and 457 lb-ft of torquewhich is limited by the reference power curve of the FIA. It is managed through a 6- speed Sadev sequential gearbox and has limited-slip front, center and rear differentials.
The RS Q e-tron E2
by the side of Audithe German brand will debut the RS Q e-tron E2the evolution of the hybrid model that will debut in 2022.
The mark indicates that the entire body has been redesigned and that all parts are new, adoptingBy the way, various measures to reduce weight, which is 2,100 kilos. Aerodynamics has also been an important pointsince the designers have managed to reduce aerodynamic resistance by 15%.
As for the power train, the RS Q e-tron E2 It remains a hybrid equipped with a pair of electric motors complemented by a motor derived from the DTM, which is used solely to charge the batteries. The brand indicates that many shortcomings that appeared in the previous Dakar have been improved and, for example, the servo pump, the air conditioning cooling pump and the fans have been optimized to save energy in the stages. The interior was also improved to make it more user-friendly.
Audi will have a team of three cars in the Dakarled by Stéphane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz and Mattias Ekstrom.