The official Toyota team is entering six cars in the 2025 Dakar Rally – The Hilux has been further developed and continues to be robust – Three German co-drivers are among them
Toyota has won the Dakar Rally three times. In the last edition, they were beaten by Audi. The Belgian Guillaume De Mevius brought the Hilux to the finish line in second place. In 2025, there will be a lot of Toyota in the starting field in Saudi Arabia.
As always, the car was used and developed over the course of the year in the South African championship. Henk Lategan has secured the title in this series. During development, the focus was on reliability, handling and speed.
“The latest version of the car is exceptionally robust,” says engineer Michael Jardim. ”Nevertheless, the car is agile and extremely fast. We have incorporated the data from countless kilometers of racing in the SARRC and from tests.”
The Toyota GR DKR Hilux Evo, as the full name suggests, is powered by a 3.5-liter V6 twin-turbo engine. The base comes from a Land Cruiser 300. Toyota states that it produces 264 kW (about 360 hp) with a maximum torque of 620 Nm.
A sequential gearbox with six gears from Sadev is used. The tank can hold 540 liters of fuel. The suspension travel is 350 millimeters. A tubular grid frame is used for the chassis. The Toyota was already considered very reliable in previous years.
“We believe it is the best machine for the 2025 Dakar,” says team principal Shameer Variawa. ‘This car is reliable and fast. We have refined the details over countless kilometers of racing.’
De Villiers and von Zitzewitz reunited
Toyota South Africa is entering four vehicles. These are Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings (218).
For de Villiers, 2025 will be his last Dakar start. The veteran holds a remarkable record, having finished all 21 rallies he has entered. Without a break since 2003! He has made the podium eight times and took overall victory in 2009. It was the first for Volkswagen.
For years, de Villiers and von Zitzewitz were a successful team, but after the 2019 rally, they went their separate ways. Now they are reunited for one last start together. Von Zitzewitz is one of three Germans with a chance of a top result.
de Villiers has the same goal for his farewell: “I’m happy to be with Dirk again. We can do good work and are aiming for this result. We have a good car. I’ve tested the Hilux a lot.”
“I hope it goes well, but there’s no doubt that the competition from Dacia and Ford will be fierce.” After Audi’s departure, Toyota is one of the favorites, because Dacia and Ford are coming to Saudi Arabia with completely new vehicles. X-raid has also developed a new car.
That’s why Toyota has, as always, put together a strong line-up. Once again, it includes two talented young drivers. One of them is Lucas Moraes with co-driver Armand Monleon (203). It will be Moraes’ third Dakar start.
Dennis Zenz again at the side of Seth Quintero
On the other hand, there are Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz (204). For the American and the German, it will be the second Dakar in the top class with the Hilux. Before that, they competed in the Challenger T3 class for three years.
Quintero/Zenz finished the World Rally Raid Championship season in sixth place. They achieved their best individual result with third place at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge at the end of February and beginning of March.
“We have learned a lot in recent years, especially this year, competing with the big boys in the top category,“ says Zenz, adding: ‘I wouldn’t say that we are there yet, but we have definitely improved and will be up there with the leaders.’
”This season, we won stages in Abu Dhabi and Argentina. So we know we have the speed. We know we have a car and a team that give us the tools to do our job.“
”We just need to put it all together and have the luck we need to complete a 14-day rally. I think 2025 will be a great year for the championship. Dacia and Ford will be coming, Mini has a new car.”
“They all have good drivers, co-drivers and teams. There will definitely be a lot of competition, but we will be in the mix. We will continue to prepare well for the 2025 Dakar, where we want to be fighting with the top guys.”
Timo Gottschalk in the Overdrive Toyota
The Overdrive team is entering a total of six Toyota Hilux. Spearheading the charge are Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk, who will start the race with the number 201. The duo finished second in the World Rally Raid Championship.
Gottschalk won the Dakar in 2011 as co-driver to Nasser Al-Attiyah in a Volkswagen. This will be his 17th start. The Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk duo are among the favorites to win.
“It’s fair to say that Yazeed and I were always among the best during the season,” says Gottschalk about the WRC season. ‘That’s why we have set ourselves higher goals for the coming season and the Dakar. We have the speed to do it, that’s the good news.’
