New Toyota Hilux Evo 2017 Dakar Rally
The South African arm of Toyota Gazoo
Racing revealed their new Dakar Rally challenger, based on the Hilux pickup
truck. The all-new race car features a mid-engine configuration and a
rear-drive setup, making it faster and lighter than the previous all-wheel
drive Hilux racer.
Toyota’s new Dakar racer tips the scales
at 1,300 kg versus the 1,915 kg of the 4x4 version. The new race car has also
larger wheels with 37-inch tires, a significantly longer suspension travel and
an onboard tire inflation/deflation system.
Sitting in the middle of the chassis,
the normally aspirated V8 unit will get a 38 mm restrictor which will allow it
to breathe more efficiently. This year will also be the first time that Toyota,
Mini and Peugeot will be using the same size restrictor, as previous years saw
Toyota’s competitors getting either a 1 mm or 2 mm advantage.
Toyota will put the new Hilux Evo under
rigorous testing before shipping it off to South Africa at the end of the year
for the Dakar Rally. Behind its wheel will sit former Dakar winner and newly
crowned FIA Cross Country World Cup Champion Nasser Al-Attiyah with navigator
Matthieu Baumel sitting next to him.
Al-Attiyah will join Giniel de Villiers
and Leeroy Poulter in the driver line-up for 2017. Dirk von Zitzewitz will be
De Villiers’ navigator and Poulter will have Rob Howie beside him. The 2017
Dakar rally will start in Asunción, Paraguay, before heading through Bolivia
and finishing in Buenos Aires in Argentina, between 2-14 January.
