Toyota's Roma, de Villiers and Rautenbach confirm 4, 5 and 9 in Dakar Rally 15.01.2017: Leg 12: Río Cuarte – Buenos Aires Special stage: 64km; Liaison sections: 786km

Leg 12: Río Cuarte – Buenos Aires
Special stage: 64km; Liaison sections: 786km
 



 

Overdrive Racing and Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa reached the ceremonial finish of the 2017 Dakar Rally with six of their original eight Toyota Hiluxes well positioned in the overall classification.
 


After one of the most dramatic Dakar rallies in history, thanks to inclement weather conditions, vastly differing temperatures, high altitude and daunting navigation, the Spanish crew of Joan Roma and navigator Alex Haro headed the team home in an Overdrive Racing car running with support from Monster Energy, Power Electronics and Air Europa.
 


The duo were careful through the final stage to confirm a comfortable fourth overall behind the record-breaking 13-time winner Stéphane Peterhansel, nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Loeb and five-time winner Cyril Despres.
 


Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz heading into the final day under a little pressure from Argentina’s Orlando Terranova. But De Villiers retained his composure to beat the Mendoza driver by 40 seconds and secure fifth place by the slender margin, in Dakar terms, of 2min 43sec.
 




Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach and his South African co-driver Robert Howie ended their first Dakar Rally together in style with the fifth quickest time on the last special and that just emphasised the progress the former WRC driver has made in such a short time. It enabled the crew to bring the second of the Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa Hiluxes to the finish in ninth place and gave Conrad the ‘Performance of the Day’ by rally officials.
 



Van Loon sixth fastest on final Dakar stage
 




The Dutch crew of Erik van Loon and Wouter Rosegaar set some impressive stage times over the last few days of the Dakar in their Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux and SS12 was no exception, with Van Loon carding the sixth fastest stage of 29min 57sec to secure 14th overall.
 


Alejandro Yacopini and Daniel Merlo began the last stage in their native Argentina from 19th overall. There were no major dramas to follow and Yacopini reached Buenos Aires inside the top 20.
 


The Chinese crew of He Zhitao and Kai Zhao began the final special stage in 34th in the general classification after running behind their team-mates for long periods during the second week. They fulfilled the objective of finishing the event in the Boundless Yong Rally Team car run by Overdrive Racing in 34th overall.
 


Additional support for Overdrive Racing came from Power Electronics and Kappa clothing.
 




TODAY
 
Drivers have hit problems on final Dakar stages before, but the special stage was only 64km in length and took place close to Río Cuarte.



That left a monster of a road liaison to cope with of 786km from the stage finish to Buenos Aires via the town of Villa Maria and the city of Rosario. The ceremonial finish then took place outside the Argentina Automobile Club (ACA) in the Argentine capital.
 




WHAT THEY SAID:
 
JEAN-MARC FORTIN, CEO of Overdrive Racing



“It was a very difficult Dakar and one that we will all remember for a long time. I would like to say thanks to everyone in our team for their hard work in the face of very difficult weather conditions and long days and nights in extreme conditions.



We showed that the Toyota Hilux was competitive from the start of the Dakar and it was a huge disappointment for the whole team that we lost Nasser (Al-Attiyah) so early after he had taken the lead.




 Our other drivers did a superb job and Nani and Giniel reached the finish in fourth and fifth places. Conrad showed considerable potential with his stage performances over the last few days and we are delighted to see Erik Van Loon, Alejandro Yacopini and He Zhitao at the finish in Buenos Aires.”
 



GINIEL DE VILLIERS – Car 302


“Obviously we’re a little bit disappointed, but you have to give big congratulations to our rivals because they deserve their success. All in all it was a very tough Dakar with plenty of navigation, which is good. It was a pity that two stages were cancelled.”
 



JOAN ROMA – Car 305


“Well, the contest is over. It seems like yesterday that we were in Asuncion before starting the adventure. I guess we have had good adventures and misadventures. I am happy, although I suppose you are never happy if you don’t win.


We started every stage trying to do our best. This race is never over until the last kilometre. We knew that fighting the Peugeots was a difficult task, but that was the fun part. If Toyota continues like this and we work a little more, we can win this race. Fourth is the first place that is not on the podium. But after some of the issues we had, this is a good result.”
 




2017 Dakar Rally – SS12 result (top 8 only):



1. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Daniel Elena (MCO) Peugeot 3008 DKR                                28min 55sec


2. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA)/Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA) Peugeot 3008 DKR                29min 14sec


3. Giniel de Villiers (ZAF)/Dirk von Zitzewitz (DEU) Toyota Gazoo Hilux   29min 25sec


4. Cyril Despres (FRA)/David Castera (FRA) Peugeot 3008 DKR                                   29min 48sec


5. Conrad Rautenbach (ZWE)/Robert Howie (ZAF) Toyota Gazoo Hilux             29min 55sec


6. Erik van Loon (NLD)/Wouter Rosegaar (NLD) Toyota Hilux Overdrive            29min 57sec


7. Orlando Terranova (ARG)/Andreas Schulz (DEU) John Cooper Works Rally Mini          30min 05sec


8. Joan Roma (ESP)/Alex Haro (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                            30min 16sec


 



2017 Dakar Rally – final standings after SS12:




1. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA)/Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA) Peugeot 3008 DKR                28hr 49min 30sec


2. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Daniel Elena (MCO) Peugeot 3008 DKR                                28hr 54min 43sec


3. Cyril Despres (FRA)/David Castera (FRA) Peugeot 3008 DKR                                   29hr 22min 58sec


4. Joan Roma (ESP)/Alex Haro (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                            30hr 06min 13sec


5. Giniel de Villiers (ZAF)/Dirk von Zitzewitz (DEU) Toyota Gazoo Hilux   30hr 39min 18sec


6. Orlando Terranova (ARG)/Andreas Schulz (DEU) John Cooper Works Rally Mini          30hr 42min 01sec


7. Jakub Przygonski (POL)/Tom Colsoul (BEL) John Cooper Works Rally Mini                  33hr 04min 17sec


8. Romain Dumas (FRA)/Alain Guehennec (FRA) Peugeot 3008 DKR                            33hr 13min 31sec


9. Conrad Rautenbach (ZWE)/Robert Howie (ZAF) Toyota Gazoo Hilux             33hr 29min 43sec


10. Mohammed Abu Issa (QAT)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) John Cooper Works Rally Mini        33hr 43min 00sec


14. Erik van Loon (NLD)/Wouter Rosegaar (NLD) Toyota Hilux Overdrive          34hr 54min 56sec


19. Alejandro Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Merlo (ARG) Toyota Hliux Overdrive          37hr 17min 21sec


34. He Zhitao (CHN)/Kai Zhao (CHN) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                             54hr 03min 55sec
           



- Neil Perkins also photos