Qatar's Nasser Al Attiyah and his French co-driver Matheiu Baumel pose for a photograph in front of their Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+ ahead of the 2021 Dakar Rally.
Doha: Qatar's multi-talented sports star Nasser Al Attiyah will be aiming for his fourth Dakar Rally title when the world's toughest rally flags off in Saudi Arabia on January 1.
The nine-time Dakar Rally podium winner and his French co-driver Matheiu Baumel will go into the 14-day event as favourites with the pair behind the wheels of new Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+.
The new car features a twin-turbocharged V6 petrol engine from the new Toyota Land Cruiser.
It also sports larger wheels, a new, single-shock suspension system with more travel, and a bold new look, which gives Al Attiyah an advantage for the gruelling rally.
Al Attiyah – who recently was crowned the 2021 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies champion – is taking part in his 19th Dakar Rally.
Al Attiyah sealed the World Cup victory after winning four of this year’s six events, including the Andalusia Rally, Rally of Morocco, Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, and the Hail International Rally.
Al Attiyah has finished on the podium nine times – with the Qatari winning the event in 2011, 2015 and 2019.
The Qatari finished second in the last year’s event and will be eager to go all the way this season.
Al Attiyah said: “We are very proud of winning the 2021 World Cup – the third victory for Toyota Gazoo Racing. The car that brought us all the wins in 2021 was extremely reliable and very fast, but the new car is definitely better. We’re ready to attack from the start at the Dakar Rally, as we’ll be aiming for the top step of the podium.”
The rally will kick-off on Saturday with a liaison from Jeddah to Ha’il.
The road section covers 815 kilometres and will be followed by a short timed section of 19km, which the organisers will use to determine the starting orders for Stage 1.
The route then moves in a clockwise direction, visiting towns such as Al Artawiyah and Al Qaisumah before reaching the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh.
Here, the bivouac will remain in place for several days until the rest day on January 8.
The race will continue to Al Dawadimi, Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha, from Riyadh, before concluding in Jeddah on January 14.
Al Attiyah’s toughest challenge will come from nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb, who is aiming for a first Dakar Rally victory.
Loeb has teamed up with new navigator Fabian Lurquin following his high-profile split from long-time co-driver Daniel Elena earlier this year, and narrowly missed out on victory in the Baja Aragón in the Prodrive-run Hunter.
Although Loeb elected to skip the traditional pre-Dakar warm-up event in Ha’il in early December, he reckons the time spent forging a partnership with Lurquin during the testing regime is starting to bear fruit.
Loeb said: “I hope [the partnership with Fabian] will be enough, for sure. We haven’t worked together very long, compared to some of the other crews like Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel who know each other very well, but I think we have a good collaboration already and a good understanding of each other."
"We have the same vision of the Dakar regarding the navigation so we can work in a clever way to try to optimise our way of collaborating. We both have a little experience of this race, and we are both approaching it in the same way. We know what we have to do, and I think we are ready. But like we know, it’s complicated,” Loeb said.
