- Basson/Pienaar up into 7th in Class T3
- Eight tough stages completed, as Dakar reaches Riyadh Rest Day
- G Rally crew records the 8th-fastest time on Stage 8
The 2023 Dakar Rally started with a literal bang, as many of the top contenders in the rally suffered heavy crashes early on. In the overall standings, the names of Peterhansel and Sainz are conspicuously absent – yet in Class T3, South Africa’s Eben Basson and Leander Pienaar soldier on.
“The rally to date has been incredibly tough. Not only on the car, but also on us,” said Basson from the Rest Day at the bivouac in Riyadh, on Monday January 9th. “The stages are tough, the liaisons are often long, and without a windscreen we often find ourselves exposed to the cold and rain, but we love every moment.”
The South African Class T1 champions have been campaigning a lightweight prototype in Class T3 of the rally, where they are up against some experienced and fast competitors, including teammates Guillaume de Mevius and his co-driver Francois Cazalet. The Belgian driver and his French partner are currently leading the class T3 battle, and serving as an inspiration to Basson and Pienaar.
“It is such an honour to be part of the G Rally Team, and to be driving an identical OT3 lightweight prototype to the one that is currently leading the class,” continued Basson. “Our teammates are superstars in this world, and we’re learning a lot from them every day.”
Basson and Pienaar found themselves in eighth place in the T3 standings after five stages, but then the rains came down. So much so, in fact, that the bivouac at Al Dawudimi was flooded, forcing the organisers to reroute the rally to Riyadh instead. They also switched some stages around, and came up with a novel ‘remote service’ after Stage 7, which saw the service crews work on the cars for a maximum of two hours at a remote location. The race crews then stayed over in a makeshift bivouac, before racing back towards Riyadh for Stage 8 of the rally.
“It was quite a mess, in terms of the schedule. You plan things out in your mind ahead of each stage, but then suddenly it was all change. Even so, we got through all the changes without serious problems, and finally arrived safely in Riyadh for the Rest Day.”
The intrepid #TeamHilux crew completed Stage 8 in the 8th-fastest time, relinquishing 6min 8sec to the stage winners. This result, however, belied their true pace as they spent most of the stage setting the second-fastest time, until a technical niggle near the end of the stage set them back by around 20 minutes.
“It was an amazing day, and a great way to end our first week at the Dakar Rally,” concluded Basson. “Leander has been doing a fantastic job, and we set ourselves a target of being in the Top 10 by the Rest Day. We’ve not only achieved this, but we find ourselves up in seventh place, which is simply amazing.”
The crew will face Saudi Arabia’s so-called Empty Quarter next. This fearsome slice of desert has a reputation as one of the most desolate places on the planet, punctuated by seas of dunes. Six stages remain in the race, before Dakar 2023 concludes in the city of Dammam on January 15th.
Follow the Dakar journey on Facebook and Instagram @TeamHiluxRallyRaid.
