The 2024 Dakar Rally is only days away from kicking off this year's global motorsport calendar, and the competitors are gathering in the ancient Arabian city of Alula, ready for the off.
It's the fifth time that what is arguably the world's most famous off-road race has been held in Saudi Arabia - although Dakar is still in the title, political turmoil in northern Africa means that it has been considered unsafe to run the event, for some time now, on its traditional route between Paris and the Senegalese coast.
Toyota's racing pickups
Even so, the route through the heart of the Arabia desert will prove to be a stern test for the competitors and Toyota is looking to secure a fourth victory in the event. To do that, the Japanese giant - through its famed Gazoo Racing team - is taking a squad of five GR DKR Hilux EVO T1U racing pickups. The team will be represented by the driver/co-driver pairings of Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon and Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz, both crews racing in Red Bull colours. Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy will be racing in GR livery, as will their teammates Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet; and Guy Botterill and Brett Cummings.
All five crews will take the start of the 12-stage event, which will cross 9,000km of sand, rock, and scrub, on the morning of the 5th of January. Alain Dujardyn, TGR W2RC Team Principal, said: "We are excited to stand at the dawn of a new era for TGR's Dakar and W2RC team. Not only do we have a new car in the form of the GR DKR Hilux EVO T1U, but we also have four new crews taking part in the Dakar Rally for us. I would like to wish all of our crews the best of luck for the upcoming rally, especially those crews who will also be taking part in the remainder of the W2RC season. We have a great car and we have a great technical team. Now, it is time to go racing."
Shameer Variawa, SVR Team Principal, said: "I've completed two Dakar Rallies as a driver, but this year I am pleased to return not only as a Team Principal but also as a proud father. My son, Saood, will be racing in his first Dakar Rally, and I wish him and Francois a good, clean race. As for the rest of the team, we are excited to see our new GR DKR Hilux EVO T1U in action, and to measure its performance against the competition."
Audi's hybrid entry
Trying to ensure that Toyota doesn't have things all its own way will be Audi, which is entering a works squad of three Audi RS Q e-tron cars. These are specialist off-road racing buggies fitted with an electric range-extender powertrain, using a TFSI petrol engine to keep the batteries charged up on those endless stage miles. The Audi team includes driver/co-driver pairings of Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist, and Stéphane Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger alongside rallying legend - and former Dakar winner - Carlos Sainz Snr, co-driven by Lucas Cruz.
Other big teams involved include the famed Prodrive organisation, which is entering a car of its own design, the Hunter, which Dakar legend Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah drives. There's also a squad of Ford Raptors and a pair of X-Raid MINI John Cooper Works Rally Plus entries - which are really specialist off-road buggies with bodies that bear a passing resemblance to Minis.
Irish racer in the 'bikes section
There's Irish interest in the motorbike section, where Dublin's Oran O'Kelly will be racing a KTM 45 Rally Replica for the experienced Vendetta Racing team. O'Kelly told CompleteCar that the secret to a good finish on the Dakar is navigation, not speed: "On the bike you can be racing at speeds of up to 180km/h on some sections, but you have to constantly be looking up and glancing down and cross referencing your heading as well as making sure that you're following the correct path and not getting lost. It's hard, on this event, to make up a few seconds if you lose them. If you get lost, you're talking losing minutes and minutes and there's no coming back from that."