Dakar Rally 2024 Special. Behind the scenes at the world’s toughest race #dakar2024

Summary

This behind-the-scenes video follows an enthusiastic motor racing fan as he experiences the 2024 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia firsthand. He rides along tracks seeing top competitors like Sebastian Loeb roar past. At the bivouac camp, he interviews racers like driver Lucio Alvarez of the Toyota team to get their stories. The fan marvels at vehicles from the Audi hybrids to classic Porsches and trucks charging through brutal terrain. Despite setbacks, racers persevere with endurance and innovation. The fan conveys his exhilaration at seeing these feats of speed and engineering up close.

Takeaways

• 😲 Sebastian Loeb switched from Toyota to Prodrive Hunter this year, but has had multiple issues and breakdowns
• 🚗 The Audi hybrid is leading Dakar 2024, in its last year of competition before retirement
• 🌵 Stages vary enormously - huge sand dunes, then ultra rocky sections
• 👷‍♂️ Mechanics work non-stop, often with just a few hours sleep a night
• 🚚 Trucks provide great racing spectacle, carrying 9 tonnes at high speed
• 🛢 Cars carry 500 litres of fuel at the start of longest stages
• 🚲 Top bikes are covered by only minutes after multiple long stages
• 😅 Quad bikes seen as the maddest Dakar competitors, built for fun
• 🗺 Navigation via roadbook is crucial - penalties for missing waypoints
• ❤️ David Richards and Toyota team passionate about Dakar, despite setbacks

Q & A

What is the Dakar Rally 2024's location?

The Dakar Rally 2024 is located in Saudi Arabia.

What vehicle brand is the video presenter a guest of?

The video presenter is a guest of Toyota.

How many kilometers off-road did they drive to reach the viewing spot?

They drove about 90 km off-road to reach the viewing spot.

What challenges do the bike racers face compared to car racers in the Dakar Rally?

Bike racers face the challenge of having no tracks to follow and must navigate only by the road book, making it a frustration for them.

What is the significance of helicopters during the Dakar Rally?

Helicopters signify the approach of competitors, as they are often heard before the bikes or cars come into view, indicating the race is underway.

Who won the Dakar Rally in the previous year and what major change occurred with this driver in 2024?

Nasser Al-Attiyah (referred to as 'naso') won the previous year, and in 2024, he made a major change by leaving Toyota and joining Prodrive, driving a Prodrive Hunter Red Bull car.

What issues did Nasser Al-Attiyah face in the early stages of Dakar 2024?

In the early stages of Dakar 2024, Nasser Al-Attiyah faced issues with punctures, breakdowns, and a hub failure, leading to a loss of time.

Which teams are in a competitive battle in the 2024 Dakar Rally, according to the video?

Honda, KTM, GasGas, and Husqvarna are mentioned as being in a competitive battle in the 2024 Dakar Rally.

How is the Audi team performing in Dakar 2024 and what strategy are they using?

The Audi team is performing well, with Carlos Sainz leading. The team is working under team orders and employing a strategy where they work together to maintain their lead, particularly in navigating and supporting each other.

What technological advancements are used in Dakar Rally navigation and strategy?

Competitors use electronic road books, which are updated minutes before the stage starts, and they navigate through waypoints to avoid time penalties. The organizers also use ghost timing along the course to ensure competitors do not take shortcuts.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Arrival at Dakar Rally

The paragraph describes the author's arrival at a scenic viewpoint during the 2024 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. It mentions the windy conditions, the spectacular views, and seeing motorbikes racing past.

05:06

🚗 Watching Dakar Cars in Action

The paragraph provides commentary as the author watches Dakar cars racing past the viewpoint, describing the sounds of the Audi, Toyota, and Prodrive cars. It also discusses the competition status, with Audi working as a team and Sebastian Loeb trying to catch Carlos Sainz.

10:09

🏍 Interview with Dakar Bike Rider

The paragraph contains an interview with a Dakar bike rider, who describes the long daily stages, riding through endless dunes, and the challenges for privateer entrants who do all their own maintenance.

15:11

👋 Visiting Dakar Team Camps

The paragraph describes the author visiting team camps at the Dakar bivouac, seeing the Prodrive and Toyota cars up close, chatting with the Porsche 924 entrant, and lamenting the lack of coverage of the Dakar trucks.

20:15

🧑‍🔧 Interview with Dakar Truck Team

The paragraph has an interview with a Dakar truck team describing issues with their oil cooler, the challenges of the varied terrain, and their plans to modify their truck based on lessons learned.

25:15

☀️ Arrival at Dakar Rally Stage

The paragraph describes arriving by helicopter at the start of a Dakar stage. It mentions seeing motorbikes go by and learning about Carlos Sainz losing time during the stage.

30:16

🚙 Interview with Dakar Car Driver

The paragraph contains an interview with a Dakar car driver, covering topics like navigating, fuel loads, in-car accommodations, and adapting to the changing handling as fuel is used up.

35:25

⚙️ Interview with Toyota Gazoo Racing

The paragraph has an interview with Toyota Gazoo Racing discussing their team lineup, goals, and the unpredictability of the Dakar Rally.

40:27

🤝 Chat with Dakar Leader David Richards

The paragraph describes a conversation with Dakar entrant David Richards about the daily challenges, how Dakar compares to other motorsports, and the slim lead currently held by Carlos Sainz.

45:28

🏁 Reflections on Dakar Rally

The concluding paragraph reflects on the author's Dakar Rally experience, praising the access to stages and competitors, and looking forward to the final results.

Keywords

💡Dakar

The Dakar Rally is an off-road endurance rally raid. It is the central subject of the video, as the narrator takes us behind the scenes of the 2024 edition of this iconic race through Saudi Arabia. Examples of Dakar mentions are seen throughout as the narrator interviews drivers and spectators.

💡racing

Racing refers to the competitive nature of the Dakar Rally, where drivers and teams race against each other through treacherous off-road terrain. The narrator frequently highlights the intense on-track battles between lead drivers like Carlos Sainz and Sebastien Loeb.

💡cars

Cars are one of the central vehicle classes in the Dakar Rally, competing alongside bikes, trucks, quads and other vehicles. Much of the footage and interviews center around car teams like Toyota, Audi, and Prodrive.

💡trucks

Trucks are large, heavy transport vehicles that compete in their own Dakar Rally class. The narrator notes they are one of his "favorite things" to watch due to their speed and spectacle.

💡bikes

Motorbikes make up another important Dakar vehicle class. The narrator interviews a bike racer about the extreme endurance required to compete on two wheels.

💡drivers

The Dakar drivers compete behind the wheel of the race vehicles. We get insights from interviews with top drivers like Nasser Al-Attiyah, Carlos Sainz, and Sebastien Loeb.

💡stages

The Dakar Rally comprises daily on-track special stages through the Saudi Arabian desert, ranging from 300km to over 600km. The narrator gives reports from multiple stage start and endpoints.

💡dunes

Sand dunes are a common terrain feature in the Saudi Arabian desert, featuring steep sandy hills. Dakar competitors have to traverse endless dunes, with the narrator noting their spectacular yet challenging nature.

💡navigation

Navigating through the undiscovered Saudi deserts, while consulting cryptic roadbooks, is one of the toughest Dakar challenges. The narrator notes the vital role navigation plays in driver success and failure.

💡endurance

Finishing the 15-day Dakar Rally is an immense feat of physical and mechanical endurance across nearly 9000km. The non-stop strain is a constant theme, e.g. drivers race for up to 13 hours without a break.

Highlights

Seeing the top Dakar competitors drive past us at high speed is a dream come true

The Audi team is working together to help Carlos Sainz stay in the lead

Sebastian Loeb had two punctures today but still managed to win the stage

The bike riders start their days at 4-5am and ride for 12-14 hours

The amateur 'Originals' riders do all their own mechanics work and ride the same course as the pros

The trucks racing at Dakar carry incredible speed for their size and weight

Racers can change dampers and springs between stages depending on terrain

Cars carry up to 500 liters of fuel, affecting handling as the weight shifts

Drivers race for 6+ hours at a time without a bathroom break

Toyota Gazoo Racing brought on 3 rookie drivers this year along with veterans

The mechanics work non-stop and race day is a rest day for drivers but not mechanics

Even the most experienced racers struggle with the daily changes and adversity

Sebastian Loeb is trying to gain 8 minutes per stage to beat Carlos Sainz

Punctures continue to trouble the racers due to rocky terrain

Dakar is like doing 24 Hours of LeMans every day for 2 weeks straight

Transcripts

Assa

well there you go welcome to a new

Harry's Garage video and we are on the

dhar rally again in Saudi Arabia

2024 literally just arrived at our stop

I'm just going to see if I can get out

the wind slightly Behind These Toyota

Land cruises you'll see here yes I'm a

guest of Toyota this year and we've

driven about 300 km to get here and a

lot of it off road about 90 km off road

to this spectacular spot on top of a

hill unfortunately it's quite Breezy so

I'm going to struggle with sounds I

you'll have to bear with me on this

because I've nothing I can do about it

I've got wind protected mics but it's

really windy up here but this spot is

just like a film set if you're going to

watch Dakar and the races come through

this is where I want to see it and your

first reason we knew those bites were

coming was the helicopter suddenly heard

the helicopter and then the two lead

bites came through the bikes on DEA

always go first it's a frustration for

them cuz they have no tracks to follow

they have to follow the road book we're

going through that we're going to visit

the bivak later today and I'll take you

through some of the details of how it

all works but we've got a Vista here

that just beats anything I've ever seen

on daa we can see I can see another

light there's another light down there

bike coming up there we've got I don't

know 2 km thing they've gone through

this terrain we have and they have to go

up this Rocky slope and then there's a

sand just on this piece here um a

unbelievable spot so yeah you're going

to be joining Harry's Garage on Dakar 24

and I'll give you a behind the scenes

tour of all the racing and all the stuff

at the bivwak what a spot this is going

to

be

that was so excited seeing those Bites

come through it was interesting we saw a

few more bites come through and they're

coming through in pairs and I understand

this is a quite hard stage for

navigation so it's better to work in

pairs if you can and the bikes are very

competitive this year yesterday stage

when they started that there was 1

second between first and second I think

it's now something like 40 seconds

between first and second at the start of

today's stage so it's absolutely going

to the wire and the top 10 by Charlie

holding the camera will correct me I

think covered by about 5 minutes AR they

in Dakar terms over the distance they've

traveled is incredibly close so Honda at

the moment are battling with KTM and gas

gas husana to see if they can get a win

at dhar this year that's what's going on

there in the cars well what a year um

last year Toyota won with naso their top

driver who has won new numerous Dakar

events he won the year before as well

one in 23 but in 2024 shock news he

swapped camps he left Toyota and joined

where the pro drive he's driving a pro

drive Hunter Red Bull car Sebastian loab

and it's not going been going well he

hasn't had a good time the first couple

of stages there was punches Galore he

lost a fair bit of time he had

breakdowns he had a hub go and it's just

not NASA year so it's really wide open

and the big surprise in 2024 is how well

the Audis are going AI declared this is

their last year competing but at the

moment cars is leading dhar from

Sebastian L who's tried to catch him

Sebastian Lo seems to be really quick in

the dunes and then yesterday another

navigation mistake put in back and he is

currently 24 minutes behind the master

of Carlos SS

big S we no helicopter I think we've got

two coming

[Music]

up

[Music]

next

one

see those three audies go through like

that what I think was going on there is

Erikson won the stage yesterday so he

would have led off and he's leading

caros SS uh I suspect there another

coming up now um and then pet Handel

behind us back up if something goes

wrong with Carlos sci's car I suggest

the Audi are working as a team this at

the moment but it was just magic to see

the three together and just how that

Audi sounds so different because it's on

constant revs because it's just charging

the battery while the like we've got the

sounds to

me yeah like another hot just Toyota

coming up they have such a wonderful

sound listen to it

s see he kick kick sand away with those

guys there we

are

yeah there we there we go so Sebastian L

is a long way behind but he he had this

trouble with a wayo yesterday and he had

to double back and he lost a lot of time

and I imagine he is going absolutely

full today and there's another car just

come into the

distance full on on this stage my

goodness and the sun this year unlike

last year where we just had

[Music]

mud

this is such a good spot can't believe

it we're seeing all these guys come

through they're really getting the power

on through the sand there we

are some of

them and then you know they must have a

warning on the road book or something

that there's rocks up there just talking

to Monica who's part of our group and

has done Dakar with her dad in bug

the cars are limited to 170 km an hour

this year and that's the bikes were 160

km last year I need to check if they've

up that to 170 as well but that is the

maximum speed the cars have to be

limited to for safety on the route she

was telling me she was talking to a team

U last night and they were checking the

data of yesterday's stage and one of

their drivers and I have to find out who

had the throttle pinned maximum

for 14 minutes stuck at 170 km an hour

somewhere in the desert yesterday 14

minutes flat out that's D car for

you they all get a tricky bit weide the

track to go here the thing is the bikes

have been through so it's soft and they

try and choose which way they go here we

go

yeah another one coming it wins the best

sound in car on daar by a country

mile interesting is no helicopters with

these lead

cars

sound over those guys

yeah right there we go that was good

wasn't it

yeah fantastic to catch those two coming

up the hill absolutely flat chat all the

way through the valley and then up the

sand until they hit the rocky bit and

just hear the um anti-ag popping and

banging as they go over the hill the

only one now is Sebastian lobe in the um

Hunter Pro Drive Hunter if that comes

through but yeah I don't know I just

can't get over how Toyota have made that

V6 twin turbo sound as good as

[Music]

that

[Music]

the Toyota just gone through has a

staggering amount of fuel on board I

can't get over there it's about 540 L of

fuel he starts the stage with massive

amount of fuel but they need it on these

long stage it's 400 and something

kilometers today they they will manage

how much fuel they put in it depending

on the length of stage and there there's

the time stage and then there's also the

Aon getting back to base back to the

biver each night and I think we got

another one coming

up apparently we've got Sebastian lobe

just coming up the

[Music]

hill don't you can hear that completely

different sound from the pro drive

Hunter yeah Sebastian Lo when his doors

open or his his spare wheel cover or

something whoa he's trying

to Fantastic to see Sebastian lobe go

through like that um yeah door flapping

on his spare tire wheel wasn't slowing

him down much though he's got a lot of

time to make up uh 24 minutes and only

one two three stages to do it in so

eight minutes to take out of color

science each stay for the next three

days can he do it well we'll find out at

the finish I want to just have a word

about way points and things so these

guys they go through various way points

that's the road book They're reading and

they need to get those otherwise they

get time penalties and some of them you

can actually add time if you go for it

um so they will be hitting everyone and

there's also uh ghost timing along the

course and you don't actually know where

that is a competitor but it's what the

organizers use to make sure you're not

taking a you know sneaky shortcut if you

know the LIE of the land so there are

these ghost time points as you go

through and obviously real time points

as well but yeah I can't wait to see

we're going to go to the Finish later

today just how Sebastian lobe is getting

on can he eek out from the master

of Daka Carla SS with backup from Peta

hanzel and Eric Strom that's a pretty

strong team Audi have got for their last

year at dhar with the

[Music]

rron well we're back at the biver whap

so this is our first visit down here

this is where they coming in got this

truck coming in

here there yeah that was crazy during

that stage and it was unfortunate that

the police caught up with us and we

couldn't go the route we thought we'd go

so we've arrived here a little late it

is yeah4 7 but we had some proper

Adventure getting out extracting us from

wherever we were in the Saudi desert it

took over an hour to find tarmac what a

relief when we got there but we had the

Sandy tracks we had rocks Etc what I'm

going to do now is give a very random

tour around the bivac the bivac is where

everybody stops for the night there's

motor homes there's all wher everybody

camps out there big tent going up there

for some of the original some of the

bike guys and we'll just see who we can

bump into here on the stage today the

things I took away with those three

Audis going together they are working to

team orders they are doing everything

they can to get Carlos sits to the

finish of front Sebastian L that is the

battle for the ultimate uh overall

champion of D the other thing you don't

realize is all these guys are on the

same roads as us so we a couple of them

came past us as we were making our way

back to here they all have to be road

legal and the distance they've done I

want to find out from some of the bike

riders what time they started this

morning I say yeah 7:00 7 and they're

only just coming in there could be a

5:00 4:00 start this morning is a long

long day and then you repeat the next

day anyway let's get cracking see what

we can

[Music]

see right we are at the BRX Hunter this

is Sebastian L's card that we saw go

through the stage who won the stage

today I can't get over how much is

stripped off this car you'll see no

Shockers and dampers they're all off

all sorts of work we saw of spare wheel

covers flapping around during the race

when they came past us I didn't realize

um he had two punches today and he had

to change two tires and still one

today's stage which is incredible going

in a perfect world in perfect this they

can change to in one or two minutes they

actually have hydraulic jacks on this

car this is here that's the great big

goes down onto the desert lift the car

up um hold side up and that's where the

car lives spot it on put the spare in

there get on to do that twice today and

still win the stage that's good go and I

think he took about four or five minutes

out of car science's time as well he's

got three more stages I understand to to

uh make up 20 minutes or so to take the

win there the suspension and springs

that have' taken off Sebastian

apparently it's a different terrain

tomorrow so they actually put completely

different units on but as a matter of

course the they would come

off this is Gazoo racing and although

there there highlights here they're

doing very well I haven't caught on the

full result top 10 this uh today yet but

uh we're here tomorrow as well I'm going

to have a proper guided tour around this

thing so for tonight I'm not going to

look at those I want to capture some of

the other cars here try and get up to

some of the classics go and see Audi and

that sort of

thing expect that I didn't know there

was a tit of truck in this who

racing a great truck these are about

nine tons and I'm gutted we didn't see

them today on the stays they're one of

my favorite things now on dhar the Mad

trucks are just a spectacle and they

just charg through the speed they carry

is incredible on S can't get over this

lineup of V Evo trucks ad MIT F this is

an earliest shun here there's a whole

row of them here there's another tent of

them over

there Evo properly I think this might be

the one to do it

[Music]

in

here's the sleeping accommodation for a

lot of the teams here the Riders

mechanics all intent they actually had a

special stage this year where there were

um you had to stay even Carla SS was in

a tent out in the desert but here they

always have this compound where you will

put your tent up and that's right this

is the originals and it's so turned

because the are F the privateers have

entered and they look after them

themselves there a dedicated area for

them this is the Hardcore way of doing D

up you look at their boxes exactly the

same as we get on Sand Raiders all their

kit has to go in that box then that goes

on a transporter and the organizers take

it to the next stop and the rest of it

you're on your own with these

bikes what time do you start in the

morning what time start time morning at

7

nor 12 14

hours for us that for me and we are more

or less arm I know professional rer

exactly I don't know how you do it I

take my hat off and bow to your

endurance it's romantic it is isn't it

but your bike and your T nothing else no

and the desert and the desert well yeah

the scenery we see I couldn't get over

the June this year not empty quter yeah

this year with the 48 Hours Marathon

stages was crazy because with me I spent

14 hours and half in the stage 14 hours

it's crazy I me all us no

tracks nothing DS d

d too much maybe yeah I think well I

could do it I just couldn't do do you go

the same course as the other guys uh the

cars no have a easier course old the

motorbike yes the the stage in the empty

quarter was 624 km

of 624 of June they the cars are

570 but with different light so easier

and how much fuel can you carry 32 L you

32 half and half 16 uh the bottom 160 in

the front part with two fuel pumps so we

can decide to balance the back in

different way and also in case of a

problem to a f pump one F pump you can

right I see balance that thank you for

talking to us congratulations 600 km of

Junes Charlie how you going to do that

are you going to do that I'm not going

to do

that this is where we were last year

with Audi this caros SE car which is

leading overall at the moment it's

interesting just hear it humming it's

it's a very interesting car this I think

guys it's a shame it's getting retired

is it really going to get retired if

they're doing this well this year uh

three cars Peta hanzel car sights and

ericon all working as a team now making

sure the traps okay so elstrom out front

checking cuz he did actually win the

stage yesterday car doesn't have to win

the stages he's 24 minutes ahead of

Sebastian he stays safe in the middle

and then pet Hansel coming up the rear

unfortunately way out of it cuz he had

that nightmare when the Jack didn't work

and suspension issues and he's hours

behind not sure exactly where but it

means he carries two extra spare tires

and it does seem as though Dakar 24 is

all about punches this year and they all

carry the same control tire but

unfortunately it does seem to be a

problem in this Rocky terrain and when

we're this side of the uh s this is

where the rocks are they've left the

dunes behind so yeah be very interesting

to see what happens

tomorrow we saw you at the beginning I

felt two wheel drive sand dudes but

you're here yeah yeah today we had

problem with uh uh oil colleag oh and we

lost all uh oil

but uh you lost all your oil yeah where

did you lose it pipop or something no

yeah yeah it was

here they was so vampy

yeah oh it hit on the cooler yeah oh it

went and even though you had a plate

there it's still yeah there was there

was a plate and the oil were as you see

everywhere two two last stage was uh

really good we were uh finishing even on

11th place so so so that's really cuz

you're in two Drive CL no no no overall

over oh you are you'll be back next year

then yeah so yeah we have many things we

have to change because now we know this

is the first Daka now now we know that

that we have to change many things yes

we are good for uh hard uh roads but not

for the the the D the the Sun so so uh

ge box uh Wheels a little bit higher

suspens

susp realized there was a defender in

the proper Defender yeah that's a new

one now you know you don't have to take

this one but uh more likely to get

around oh here we go we've done um the

last couple of days with no power

steering so scenery was just inred

it wasn't for the fact that I was

hanging on to the wheel we were saying

it was the most spectacular stage we've

ever ever done you can't be on Sandy

dunes and then suddenly you're into the

really hard lav yeah but that's the

challenge and well it's ahead of a

challeng unbelievable well we did 400

odd 500 km or today today today was 6

6:07 today 7:15 7:15 yesterday we left

here

4:27 y morning or not yet wherever we

were last night High we were in high

last night so we left there at 427 and

we're into the

Bak about

76 yeah and it's not just a weekend or

something isn't it it's two Chuy weeks

it takes a while to get your head around

the fact you do a few days of rallying

and you think well you know you get on

it just starting then you do a week yeah

but but we were saying today that after

after a week of it you start to

understand it you get into a rhythm it

kind of makes more sense and it's a bit

less daunting so well it's horribly

addictive unfortunately you know nothing

else like it and you've got a year to

forget about it oh that's a good idea

I'll do that

again I'm surpris so what age is this

1985 oh so that's just in I don't know

is there a cut off 2000 is it really I

see it's a trick stuff then yeah yeah oh

you'll get me looking at the classifi

and stuff what I could do take on the

defender I wouldn't advise using a 90

it's way too short so it's you know we

do a lot of different events with it I

built it to do all sorts of different

types of Motorsport so it's really good

fun for little twisty stages but you

want something a bit longer because

you're just constantly on it all the

time in it maybe it's a Range Rover

though Range Rover Discovery yeah 11 is

probably a little bit big and heavy

yeah over you're a bad man I have to go

I can't listen to this something kicking

around there'll be something in the

garage yeah yeah yeah nothing suitable I

don't think

[Music]

[Applause]

yeah

[Music]

well this is day two of the dhakar rally

for us and uh we literally just arrived

at our lunch stop here we had a we had

to get up this same slope not realizing

it was the live track for dhar that's

the thing you do not know the root of

the Dakar they are given it a few hours

before they set off and they have to put

it in so no one actually knows the final

route it's kept completely under wraps

and uh yeah we locked out big time here

we literally we were only yeah few

minutes and then the first bites went

through it's quite a tricky little bit

of sand there turns out to be a waypoint

somewhere over there not very far away

from here cuz we have heard some bites

go past here and then have to come back

to hit their way point yeah last night

just to sort of update what was actually

happening what we've discovered since we

were around the bwack we didn't have the

full information to hand and NASA um

with the pro drive Hunter swapped over

in Toyota um for this year he's had

another nightmare day yesterday on the

stage that's why we didn't see him on

stage early on in yesterday's stage the

engine failed on the the Hunter he was

driving and they had one spare engine

and the decision was taken that they

needed to not give NASA the spare engine

so he could continue the rally because

with Sebastian lobe hoping for his first

Victory he's 20 minutes behind carer SS

last night they want to keep that bare

engine for loes with three stages to go

NASA as You' imagine not happy about it

and he left the event last night flew

home so he's no longer around but with

the Toyotas the the Hues continue top

Toyota is actually third overall he lost

some time yesterday the last 80 km matus

just didn't quite crack it he was

running in third position and then

dropped 6 minutes or something but uh

continues in third position overall so

we're going to see some other cars come

through here have a spot of lunch and

just drinking Dakar

[Music]

24

[Music]

Here Comes

helicopter wow

wow

right just seen the first car just

appeared over there he didn't take this

more technical route now there's a

helicopter there as well but we can just

see a dust trail if you look there the

car are going through there we do not

know if they see us they might still

come through here we'll just have to

wait and see but that helicopter must be

on the lead cars I would

[Music]

imagine wow

wow

[Music]

yeah right Sebastian L just gone through

and he took our route fantastic what's

been happening today all been going on

in this state we just heard from Spanish

journalist Carlos SCS lost 16 minutes

somewhere on the stage I know his

punches don't know but he's lost 16

minutes but spash L has also lost

minutes so he's taken N9 minutes out of

Carlo SS's lead so far and there's quite

a lot of the stage to go who knows but

he has taken yeah a dramatic bite out of

the 20 minutes he was behind last night

in the biver they're going slightly

slower here I think just because of that

Waypoint is just there and they will

have everything going on the dash yes

he's got a CO driver but he's just

saying is this the right way we're

looking at the bleep you get it doesn't

go live at all how the Waypoint works it

says nothing and suddenly a screen Bing

you're near a waypoint and it starts

bleeping to you the closer you get to it

till you get a solid bleep bang you got

the Waypoint and then you crack on and

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that's

that was the meus that was meus yeah

he's the lead Toyota driving the hots is

line third at the

moment

yeah the randomness of daa just shows

you there isn't there's two ways to the

Waypoint three ways you're just chasing

across the desert but he's gone that way

now you can hear him slow down he's had

to come down here slow down he's still

looking for the

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Waypoint

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yes

sir

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Luke

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crazy see them come through here yeah

it's a bit technical here it's not quite

as steep as the Run we have and then

there's a rocky section just over this

this is the terrain around here we found

it yesterday when we in the land Cru you

go from soft sand to Hard Rock and it'd

be dead easy to go way too quick into

that Rocky bit so that's where you need

all the antiag all hitting they're

hitting the brakes here they're powering

through the sand and then have to

throttle off for the rocky section and

there's another car coming give up on

the sand yeah oh it's quads it's the

quads coming

through it's the

quads this is a proper battle between

the two of them rarely oh look at him

fighting

it not my favorite thing is

quads whoa I wouldn't like to follow

that

close they say the bikers are the true

Madmen of Daka I'm not so sure I think

the quad boys are the maddest of the lot

probably having the most fun is the guys

in a truck who

knows

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that's where my career started with

racing motocross was it oh you're a

Motocross yeah I've never done Motocross

I started racing motocross we saw what

happened today unbelievable I I just

couldn't see the video I just thought

what has others gone over there how I

mean I wouldn't have spotted it you

obviously didn't spot it you must have

been oh moment as soon as you got

to it yeah I mean for sure it wasn't uh

you know what you want uh it was one of

those to where uh you didn't think it

was too big of a deal uh honestly I

jumped off thinking that everything was

going to be okay I wasn't too worried

about it

unfortunately there was a rock

underneath the sand that was hiding for

me uh and that's actually up causing

damage so the drop itself didn't cause

damage as the rock that was from us and

it was both sides it got just just this

side so this side just the right side

end up breaking the front rear damper

and then bending the upper wish from the

video what the rear no yeah so just the

right side oh okay I ne thing he just

said he changed wishbones that looks

completely different Wishbone to me that

you were just handling there yeah so the

one that we had right there that was

opening closing uh that's just one that

we can put inside the car uh so it's

collapsible it's easier for space it's

you put it wherever we want but that

will go there that is the same Dimension

if we needed it yes that will go there

that was it and you had a spare damper

on board yep exactly exactly on just one

we wait for we need

wa yeah it's cruel sport isn't it times

like that yeah we saw you coming through

and I was amazed how many slightly

different routes were taken and if we

had one where everybody had gone wrong

and everybody then does the Temptation I

guess is to follow the track is exactly

I mean it's it's your safest bet we're

out here trying to make our own roads

the whole entire time the safest bet is

to to look forward and and find the line

and usually when there is a line you're

cutting 100 m or 50 m whatever it is you

can see okay it's going to go this

direction and it's going to come back to

here so I'm just going to go straight or

whatever it is so usually the guys in

the back have a much easier time of

being yeah have you ever driven Dunes

like that before not to that extent I've

done some Dune driving in California but

those were those were another level

we're going up Dunes

for 2 km about I mean they're they're so

tall that we're climbing them for so

long they've been baking in the Sun for

thousands of years and nobody's seen

them before or touched them and as soon

as you touch them they

turn yeah do you get seasick but it's

like that I personally don't get seasick

I know that there's a lot of other

drivers do so luckily enough I do not

get get well and how long do you stay in

the car what's the longest stretch on

this R sit I

believe it's a minimum of I think it's

been 6 hours minimum 6 hours uh I think

the max we've been in the car is

probably about 12 13

hours and simple things having an energy

drink having a pee stuff about that

how's that work not

allowed no so you get water or whatever

you put in your T bags and yeah I have a

big bladder fortunately I'm just going

to say it I don't have to be but other

guys like my Cod driver wherever he is

um hate me for saying this uh he wears

an adult di right you have to yeah got

to figure out you're doing 6 hours you

can't blame him you can't them cuz you

got to do what you got to do yeah well

yeah quite right too honestly I think

anybody could get in this car and be

competive pry I'm very tempted to prove

that's right does it you got half a ton

of fuel do you make any adjustments

before when it's near empty I mean it

must feel completely different yes so

that's a hard one uh suspension Center

play car is very difficult not to the

extent of the geometry of the car but to

the extent of the amount of weight that

we're we're transferring uh when we

start with our 500 L uh the car is

usually kind of soft you can feel it uh

does have a lot of traction to be honest

you know it got a lot of grip in the

rear um but it's hard cuz sometimes when

we start with 500 L of fuel which we

don't always do uh we will raise the

right height of the car to come back to

the level where we were and then by the

time that we're you know at 100 L the

car is 10 mm up a little bit in the rear

and and it feels different and starting

to act different but Glenn our engineer

says if you're a good enough driver you

you go through those things you get used

to it so that's what we do so no

adjustments on the Fly no tire pressures

no dampers roll bars not allowed to I

mean you could stop but you're in the

middle of a race oh right no I mean

wheel you got n of that you're just

steering y yeah changing gear stuff like

that yeah sounds easy

anyway SE thanks ever so much for that

that's really good to around thank you

so uh in the Toyota Gaz racing Factory

team so we are Global Factory team so we

run under the ambassadorship of AA

Froman out and so we have five race cars

uh last year we had three race cars so

it's actually uh quite a setup and in

the five race cars we have three rookies

so that's also quite amazing uh and that

is showing also how we look differently

to mod sport so must have been a

credible change for you this

year big step as well and of course we

have been honored to work closely

together with NASA as our champion so

for many many years but when he took the

conscious decision to move on we then of

course decided that what would fit

perfect to Toyota G racing brand than

bringing young talent and proving that

they can be the future Elite drivers

right this is now uh the 14th time this

it the 14th time the racing and on the

13 past ones we've been 12 times on

Podium so it's very important two days

to continue that Legacy with 9,000 km

through Saudi and this now the fifth

time the country uh gives fantastic

opportunities so even every year we come

back we discover more canyons and

different terrains and obviously we also

see a very strong interest from the

Middle East and mother SP well it's been

very special to watch have incredible to

get involved I don't know how you sleep

at night cu it changes everything every

day doesn't it most of us sleep in the

car during the day right we do 600 to

800 km a day movement so people rotate

one has to stay awake and the others are

sleeping in the so how long are you

going to be on duty it's qu past 7 there

me I try to be in my tent before 2:00 at

night but uh the mechanics uh they are

not going to make it um they make a

decision call around 4:30 whether to

still go into it take the shower and

then leave with the car because of

course with the drivers we have a rest

day but the rest day doesn't count for

the mechanics they uh they have a lot of

work to do so it's an endurance for the

mechanics and you will also discover

that when things are now happening and

breaking down uh it's the that last

minute tension at 6:00 in the morning

whether that bold is right whether that

connector was back on so no no you don't

win uh it's a it's a team effort it is

doesn't get any easier at this event

does it I think the older you get the

more difficult it becomes yeah I I rang

back to somebody in the office this week

and they saying are you having fun out

there I said you know this was part of

the ASA race team group I said this is

like doing 24 hours of L more every day

for 10

days I I look at you know I've done

virtually every my career every

I look back and I look at this I think

this is to motoracing what Mount Everest

is to Mountaineers and it's just well

you only got to look you know Ze is

having every time I think he on the up

and then something happens I couldn't

get over

yesterday yesterday two punctures so he

changed two wheels on track and still

won the stage didn't he yeah I don't

I've never heard of that being done but

and then you get

today it seems going pretty well when he

went past me he had two punches as well

oh okay but car Saints had three oh

really I had to wait for one of his

other cars to come to give him another

wi oh is that why you got that so that's

why right one of the audies we didn't we

only saw two audies on track that must

have been the third out he's still there

because he hasn't got any ties yet

that's right they really are doing a

team event trying to get car so but

that's how it is you know those two are

out of the event anyway there only one

to do well and we're in the same

situation but well when I I looked at

the spe oh my God you got NASA on board

now as well it Dream Team almost wasn't

it all that experience and then then so

much this event is unpredictable things

going happen and uh We've you know lost

NASA and the support we should have had

from him so what how do you rate your

chances then it's um it's more about uh

I'd say Carlos's event to lose right if

everything goes according to plan you

know even if you had a couple of buchs

13 minutes 22 seconds tomy's got to go

wrong that Gap I know it doesn't seem

very much in the overall context but

it's still um you know it still favors

colors today well I wish you the best of

luck I will be looking at my app been

the made for two years running really

different and I hope they get better

tires for next year I don't know what

you tires no you can't complain you look

at the terrain understand these tires

get better every year

great tires there are some things you

can't yeah you just can't P for the

rocks out here and the road the cars

usly how fast they're going St across

straight line across a p of rocks any

same person would not do it there is a

Roman to dco though isn't there you even

when you when it's as rubbish something

very special about that it's um it's

always disappointed to finish second

let's see what happens so it keeps you

coming back next year while David it's

been wonderful entertainment as a as a

you know spectator I can't imagine how

frustrating it's been for you but I wish

you the best let's see at the Finish

thank you David if you're wondering

what's happening in the background well

this is the head hono of dhar and he's

running through tomorrow's stage so he's

just giving some advice Vigilant note

points they still don't know the route

at this stage they get that in the

morning as they come out and start again

it's wired to they all have these

electronic um Road books now they get it

about 5 minutes before the stage starts

and then they go off but they just get

this debriefing so anybody who taking

part they just want to know Minor

Details if they highlight any particular

incidents on that track but what I

wanted to go through is just a rundown

of what we experienced over the last

couple of days I suppose wonderful to be

on the stages that close and such

fantastic stages and seeing the top

competitors come past us like that that

is a dream come true for an Enthusiast

of dhar like myself and then to come

into this bivak area and just get in the

backstory to how they achieve what they

do the guys girls take part in this

event it is incredibly tough as I was

saying David Richard just now there he

is with the the top two guys to do Daka

NASA and Seb and they're still fighting

and Carlo SCS all that experien the Audi

team at the top of the table with two

stages to go what is going to happen

David doesn't know boss manav AI doesn't

know that is the thrill for me and then

you get those Back stories you go into

Dakar classic guys in that Defender the

gentleman with his Porsche 924 taking

part and the bikers The Originals doing

the mechanicing themselves and you see

them on stage the trucks I'm sorry we

haven't brought you the truck action

this year because they're one of my

favorite things I was looking at the

times they do and the trucks are just

ahead of the buggies they are quick

things yeah I think it's the ultimates

though where all the action they're the

fastest uh things on the stage uh but

the rances there with the

trucks the back stories with Toyota it's

very interesting God you could tell from

Allan The Experience they have in doing

rally rid how they construct the car to

be absolutely foolproof and changeable

if they have a problem having wishbones

that they can swap on all four corners

how clever is that having the strongest

Wishbone at the top so it's out of the

damage very clever and well thought

through and also having the standard end

and dry sump in it what a sales story

that is and yet yeah he did say it's not

the fastest car here but you know with

Toy's expertise it's it's the one that

gets to the finish and as I say yeah

four in the top five today they want to

be on the podium they would love to have

winning it but they're on a long game

training their young drivers David

Richard's at Pro Drive doing everything

to get s to win it this year where's

Carlos sits going to go if Audi really

are not coming back next year where's he

going to go next year anyway all those

stories all those sights all that dust

all that speed all that

endurance I think it's wonderful I hope

you do as well and you have enjoyed this

video if you have well keep watching

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along very

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soon

oh