The Saffers and Over Drive boys have their new weapon ready for testing. Lower CoG Bigger more torquey Lexus engine And a wider stance. It does look the business! http://www.wheels24.co.za/Motorsport/Its-out-Toyota-Dakar-13-Hilux-20121023
A squad of Monster MINI's vs a fleet of Imperial Tojo Pick-Ups for 2013... Could be a dandy fight this one as well...
Carlos Sainz & Nasser Al-Attiyah are in with a buggy and sponsored by Red Bull. The cars re being built by Jeffries Racing in California and tested by Thierry Magnaldi. .
Eric Vigouroux Chevy is well developed and potent truck in all but the most technical (soft and irregular) dunes... which there was not a lot of percentage wise at the Rallye Maroc. The main disadvantage (compared to the Toyota Hilux pick ups) for Dakar is the lack of 4WD. The Chevy Trophy Truck (as opposed to the Gordon H3 Buggy - also 2WD) has the engine mounted forward(ish) of the driver compartment... not over/rearbiased of the rear wheels... which makes for better dune capability. The X-Raid team will be back to Dakar in January with four ALL4 Racing MINI's With Peterhansel, Roma, Holowycz and Novitsky in the multicoloured Mini monsters. In addition X-Raid will likely have two or three additional entrants in the previous generation BMW X-3 CC's The defending Dakar auto champions (Peterhansel) and the same team driver line up - statistically speaking - still the team to beat... I think the Imperial Toyota/Overdrive Hiluxes (may) have a slight technical/performance advantage... but the X-Raid stormtroopers are a well drilled operation with years of experience chasing the VW and Mitsu factory operations. I'd put even money on Perfecthansel having a better shot than most for title number 11. The last remaining examples of the former Mitsubishi factory team vehicles are still doing the rounds in the hands of some very well backed privateer teams; These cars now runing with various configurations of the V6 Mitsubishi powerplant (not the GDi diesels of the 2009 Mitsubish factory effort) with drivers Spinelli and Co. they usually run in the top 10 to 15 positions...
Does anyone know what Overdrives role is in the whole Hilux story, are the building the cars or what?
They build the (customer spec) cars (chassis and bodywork) in Belgium under licence and all the components come from Hallspeed (South Africa)... who are the constructors/team behind the factory Imperial Toyota entries of De Villiers and co. Or that's how I understand it to be... A good friend of mine from the old days - aussie Geoff Olholm - has purchased a Hilux from them (tested in Maroc) and leasing full support on the Dakar from them.
The Racing lancers are now equiped by a V8 Ford mustang engine. The new Mitsu ASx from Mitsubishi Brazil,isa redesign racing Lancer by ex Ralliart chief (Viardot) also with a V8 gasoline engine (I guess also a Ford V8, as Viardot are helping also the nederland´s mitsu). Toyota imperial is a good team, not so well funded (not as VW not as mini) with a special unit for De Villers,. Other Southafrican (Duncan Vos) and 4 to 6 Hilux by overdrive (Lucio Alvarez, Van merkenstein, Olhom, Ordoginov, Cuffaro, may be Ruta). Engine is a 5.0 V8 from the Lexus IS-F (what an engine!!!!) What out also SMG buggy driven by Chicherit, and Sousa is the chinese branded Great Wall (a proto build by SMG with some X Raid powertrain)
That's interesting... I had not heard about the ford engine transplant. I can understand the Netherlands entry (RiWi) choosing to run an engine of any choice (not bound to any manufacturer as such) that gives them the best performance/possibility under the new production based motor regulations for T1... but that the Petrobras/Mitsubishi backed effort would have an engine of another manufacturer (when the car has MITSUBISHI all over it) seems curious? :huh
That was the Dessoude (NISSAN) team from France... they jammed a Nissan (V8 or V6...?) into one of the ex-Mitsubishi Pajero T1 chassis' and called it a "Dessoude Proto" something or other.
Not much of a car enthusiast anymore, but I must say that the design of the Lancers in unsurpassable. Pure Rally Porn. On the other hand I wouldn't mind an extended bed Overdrive Toyota to carry my bike to races. Yeah, I know, dream on...
Not much room in the bed for a bike back there Brodo'... what with 400 odd liter fuel cells, three spare wheels, all the tube chassis/roll cage/barwork, rear suspension towers and the heaps of stuff like sand ramps and jacking equipment etc. jammed in everywhere else... It'd have to be a pretty good extension of the bed/tailgate you'd need! And the sedan type vehicles (Mitsu's, MINI's, X3 BMW's etc.) don't have it much better... I remember looking inside the X3 CC's once a few years back thinking; "Hmmmm... space is a bit of a premium...?" And I don't think the Mini has improved things much. At least the pick-ups like the Hilux and Isuzu D-Max (dual cabs) have a little extra cabin space in the back two doors... plus the bed area, which is possibly one of the reasons these have become popular/competitive choice of vehicle once again. I remember a few years back, some Eurosport footage from one of the bivouac departures; one of the VW team co-drivers (Michel Perin... I think it may have been) was handed just prior to departure, a small plastic box (what looked like a lunch/box - possibly with food/provisions for the day in it?) by one of their Red Bull pit/team members. Sitting in the tight confines of the Race Toureg, he tried to glance over his left shoulder... rally intercom, 2 x helmets and two rally jackets in a netting bag already occupied that space... He then peered between his feet... then back at the team member, and raised both his eyebrows with a half whimsical; "ummm...well... where do you expect me to put THAT...?!" kind of expression on his face. On nearly all Dakar competition vehicles (be they Moto's, Quads or Auto's) space can often times be at a premium, when you consider all of the mandatory, safety, recovery, spares, navigation and personal gear/rations etc. that have to be fitted in somewhere. When you order your Overdrive pick-up Brodovitch, ask them to throw in a tow hitch mounted bike rack for the rear bumper!
Maybe off topic for Dakar 13 as far as to what cars are in the rally this year, but I often wonder how Schlesser would make out if he was to come back to the Dakar these days with his buggy. I have always liked him in the Dakar and his driving style and what the car may lack in competitiveness (if any) Schlesser can make up with racing knowledge and the "French" attitude As we know he is very involved in the African Race and when I last spoke to him in Tunisia 2010 I asked if he would do the Dakar in S/America and his reply was "that the stages are more like WRC stages I'm not interested" who knows
That one is in Holland now as well as one dutch mitsu burned down in russia, next thing is that the thing got totalled in morocco..anyone have a spare 300,000 euro to get me a new second hand one?
Correct, engines now need to be production based, so they have chosen high end powerful V8's, they will now outrun (as the Toyota's do) the X3's that had to revertnback to standard BMW diesels...
