Dakar 2023

[Eli]

https://www.autosport.com/dakar/news...2023/10316914/

For the first time since 2018, the Dakar will feature 14 stages.

[NaBUru38]

T1 entries include:

* Toyota Gazoo: Nasser Al-Attiyah, Giniel De Villiers, Henk Lategan.
* Toyota Overdrive: Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Erik Van Loon, Lucas Moraes.
* Toyota Rebellion: Romain Dumas, Alexandre Pesci.
* Audi: Stéphane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz, Mattias Ekström.
* Mini: Khalid Al Qassimi, Jakub Przygo?ski, Denis Krotov, Sebastian Halpern.
* BRX by Prodrive: Sébastien Loeb, Guerlain Chicherit, Orlando Terranova, Vaidotas Žala.
* Ford: Martin Prokop.
* Astara: Carlos Checa, Laia Sanz, Óscar Fuertes.
* BAIC: Guoyu Zhang, Zi Yunliang.
* Century: Brian Baragwanath, Mathieu Serradori, Tim Coronel, Sergio Vallejo

[NaBUru38]

T3 (Light Prototypes) entries include:

* Can-Am: Francisco "Chaleco" López Contardo, Seth Quintero, Austin Jones, Cristina Gutiérrez, Santiago Navarro, Fernando Álvarez, Saleh Alsaif, Dania Akeel.
* Yamaha: Ignacio Casale, Annett Fischer, Camelia Liparoti, Ahmed Alkuwari Fahad.
* PH-Sport: Antoine Méo, Jean-Luc Ceccaldi-Pisson.
* OT3: Guillaume De Mévius, Ebenhaezer Basson.

T4 (SSV) entries include:

* Can-Am: Rokas Baciuška, Gerard Farrés, Marek Goczal, Michal Goczal, Rodrigo Luppi De Oliveira, Pau Navarro, Molly Taylor, Nicolás Cavigliasso, Jeremias González, Juan Manuel Silva.
* Polaris: Xavier de Soultrait, Florent Vayssade, Pietro Cinotto

Red Bull and Overdrive have split, instead the energy drink will sponsor the Can-Am factory team.

[NaBUru38]

Kamaz is missing from the T5 trucks entries. Instead we will have:

* Iveco: Martin Van Den Brink, Mitchel van den Brink, Kees Koolen, Martin Macikk, Janus van Kasteren, Victor Versteijnen, Richard de Groot.
* Tatra: Martin Soltys, Jaroslav Valtr, Tomáš Vrátný, Vaidotas Paškevi?ius.
* Renault: Pascal de Baar, Gert Huzink.
* Praga: Aleš Loprais
* MAN: Mathias Behringer, Gerrit Zuurmond, Jordi Juvanteny.
* Ford: Albert Llovera.
* Hino: Teruhito Sugawara.
* Scania: Rafael Tibau Maynou, Alberto Herrero, Miklós Kovács.

[NaBUru38]

Motorcycles include:

* Gas Gas: Sam Sunderland, Daniel Sanders.
* Honda: Ricky Brabec, Joan Barreda, Adrien Van Beveren, Pablo Quintanilla, José Ignacio Cornejo.
* KTM: Toby Price, Mason Klein, Kevin Benavides, Matthias Walkner, Stefan Svitko.
* Husqvarna: Skyler Howes, Luciano Benavides.
* Sherco: Lorenzo Santolino, Rui Gonçalves.
* Yamaha: Antonio Maio

[focus206]

I've read a Loeb interview on Dirtfish. Seems like this year there will be no neutralization in the middle of the stage, so that drivers must drive the whole stage without knowing any splits nor the pace of the opponents.
Loeb also says that the Prodrive Hunter and the Hilux should be quite on par, but who knows about the electric Audi.
I also saw that X-Raid is bringing a new evolution of the Mini, but only for Przygonski and Halpern AFAIK.

https://dirtfish.com/off-road/dakar/...is-2023-dakar/

[dimviii]

Nasser Al-Attiyah and Sainz's words in the preview of the Dakar 2023: "Carlos always tries to complain about many things, but I think Audi, Toyota and BRX will be the same"
This seems like a classic every year, but Carlos Sainz came out to say that he thought the Audis would have a disadvantage because the minimum weight of the T1 Ultimate prototypes (hybrid/electric) was raised to 2,100 kilos and that of the T1+ kept at 2,000 kilos. Sainz pointed out that this means that when they finish the stage, by adjusting the fuel weight, they will arrive with a much heavier car than the Toyotas and Prodrive Hunters. And in the same classic every year, he received the public response from Nasser Al-Attiyah saying that he talks a lot.

Say hello to Carlos for me. Carlos always tries to complain about many things, but I think that Audi, Toyota and BRX will be similar, perhaps with a bit of electrical or power differences," the Qatari told a group of journalists as reported by Motorsport in an interview during the day of Shakedown and administrative checks at Yanbu Sea Camp.

The Qatari pointed out that his own car also has disadvantages compared to the Audis, especially since the T1 + received a reduction in power for this season: “Toyota has the issue of gears, and with each change you lose a second. But it's similar, and that's why it's good to have the new electric generation. Audi's performance is very high and we have lost 40 HP”, indicated the four-time Dakar champion. “The power is not like in the last Dakar, but it is for everyone. It seems that we all have the same thing, but we'll see, I think it will be the skills of the driver and the co-driver that will matter."

As if that were not enough, the Qatari from Toyota Gazoo Racing concluded his opinion by saying that he expects Prodrive and not Audi to be his main rivals in this 2023 Dakar: “For me, the biggest rival will be Loeb, not Audi, because Seb finished second in 2022 , won in Morocco and Andalusia”. Loeb didn't win in Morocco, it was Guerlain Chicherit, but he did it in a Prodrive Hunter.

https://crosscountryrally.tumblr.com...de-sainz-en-la

[focus206]

Ekstrom wins the short prologue on the Audi. Loeb 1 second behind.
Tomorrow first stage with 367 Km special + 234 Km liaison.

[dimviii]

[focus206]

Sainz wins stage 1 in front of Loeb and Ekstrom. Overall classification still very short:
1 Sainz (Audi)
2 Loeb (Prodrive) +10''
3 Ekstrom (Audi) +33''

Al Attiyah is 8th and Peterhansel 9th.

And happy new year to all forum members!