Power performance by Toyota crews mark Stage 4 of W2RC Round 3
- Three Toyota Hilux crews lock out Stage 4 podium
- 2nd on Stage 4 for Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz
- 6th on Stage 4 for Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon
- Lucas and Armand remain 4th overall
The penultimate stage of Round 3 of the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) saw three Toyota Hilux crews top the stage results, marking a power performance by the Japanese marque, with just one stage to go. Stage 3 also saw a return to form for Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz, who had been plagued by technical problems earlier in the race. The pair were the leading TOYOTA GAZOO Racing factory crew, posting the second-fastest time on the day.
Seth and Dennis have been out of contention in the overall standings, after abandoning the opening stage due to a ceased alternator. Since then, they've fought back with tenacity, and reaped the rewards on Stage 4, when they brought the GR DKR Hilux home in the second-fastest time. They relinquished only 25sec to the stage winners, Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk, in their privately entered Toyota Hilux.
Lucas Moraes and co-driver, Armand Monleon, also recorded a solid stage performance on Stage 4. The pair posted the 6th-fastest time on the day, losing just 3min 34sec to Yazeed, at the head of the field. This result leaves them in fourth place overall, 3min 48sec behind the leaders, with a single stage to go. They remain the leading Toyota Hilux crew, and will be aiming to move into the final podium position, which is just 18 seconds ahead of them.
Saood Variawa and co-driver, Francois Cazalet, did not start Stage 4 of the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid in Spain today, following their front radiator leak from Stage 3. Saood had set a blistering pace on Stage 3, looking good for a stage win, but an error in a speed zone saw the pair incur a time penalty of 30min, which dropped them out of overall contention in the rally.
The final stage of the 2024 BP Ultimate Rally-Raid will see the crews cover a final stage of just 98 km, after completing a liaison of 17 km from the bivouac at Grandola. The terrain for the final stage is expected to be largely sandy, with some mud splashes to punctuate the route. A closing liaison of 23 km will bring the rally to the finish, marking the end of Round 3 of the 2024 W2RC. Next up will be the Desafio Ruta 40 in Argentina, which takes place during the first week of June, 2024.
QUOTES:
Alain Dujardyn, W2RC Team Principal:
"It was a great day for Toyota on Stage 4 today. Three of our Toyota Hilux in the Top 3, with Seth and Dennis going second-fastest! Lucas and Armand remain in a solid fourth place overall, just 3min 48sec off the lead. With one stage to go, nothing is certain, but we are hoping for them to achieve a podium position in the overall standings. I would also like to commend the organisers for putting on a fantastic stage today, in the Extremadura region of Spain. The enthusiasm and passion of the Spanish rally-raid fans was an amazing sight to behold."
Lucas Moraes:
"Stage 4 was a very fast one, very narrow, like always so far at this rally. But I'm happy with the performance, and Armand did a great job as always. Everybody's close, and we took some time out of Nasser today, so we'll see. Tomorrow is the last stage, you know, and we're gonna keep pushing."
Seth Quintero:
"Honestly, I can't stop smiling from that stage. Today was a proper, hundred percent push the entire time - WRC style, and we were absolutely going for it. I mean, we drove our butts off the whole day and all the fans made it that much better. And yeah, I was hoping for a dry day today and it was a little bit drier but still pretty muddy. The race team is doing an amazing job and they figured out our little issue and we're here to send it today and that's what we did."
BP Ultimate Rally Raid 2024 – STAGE 4 RESULTS
| 1 | #204 | Y. Al Rajhi / T. Gottschalk | (Overdrive Racing) | 02H 33min 43sec |
| 2 | #206 | S. Quintero / D. Zenz | (Toyota GAZOO Racing) | +00:25 |
| 3 | #310 | G. De Mevius / X. Panseri | (Overdrive Racing) | +00:36 |
| 4 | #200 | C. Sainz / A. Haro | (X-Raid Mini JCW Team) | +01:54 |
| 5 | #214 | J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro | (X-Raid Mini JCW Team) | +02:47 |
| 6 | #205 | L. Moraes / A. Monleon | (Toyota GAZOO Racing) | +03:34 |
| 7 | #201 | N. Al-Attiyah / E. Boulanger | (Nasser Racing by Prodrive) | +04:45 |
| 8 | #223 | F. Barreto / C. Silva | (Francisco Barreto) | +05:11 |
| 9 | #307 | S. Loeb / F. Lurquin | (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team) | +05:51 |
| 10 | #311 | J. Dias / J. Miranda | (Santag Racing) | +06:45 |
BP Ultimate Rally Raid 2024 – STANDINGS AFTER STAGE
| 1 | #201 | N. Al-Attiyah / E. Boulanger | (Nasser Racing by Prodrive) | 9H 12min 49sec |
| 2 | #214 | J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro | (X-Raid Mini JCW Team) | +02:41 |
| 3 | #200 | C. Sainz / A. Haro | (X-Raid Mini JCW Team) | +03:40 |
| 4 | #205 | L. Moraes / A. Monleon | (Toyota GAZOO Racing) | +03:48 |
| 5 | #204 | Y. Al Rajhi / T. Gottschalk | (Overdrive Racing) | +14:37 |
| 6 | #300 | R. Baciuska / O. Vidal | (CAN-AM Factory Team) | +16:56 |
| 7 | #209 | C. Baumgart / G. Gugelmin | (X-Rally Team Motorsports LTDA) | +20:28 |
| 8 | #223 | F. Barreto / C. Silva | (Francisco Barreto) | +21:38 |
| 9 | #312 | A. Araújo / P. Ré | (Santag Racing) | +24:07 |
| 10 | #305 | R. Porém / L. Marques | (Ricardo Porém) | +27:12 |
| 42 | #206 | S. Quintero / D. Zenz | (Toyota GAZOO Racing) | +06h:38:29 |
Partners
Red Bull has established itself as the premiere supporter of extreme sports and athletes, and as such fits perfectly with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing's Dakar and W2RC efforts. The Austrian energy drink manufacturer has partnered with TGR over numerous years, and the involvement bore fruit when the team won a second Dakar title in January 2022, and a third in 2023.
SpeedMax is a CantuStore's private label, which is the largest omnichannel platform and leader in tire replacement market in Brazil. SpeedMax promotes maximum performance through high-performance tires that suit all types of vehicles, from passenger cars to trucks and tractors, as well as inner tubes and truck wheels.
