Successful prologue for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in Abu Dhabi
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing opened its account at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge with a successful pre-race Prologue. At only 11km in length, the Prologue barely allowed the crews to blow away any racing cobwebs, but the short route near Al Ain may play a pivotal role in the outcome of the event, as it is used to determine the starting orders for tomorrow's Stage 1.
The four TGR crews taking part in this year's Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which serves as Round 2 of the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) all finished in the Top 10, with Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon (#203) setting the fastest time for the team. They were just 5sec behind the winners of the prologue, and will be in a solid position for Stage 1.
Youngster Saood Variawa, who is partnered with Francois Cazalet in the #218 GR Hilux EVO finished in fourth place, just 12sec off the winning pace. Slightly further back, Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy (#211) went 8th-fastest, just 16sec behind the winners. They are likely to find themselves near the head of the field tomorrow, but are looking forward to the challenging dunes lying in wait.
The TGR pairing of Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz (#204) set the 10th-fastest time on the prologue. They were only 20sec behind the winners, but with the draw for final starting positions only happening much later this evening, chances are that they will have to open the route on Stage 1.
This stage will take the rally from Al Ain to Mezeer'ah, and will see the crews complete a total of 157km in liaisons. The timed section comprises 243km, and the surface is expected to be mainly dunes. This stage is sure to test all the competitors, and navigation will also play a key role, especially for the opening crews.
This year's revamped Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge comprises five stages, with a total timed distance of 1,189km. The event is set to finish in Abu Dhabi on 27 February, 2025.
QUOTES:
Lucas Moraes (#203):
"A great prologue for us. We went for the victory, for the win, but Nasser managed to be a little bit faster. Still, second was great. The car was performing really nicely and this new suspension setup that we found during the test has been working quite well."
Saood Variawa (#218):
"We had quite a good prologue actually. We did two days of shakedown leading up to the start, all in the dunes. The prologue was just gravel tracks, so something we are used to from back home. But we had a clean run, didn't take any risks and we managed P4. So, it was quite a good prologue from us, super clean and we look forward to the rest of the race."
Guy Botterill (#211):
"We went really well today, and finished 8th. We were about 2sec behind 5th place, so happy with that. We naturally took it cautiously after our Dakar accident, and there were quite a few cautions and small river crossings and things that we had to go across, so I lost a reasonable amount of time there. We've set our car up for the dunes, and this 11k prologue had no dunes, but we're looking forward to the dunes tomorrow. So all in all, happy, we'll carry on going, and see what happens tomorrow."
Seth Quintero (#204):
"Today went well, it was a little bit tough getting in the groove with such a short stage, but really enjoyed it. And car felt amazing, the team is working really hard on getting us in a good position. And yeah, we choose the starting positions tonight, and we will see what happens tomorrow."
ABU DHABI DESERT CHALLENGE 2025 – PROLOGUE RESULTS
| 1 | #200 | N. Al-Attiyah / E. Boulanger | (The Dacia Sandriders) | 12min 21 sec |
| 2 | #203 | L. Moraes / A. Monleon | (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing) | +00:05 |
| 3 | #219 | S. Loeb / F. Lurquin | (The Dacia Sandriders) | +00:09 |
| 4 | #218 | S. Variawa / F. Cazalet | (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing) | +00:12 |
| 5 | #213 | E. Goczal / O. Mena | (Overdrive Racing) | +00:13 |
| 6 | #226 | M. Ekström / E. Bergkvist | (Ford M-Sport) | +00:15 |
| 7 | #240 | J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro | (X-Raid Mini JCW) | +00:15 |
| 8 | #211 | G. Botterill / D. Murphy | (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing) | +00:16 |
| 9 | #201 | Y. Al Rajhi / T. Gottschalk | (Overdrive Racing) | +00:19 |
| 10 | #204 | S. Quintero / D. Zenz | (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing) | +00:20 |
Timings were correct at the time of publication; full stage results can be found at abudhabidesertchallenge.com.
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