Toyota Hilux the toughest at the Andalucía Rally; TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team won the rally in warm-up for the Dakar Rally

2020 Andalucía Rally

• Nasser Al Attiyah wins inaugural Andalucía Rally by 3min 14sec
• Four stages saw crews traverse varied terrain in southern Spain
• Toyota Hilux proved its toughness despite challenging conditions

(PRESS RELEASE) COLOGNE, 12-Oct-2020 — /EuropaWire/ — TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, TOYOTA’s commitment to overcoming every limit to make “ever-better” cars, has announced that its team has emerged as the winner at the inaugural Andalucía Rally. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s Nasser Al Attiyah and navigator Mathieu Baumel sealed the victory after four special stages, preceded by a short super special stage, which the duo also won. The rally in southern Spain served as a replacement of the Rally of Morocco, seen as the traditional warm-up for the Dakar Rally.

After victory on the super special, the Toyota Hilux crew started Stage 1 as the first car into the timed section. A broken side shaft saw Nasser lose out on a victory on the opening stage, but he powered to wins on both stages 2 and 3.

Nasser and Mathieu started the fourth and final stage of the rally with a lead of 6min 48sec, and set the third-fastest time over the day’s route. This was enough to seal the win by a margin of 3min 14sec. Yazeed Al Rajhi and navigator Dirk von Zitzewitz, in a privately entered Toyota Hilux, finished in third place overall, after suffering a ten-minute penalty for speeding in a controlled zone.

With the exception of the broken side shaft, the Toyota Hilux ran perfectly, and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s strong result at the Andalucia Rally proves that the team’s efforts to improve the Hilux during a disrupted 2020 has been successful as TOYOTA GAZOO Racing makes final preparations for the 2021 Dakar Rally.

Glyn Hall, Team Principal:

“We’re very pleased with Nasser and Mathieu’s victory in Spain. It was great to be racing again, though the rally turned out to be tougher than most of us had expected. Even so, the Hilux proved its power and toughness yet again, showing that we are on the right track with our Dakar preparations. Congratulations to the organisers on putting together a very stern test, and allowing us to hone our cars for the Dakar.”

Nasser Al-Attiyah (No. 201):

“This is a great victory for Mathieu, myself and the entire TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team and a very useful event before the Dakar. It was the first time I came here to Andalucía. The scenery was magnificent. I would like to thank David Castera and the organising team for bringing us all together. It was like a mini-Dakar!”

2020 Andalucía Rally Results:

1^st No. 201 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel (Toyota), 8hrs 54min 9sec

2^nd No. 200 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (Mini), +3min 14sec

3^rd No. 203 Yazeed Al Rajhi/Dirk von Zitzewitz (Toyota*), +10min 31sec

* Privateer entry

Media contacts:

Vincent Dewaersegger
Senior Manager, Toyota Product Communications
Vincent.Dewaersegger@toyota-europe.com
+32 2 745 23 76

Danny F. Chen
Senior Specialist, Toyota Motorsport PR
danny.chen(at)toyota-europe.com
+32 2 745 23 76

SOURCE: Toyota