- Having a good assistance team, being self-sufficient, having a good organization and foreseeing everything that may be needed in advance are the keys to the team led by Isidre Esteve.
- An in-house structure made up of three mechanics and a physical trainer, together with the external support of Toyota Overdrive, ensure that vehicle, driver and co-driver are ready every day for the next stage.
- The logistical work begins about six months before the Dakar, with the complete provision of all the material necessary for the team to run like clockwork in the race.
- For this edition, Esteve and Villalobos will have at their disposal 6,200 liters of Repsol renewable fuel that was shipped to Saudi Arabia in October.
The challenge of the Dakar is not just a matter of driving skill and navigational expertise. The Repsol Toyota Rally Team runs a second parallel race every day to ensure perfect assistance for Isidre Esteve and Txema Villalobos. In this way, the Toyota Hilux T1+ number 235 can tackle each new stage to the best of its ability. The Dakar 2024 kicks off on January 5 in Saudi Arabia. Let's take a closer look at how the team supported by Repsol, MGS Seguros, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Spain and KH-7 is organizing itself for the toughest race in motorsport.
To begin with, there is a preliminary work that starts about six months before the Dakar, consisting of making a complete forecast of all the material that the team will need. "We don't order things today and they arrive tomorrow. To organize ourselves as well as possible, we have to anticipate a lot", explains Isidre Esteve. "We have to order the material around June in order to have it in October, after the Morocco Rally. That's when we work the most with the car. In fact, we are making it almost new for the Dakar", says the driver from Lleida.
This preliminary preparation is followed by the logistical challenge of the race on the ground. The Repsol Toyota Rally Team is made up of three mechanics and a physical trainer, and is complemented by the assistance of Toyota Overdrive. "Our closest core is our mechanics David Pigem, David Fabrellas and Carles Méndez. Then there is Lidia Guerrero, who takes care of my daily physical recovery. They move from camp to camp with our T5 truck and the mechanics' 4x4," details the pilot.
"The important thing is the whole; the sum of the two structures. With Toyota Overdrive, we have a T4 assistance truck on the track, loaded with spare parts, with an engineer and a mechanic, to solve possible problems in the middle of the special stage. At the end of the stage, we have their trucks with spare parts and their engineers specialized in every aspect of the car (data, transmission, suspensions, electronics, etc.)," Esteve says.
Chief mechanic David Pigem explains the division of tasks. "We carry a bit of everything, basically consumables. Repsol lubricants, brake discs, brake pads, ball joints, bearings, filters, tires... All the most common material to change. And all the big materials, such as gearboxes and differentials, are carried by Toyota Overdrive," lists this mechanic from Girona, with experience in the World Rally Championship, who has been working with Isidre Esteve and Txema Villalobos since the Oliana driver returned to the Dakar in 2017, thanks to the development of the intelligent cushion, which allows him to drive without fear of pressure ulcers in his buttocks.
6,200 liters of renewable fuel
Even then Isidre had the support of Repsol, KH-7 and MGS Seguros, which gives a good indication of the team's complicity and rapport. In 2021 they were joined by Toyota, with a first Hilux with adapted driving controls on the steering wheel. In 2024, for the third consecutive year, the Repsol Toyota Rally Team will use Repsol's renewable fuel on the Dakar, now 70% produced from organic waste, with the aim of moving towards zero emissions. Last October, the team shipped 6,200 liters of this Repsol renewable fuel to Saudi Arabia. The Dakar organization is in charge of transporting it to the various camps, in 200-liter drums.
Back to the team's specific logistics, the Repsol Toyota Rally Team transports all its equipment in its own workshop truck, which also serves as living quarters for the mechanics and drivers. All the material is properly organized in boxes. "Each box carries a specific material and a label indicating what's inside, so that we know where everything is at all times," explains Pigem. "In the Dakar, time is money; we try to optimize it as much as possible".
Isidre Esteve concludes: "This way of organizing ourselves, with the most basic wear and tear material in our own truck, allows us to be self-sufficient and agile in quick assistance. And then we have Toyota Overdrive at our side if we need other types of assistance". The success of the Repsol Toyota Rally Team in the Dakar, then, does not depend only on Isidre's driving and Txema's navigation; behind it there is a whole team, agile and well-integrated, that forms a small big family.
Automatic translation of the original Spanish version
Source: Repsol Toyota Rally Team
