Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings fastest of the TGR crews
Tough 48h Chrono Stage takes its toll in terms of time
Approximately 350km remain before crews return to Bisha
The 48h Chrono Stage, serving as Stage 2 of the 2025 Dakar Rally, has proven a tough test for the crews competing in the world’s most grueling rally-raid event. Starting in Bisha, the crews raced until 5pm local time, at which point they had to clock in at the nearest of six mini bivouacs in the desert. From there, they will resume racing on Monday morning (6 January), returning to the main bivouac at Bisha. The remaining distance varies based on their progress today, but the leading crews should have roughly 350km to the finish.
With the stage still officially on, no communication is allowed between the team and the crews, and as such information is limited to the official Dakar channels.
The pick of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing bunch was Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings (#211). The South Africans brought their GR Hilux EVO to Bivouac E, together with teammates Guy Botterill, Giniel de Villiers, Lucas Moraes, Seth Quintero and Saood Variawa. While the stage will only finish when the crews reach Bisha on Monday (6 January), the current standings show Lategan/Cummings in 4th place on the stage, just 11min 13sec adrift of the lead. Looking at the virtual overall standings, the current South African Rally-Raid Champions are in 3rd place, just 2min 12sec behind the lead.
Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy (#205), both from South Africa, went 6th-fastest by the time the stage was halted for the day. The man from Durban was 14min 04sec behind the leaders at the end of the day, and finds himself in 5th place in the virtual general ranking at this point.
Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz (#206), who won the Dakar Rally together in 2009, started Stage 2 as the 17th car on the road, following a disappointing opening stage, where an electronic glitch caused them to lose power in their car. Despite this, the experienced duo bounced back during the first part of Stage 2, setting the 9th-best time, just 20min 32sec behind the lead. This puts them in 9th place in the virtual general rankings, just over 17min adrift of the lead.
Brazil's Lucas Moraes and Spanish co-driver, Armand Monleon, driving the #203 GR Hilux EVO, started the day as the 7th car into the stage. This initially put them on a solid footing, and they set about the tricky stage at a highly competitive pace. Unfortunately, the crew got stuck during a dune crossing, and lost significant time recovering their stricken car. As a result, they dropped from 7th place overall to 16th on the stage, and are in 11th place in the virtual overall standings.
TGR's Seth Quintero won Stage 1 of the event, which meant the young Californian driver and his German co-driver, Dennis Zenz, had to open the stage. This was a daunting task, given that the motorbikes and cars had separate routes on Stage 2, leaving the #204 GR Hilux EVO crew with no tracks to follow. Quintero steadily lost ground to his fellow competitors, but as with Moraes, his situation was exacerbated when he beached the car mid-stage, losing more time while extricating the Hilux. Quintero/Zenz posted the 24th-fastest time by 5pm on Sunday, 47min 40sec adrift of the lead. Their virtual overall position is 19th, and they trail the leaders by 34min 27sec.
TGR's second crew on the road this morning was Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet, who finished the previous stage in third place. The pair started the morning at a brisk pace, but a broken right-rear damper early on cost them the best part of thirty minutes. The crew was able to repair the car using a spare damper, but the total damage by the end of the day came to 1hr 15min 37sec, putting them in 26th place on the first part of the stage. They are in 25th place in the virtual overall rankings, 1hr 4min 12sec from the leading car.
As things stood by 5pm on Sunday, it was the privately-entered Toyota Hilux of Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi, who is partnered with German co-driver Timo Gottschalk, who topped both the stage and virtual overall standings. The current virtual overall standings show six Toyota Hilux cars in the Top 10, including three TGR works crews.
The 48h Chrono resumes tomorrow (Monday) at sunrise, at which point the competitors will start the trek back towards Bisha for much-needed rest for themselves and repairs to their cars. Stage 3 will be another tough one, featuring 495 km of special stage and 352 km of liaisons, taking the rally from Bisha to Al Henakiyah in western Saudi Arabia. This will be followed by the Marathon Stage to Alula, before the competitors take on Stage 5 between Alula and the Rest Day at Hail.
Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing SA
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