Dakar 2022: Benediktas Vanagas will race the Dakar in a T1+ car

The Lithuanian driver Benediktas Vanagas has revealed on the past weekend the details of his 2022 Dakar participation. The Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltic team will once again return to the sands of Saudi Arabia with Benediktas Vanagas at the wheel and with the Portuguese co-driver Filipe Palmeiro at his side.
While common this kind of announcements for part of the teams that enter the world's toughest race, the presentation had big news: Vanagas and Palmeiro will race a brand new Toyota Hilux T1+.

The new class, created to balance the performance of the traditional 4x4 cars against the lighter and powerful 2wd buggies, offers several advantages to the drivers when compared with the more "traditional" T1 vehicles. The new Toyota Gazoo Racing Dakar Hilux has 5-inch larger wheels (37 inches instead of the previous 32 inches). The suspension travel also increased and is now 350mm, 70mm larger than the 280 mm of the normal T1. The width of the car was also widened, reaching now a total to 2.3 meters. In the "opposite" direction, the T1+ cars must have a minimum weigh of 2 tonnes, 150 kg more than the previous version

All the changes introduced will increase speed, will improve the control of the car and safety but above all will level the competition and give a better chance to a good result to the best driver, no matter if he is driving a 4x4 or a 2WD Buggy.

Benediktas Vanagas said: "We made a decision in September that required nerve cells and added grey hairs, but in 10 years of Dakar it has never been different. Growth and fight are programmed into the DNA of the team."

Photo Benediktas Vanagas presentation