Giniel de Villiers
Photo by: Duane Daws
South Africa's Giniel de Villiers and his German navigator Dirk von Zitzewitz this weekend clinched second place in the 2015 Dakar.
The pair finished 35:34 minutes behind Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah (Mini). They received their trophies in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.
“It was a great Dakar for us,” said a smiling De Villiers from the final podium in the Argentine capital.
“We were right there, in the thick of the fight. Our Toyota Imperial Hilux ran without missing a beat, and we have shown everybody that we are more than capable of taking on the biggest names out there.”
“There were moments when we were within striking distance of the lead,” added Toyota Imperial South Africa Dakar team principal Glyn Hall after the race ended.
“But we had a couple of small hiccups along the way, and even though they weren't serious, they stopped us from ever really challenging for the top spot.”
For Leeroy Poulter and Rob Howie, the second pairing in the Toyota Imperial South Africa Dakar Team, Dakar 2015 offered mixed results.
The pair showed exceptional pace throughout the race, but a broken suspension part cost them significant time early on in the event.
They also missed one waypoint during the race, and were docked 40 minutes for the transgression.
As a result they finished in sixteenth position overall.
“We had a good race, and learnt a lot this year,” said Poulter after completing the liaison to the Argentine capital.
“This isn't a race you come and win on your debut, and not on your second year either. It takes time to understand the workings of the Dakar, but I really feel that we've grown a lot this year.”
For the Toyota Imperial South African Dakar Team this was the third podium finish in four years, following its third place in 2012 and second place in 2013.
In 2014 De Villiers and Von Zitzewitz finished the race in fourth place.
“For us Dakar 2015 was a fantastic experience,” noted Hall.
“Another podium finish just serves to underscore how competitive we have been since entering this amazing race. All credit goes to the team that has worked tirelessly to develop, build and test the magnificent machines we have been privileged to race. Without them, there would simply not have been a Toyota Imperial South Africa Dakar team.”
Arriving back in South Africa on Monday, Hall said at a media conference in Ekurhuleni that the team was already considering what tweaks would need to be made to a 2016 Dakar vehicle.
“The race was very close for a while,” he noted.
De Villiers said he and Von Zitzewitz was able to “fight Nasser up to day eight”, when they lost 20 minutes trying to overtake the race winner.
The 2015 Dakar race was a 14-day event, covering 4 752 race kilometres. The event was split by a rest day at the halfway mark.
It is officially the longest motorsport event in the world, by distance and time.