47-year old Xavier Panseri is no stranger to the hotseat of a race car, having read plenty of pace notes in his time. The pair have become familiar faces in Toyota Gazoo Racing SA colours, having fielded a South African Toyota Hilux in Dakar 2017 and 2018; as well as the FIA’s World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – a title that the pair has won three times in a row, twice in a Toyota Hilux. The total distance covered by the crews will be less than in previous years, at roughly 5,000 km. The third crew in this year’s Dakar line-up will again be the flying Dutchman, Bernhard ten Brinke. That car achieved a second place overall on debut, and the last six years has seen incredible advances in the car. De Villiers has raced in 15 Dakars to date, and only finished outside the Top Ten on one occasion (2007, due to an engine fire).

[CDATA[ Students then took the cars out to the tennis courts to drive around a course that the Year 1 students set out for them. za24_AdSize[7]='10x10'; za24_AdPositionNo[7]='1'; Child 2 Age “Sure, the name has changed over the years – from the Sasol Rally to the York Rally and now the Rally of South Africa – but the challenges remain the same.”. za24_AdSite='/8900/24.com/Web/Wheels24'; 1. The smaller restrictor is sure to count against us somewhat this year, but with the lower altitudes of Peru, we may just have enough grunt to make it work regardless.”. South African National Rally Championship Competitors Service This is the Official Competitors Information Site. In the end the race will broadcast 1,200 hours of TV across 70 channels in 190 countries, supported by nearly 2,000 accredited journalists. The pair also won the fearsome stage at Fiambala – one of the toughest tests on recent Dakars – showing just how good Ten Brinke is.

This gives us great stability in the team, and their performance during Dakar 2018 certainly showed what all three are capable of,” says Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Team Principal, Glyn Hall.

The event is set to start at 10:00 on Friday, 26 April, with a ceremonial flag-waving ceremony in the Sabie Market Square.

He suffered another DNF in Dakar 2018, but recorded an epic stage win at Fiambala, and was on course for a podium finish until the penultimate stage of the rally.

“This event is always well-supported in terms of spectators, and we aim to put on the best possible show for them.”. Driving with J9 | If your vehicle licence expires after August, there's no 90 days grace, 4x4 Trails | Tackling 'To Hell 'n Gone' in an Isuzu mu-X via Bosluiskloof Pass, WATCH: Best save ever?

He has recorded eight podium finishes on the Dakar Rally, five of those behind the wheel of a South African Toyota Hilux. The race will start and finish in the Peruvian capital of Lima, with ten stages taking the crews on a massive loop through the southern section of the country, before finishing back in Lima on January 17th, 2019.

SuperSport will broadcast the official TV program locally every evening (exact time TBC), while a Toyota Gazoo Racing SA-specific program will air before that broadcast every evening. He has won the Dakar Rally twice, most recently in 2015 (MINI), and has also competed in the World Rally Championship, Complete World Touring Car Championship and a multitude of other global race series. In addition to the Class R2N cars, which are eligible for points in the SA National Rally Championship (NRC), and the Class R4 car, several other classes will also be in action in the Lowveld this weekend. za24_AdSize[4]='468x120'; za24_AdPositionNo[4]='1'; Dakar 2018 saw the introduction of an all-new version of the Toyota Hilux. Since then, the approachable Frenchman has notched up six championships in a variety of disciplines, including the 2015 Dakar Rally, WRC2 class of the World Rally Championship and the FIA World Cup. He will again partner with German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz for the upcoming Dakar Rally – a race they won together in 2009. He finished Dakar 2015 in seventh overall, suffered a DNF in 2016 and focused on his rallying in 2017, missing out on the Dakar Rally as a result. Seven racing stages will follow, six of which will be run on gravel. “We’ve seen many champions falter in Sabie,” continues Botterill.

Name While there have been further refinements to the engine, suspension and overall weight of the car during 2018, a key factor for Dakar 2019 will be the size of the air intake restrictor, which has been set at 37mm for the race. Now the latest evolution is ready to take on Dakar 2019, and Hall is quick to point out that, while the overall layout is similar to that of the 2018 car, the new car has been refined significantly.