Quintero/Zenz Wins Dakar Stage 1 for Toyota Gazoo Racing
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing started Dakar 2025 with a solid performance on the opening stage of the race. Despite offering a stern test over 413 km of sand and rocks, all six GR Hilux EVOs reached the finish in the town of Bisha without any serious issues. Seth Quintero (USA) and co-driver Dennis Zenz (DEU) were the pick of the bunch, setting the benchmark time of 4hr 35min 08sec, 45sec ahead of the second-placed crew.
Seth Quintero:
"It was a good first one. We drove at about 70% in the first 100 kilometers or so and then started picking people off. Passed a lot of guys. Got right behind Guy after passing a few more guys and then Laia [Sanz] had a big crash in front of us. A really big one. We stopped and pulled her out and stayed with her for a while. She was okay, but we had a weird feeling, seeing all of this unfold. So, that kind of shook me up a little bit. And then about 110 kilometers to go we lost the ERTF and road book and everything. Dennis did a great job trying to give me hand signals. But yeah, it's kind of just a shake up on the first day for sure."
The Californian driver clearly decided not to take part in any strategies for the upcoming 48h Chrono stage, opting instead for pure pace. The TGR crew initially lost time when they stopped to assist a fellow competitor who had crashed mid-stage, but the organisers adjusted their stage time accordingly, and Quintero/Zenz were crowned as Stage 1 winners.
Saood Variawa:
"I mean we pushed, we had a bit of a different plan to the others. We just wanted to sort of build a gap if we could. I know some of the guys were going to back off for tomorrow. But we'll gain experience tomorrow also, even if we are at the head of the field."
Quintero/Zenz (#204) reported a clean stage, as did their young teammates Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet. The 19-year-old driver is taking part in his second Dakar Rally, and recorded a solid third place on the opening stage. Variawa/Cazalet trailed the leaders by just 1min 48sec, putting two TGR cars on the stage podium in the process.
Lucas Moraes:
"Yeah, wow, what a strategy, thanks to the team. Perfect strategy, it gave me goosebumps. Because we knew we were going quite well and we made a strategy to say, hey, if you pass like three, four cars, just stop in the end. So, we did that, we stopped for five minutes and hoped to be not leading. I think we finished fourth or fifth."
"So, yeah, the strategy went perfect. I think we are right there with Carlos [Sainz]. So, great start; thanks to the whole team for coming up with this plan. And yeah, we’re ready to go."
Lucas Moreas and Armand Monleon, in the #203 GR Hilux EVO, finished in 8th place, after managing their pace towards the end of the stage in a strategic move, aimed at securing a good road position for the upcoming stage. The Brazilian driver showed excellent pace throughout the stage, but opted for a more cautious approach given the 48h Chrono which features as Stage 2 of this year's Dakar Rally.
Henk Lategan:
"It was almost like they made it out to be an easier stage last night. They were like: no it’s gonna be really fast, really flowing... And then when we started, this system of the slow guys being in front caused a mess. We caught the guys really quickly and they were quite slow, and then our navigation system stopped working. We couldn't communicate with the car in front that we’re behind them so you really had to just push through the dust and then try and get in front, so it was a bit of a mess. It's taking risk without even going quick if you're in the dust, so you don't really want to be in there."
South Africa's Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings (#211) ran into the dust of slower competitors ahead of them, hampering their progress in the stage. This cost them significant time, and the situation was exacerbated by the failure of their navigation equipment, some 120km before the end of the stage. Even so, the TGR crew posted the 10th-fastest time, 4min 12sec behind Quintero, putting four TGR cars in the Stage Top 10.
A similar fate befell teammates Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy (#205). The South African crew started lower down the order than their teammates, and quickly caught up with the cars ahead of them. The thick dust held them back, and cost the pair significant time.
Guy Botterill:
"That was a really tough stage. We started quite far down in the field and had a huge amount of dust. The dust was unbelievable and then about halfway through our tracking device stopped working so we got a little bit lost, and then when the tracking device stops working the buzzer stops working too. We caught up to a bunch of cars and we just couldn't get any closer."
They finished 7min 16sec behind the leaders, in 15th place. Despite this, they are well-positioned for Stage 2, and remain upbeat about their prospects.
The final TGR crew of Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz (#206) lost time when the Engine Control Unit (ECU) on their car suffered a glitch that put the car into 'limp mode'. In this self-protection mode, they lost nearly half the engine power, and lost 10min 26sec in the process. The problem cleared itself towards the end of the stage, which allowed the veteran crew to finish in 19th place, still well within reach of the leaders.
Giniel de Villiers:
"Yeah, we had some issues in the beginning after we pulled off about 3 km in the stage. The car went into limp mode, so we had no power basically for 120 km. Then, all of a sudden it came right after we stopped a couple of times to reset the ECU. I don't know, we'll have to check what happened. But yeah, then obviously quite a few cars passed us, and we were in the dust the whole day, so it was very, very difficult with the dust."
Next up is the 48h Chrono Stage, which serves as Stage 2 of the rally. This special stage is run over two days, with the crews starting near the bivouac in Bisha. The total timed section for this stage is 957km, and includes sand, rocks and some of the first dunes of this year's rally.
To add intrigue to the longest stage of the event, the crews will start the stage as normal, but will have to stay over at the nearest of seven mini bivouacs when the clock reaches 4pm local time. They will then resume racing at sunrise the next morning, and complete the stage taking them back to Bisha.
The 48h Chrono caused some upsets during its inaugural use during the 2024 Dakar Rally, but this year's Chrono comes much earlier in the race, is run over more varied terrain than last year, and features nearly twice the distance. As such, it may prove pivotal in the outcome of the race, and a clean run through this imaginative test is crucial, especially so early in the rally.
The Dakar Rally will head from Bisha to Al Henakiyah for Stage 3, before the crews take on the Marathon Stage to Alula in Stage 4. Stage 5 will bring them to the northern town of Hail, for a much-needed break, before taking on the second week of the rally.
DAKAR RALLY 2025 - STAGE 1 RESULTS
1. |
#204 |
S. Quintero / D. Zenz (Toyota GAZOO Racing) |
4Hour 35min 08sec |
2. |
#202 |
G. Chicherit / A. Winocq (X-Raid Mini JCW Team) |
+00:45 |
3. |
#218 |
S. Variawa / F. Cazalet (Toyota GAZOO Racing) |
+01:48 |
4. |
#221 |
M. Prokop / V. Chytka (Orlen Jipocar Team) |
+01:49 |
5. |
#212 |
C. Gutierrez / P. Moreno (The Dacia Sandriders) |
+02:13 |
6. |
#240 |
J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro (X-Raid Mini JCW Team) |
+02:38 |
7. |
#225 |
C. Sainz / L. Cruz (Ford M-Sport) |
+03:17 |
8. |
#203 |
L. Moraes / A. Monleon (Toyota GAZOO Racing) |
+03:18 |
9. |
#231 |
T. Price / S. Sunderland (Overdrive Racing) |
+03:58 |
10. |
#211 |
H. Lategan / B. Cummings (Toyota GAZOO Racing) |
+04:12 |
15. |
#205 |
G. Botterill / D. Murphy (Toyota GAZOO Racing) |
+07:16 |
19. |
#206 |
G. de Villiers / D. von Zitzewitz (Toyota GAZOO Racing) |
+10:26 |