Toyota Gazoo Racing is poised to take on the 2025 Dakar Rally with its strongest ever line-up – a talented six-car team that offers a mix of youthful energy and decades of experience. Dakar is the launch event of each year’s World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) calendar, and its gruelling nature always delivers surprises and exposes the under-prepared. Little wonder that a good performance in the Dakar dunes of Saudi Arabia is a good indicator of outright victory in the overall championship.
This year, Toyota is looking to achieve its fourth successive championship victory. With that in mind, who and what is Toyota Gazoo Racing bringing to Dakar in order to try and lay the foundation for that hopeful W2RC 2025 result? Read on to find out.
The car: GR DKR Hilux Evo
All six crews will compete in the latest iteration of the race-proven GR DKR Hilux Evo. While staying true to the core design that has delivered multiple victories, the 2025 version has undergone meticulous refinements. Rooted in our kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement, these further changes enhance the prototype’s quality, durability, and reliability to create a vehicle that can withstand the toughest terrains. The table below provides the technical specifications.
| BODY | Toyota Hilux Double Cab pick-up (full composite construction) over twin tubular frame. FT3 540-litre fuel cell |
| MEASUREMENTS | Length = 4810mm. Width = 2300mm. Height = 1890mm. Wheelbase = 3140mm. Track = 2025mm. Dry weight = 2010kg (FIA regulated minimum) |
| POWERTRAIN | V35A 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine (from 300-series Land Cruiser), MoTeC engine management, boost limited by FIA reference power curve. Power rated at 354bhp at 5100rpm, 457 lb ft torque. SADEV six-speed race transmission with sequential shift, 215mm ceramic twin-plate clutch, limited-slip front / centre / rear differentials |
| CHASSIS | 17-inch Evo Corse alloy wheels with 37-inch BF Goodrich tyres. Double wishbone front suspension with 350mm travel, double wishbone rear suspension with 350mm travel |
Team one: Toyota Gazoo Racing
This year, Toyota’s approach has two distinct components. The TGR crew, representing Toyota Motor Europe, features rising stars Lucas Moraes with co-driver Armand Monleón, and Seth Quintero with co-driver Dennis Zenz. These youthful duos embody TGR’s philosophy of nurturing young talent, providing them with unparalleled experience and opportunities to develop in the world of rally-raid competition.
Lucas Moraes: “I’m incredibly excited to take on the Dakar Rally again, especially as part of such a strong team. The GR DKR Hilux Evo is an incredible machine, and with its latest improvements I feel confident we have everything we need to compete at the highest level. It’s an honour to represent Toyota and to work with partners like Repsol as we drive towards a more sustainable future in motorsport.”
Seth Quintero: “Being part of Toyota Gazoo Racing for the 2025 Dakar is a dream come true. Every year, I learn and grow more as a driver, and the Dakar is the ultimate test. With Repsol onboard as a sponsor, it’s exciting to know that we’re contributing to something bigger than just racing – we’re pioneering renewable technologies and proving what’s possible with sustainable energy in motorsport.”
Team two: Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa
Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa will field a four-car team, including Giniel de Villiers partnered with Dirk von Zitzewitz; Henk Lategan with co-driver Brett Cummings; Guy Botterill with co-driver Dennis Murphy; and Saood Variawa with co-driver Francois Cazalet.
Lategan is returning to W2RC 2025 after missing out on last year’s event due to injury. Meanwhile, Botteril was judged Rookie of the Year during Dakar 2024 and was the highest finisher in the works Toyota team. This year will be the final Dakar for de Villiers, and he is reunited with von Zitzewitz, the co-driver who helped him secure victory in 2009. Finally, Variawa is the youngest in the TGRSA line-up and is on an upward trajectory after his successful opening Dakar campaign last year.
And the Dakar Hilux will also be joined by…
While the six purpose-built GR DKR Hilux Evo models compete in the Dakar Rally’s Ultimate class, three further Toyota vehicles will be participating in the event in different classes.
Toyota Auto Body is running two 300-series Land Cruiser GR Sport production models (above) in the Stock category under the title of Team Land Cruiser. Toyota’s truck subsidiary Hino Motors is running its popular ‘Little Monster’ 600-series medium-duty commercial vehicle (below) as a production-based model in the Truck category under the Hino Team Sugawara banner.
W2RC 2025 programme
There are five rounds in the W2RC 2025 programme, Dakar Rally being the first. All six Toyota Gazoo Racing teams will compete in this launch event. And while rounds two, four and five will be tackled by cars #203 (Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleón) and #204 (Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz), all six cars will again compete in round three in South Africa.
Round one: Dakar Rally, Saudi Arabia, 3-17 January
Round two: Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, United Arab Emirates, 21-27 February
Round three: Safari Rally, South Africa, 18-24 May
Round four: BP Ultimate Rally Raid, Portugal, 22-28 September
Round five: Rallye du Maroc, Morocco, 10-17 October
What can people expect of the Dakar Rally? It follows a tortuous route across the varied landscapes of Saudi Arabia, taking crews through desert dunes, rocky trails and high-speed sections across vast open plains. The race will test the limits of endurance, navigation and vehicle performance as it unfolds over 14 gruelling stages, with challenges designed to push even the most experienced crews to their limits.
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