Isidre Esteve completed his preparations for the 2023 Dakar with a 5th place in T1

Isidre Esteve and Txema Villalobos The 100 hour kilometers of the fourth and final stage of the Andalucía Rally, which ran in the province of Cádizwith a record of 1h 29 minutes and 54 seconds, in the eighteenth scratch position –12’39” from the best record–, eighth between T1. These results combine their fifth position in the category and 11th place overall in the general classification in what will be the final competitive challenge of Repsol Toyota Rally Team before boarding your Toyota Hilux T1+ heading to Dakar 2023.

Andalucía Rally 2022 is history for Esteve and Villalobos, and they announced in a short final stage that the route has two different halves, as the driver from Lleida summed up: “The first is very fast, and the second is full of trialeras and slow zones. The stones, which were present all the time, forced us to adjust the ride to avoid potholes. In the end, we are happy with our performance, because it went well and, again, we had no accidents. The final prize is a beautiful podium on the beach where, like every day since we arrived in Seville, we felt the love of all the fans”.

Caring for the Toyota Hilux T1+ is especially important today, Sunday, as the vehicle completes its last competitive kilometer before heading to Marseille for the Dakar at the end of November. But before starting to think about the great event of January, Isidre Esteve draws his conclusions from the Andalusian event: “Finished fifth in T1, only overtaken by the four best riders in the world so far, and eleventh scratch in a race whose route is better suited for motorcycles and carriages leaving us very satisfied. In such difficult conditions in terms of driving, we performed at a high level. In addition, it was a perfect training session: on the one hand, to test many things in the car, such as the brakes, which have withstood a very high level of fatigue, and, on the other hand, also for Txema and my self . For Txema, because he sailed perfectly, and for me, because I had to do my best in terms of driving”.

End of preparations for Dakar 2023

After the Repsol Toyota Rally Team’s preparation period before Dakar 2023, Esteve took stock: “Between Morocco and Andalusia we closed a very good preparation for the big challenge in January. The Hilux T1+ has always behaved flawlessly, and we’ve gotten used to it very well. The controls work perfectly, and over the coming weeks we only need to make four minor adjustments and leave the car ready and checked. A huge challenge awaits, because the level of the Dakar will be very high, but I am confident that we will be competitive”.

At the end of November, the Repsol Toyota Rally Team will join the rest of the European members of the Dakar caravan and ride on Hilux T1+ way of Arabianwhere on Saturday, December 31, 2022the race is about to begin.