Isidre Esteve and the Repsol Rally Team, in Dakar 2024 with an ambitious goal

Last year he was in Dakar. Isidre Esteve (May 15, 1972, La Seu d’Urgell) reached the finish line in Dammam (Saudi Arabia) at the 2023 Dakar after reaching the finish line in his 18th participation in the toughest event in the world (for the 8th time in by car, after another 10 on a motorcycle). But also, he did it for the first time after competing in the car of his dreams, a top category car (T1+, now called Ultimate), the one with which he has been fighting for years and climbing the steps , breaking the barriers, that car that allowed him to be in more equal conditions on the roads, dry rivers and sand against all the leading rivals in the middle of the vastness of the land of Saudi Arabia. And in Dakar 2024, Isidre returns with his Repsol Rally Team Toyota Hilux T1+ looking to achieve the good result he had to hold on to last year.

The one from Oliana showed great speed in the last edition. He rode in the Top-20, among the best, but an electrical problem during the marathon stage caused him to lose more than 3 hours in the sands, preventing him from fighting for that result. He’s got the speed and the car for it, and at the Dammam finish line, he’ll be looking to 2024 for revenge at the world’s toughest event after finishing 34th overall (24th in T1). He wants that Top-20 that they fought so hard for. And he will return for it next January, in an event that is more difficult, with more sand, with 60% of the route new. and there’s a great new one, a 48-hour phase that wants to make things more complicated for all competitors.

But Isidre came to Dakar with enormous confidence and optimism. “You ask me if I’m ready… and of course we are, no doubt!“, the Catalan driver pointed out this Wednesday at the official presentation of the Repsol Rally Team for the Dakar. His confidence in making this statement comes from his car, but above all, his team and his faithful sponsor who continues to support him year after year in his ambitious project.

“The Dakar has changed a lot in recent years and has an impressive technical level. We want to have a car that will allow us to have the same conditions as everyone else. And at Toyota we had this opportunity. The competitiveness of this race is going in this direction and becoming more and more demanding, so now you need to have material that allows you to be competitive. Today we have specials less kilometers than in past years but very difficult. Now we know we’re going to Dakar and we’re going to be competitive. I am happy to be here, to have what we have at a technical level,” argued Isidre, who in 2018 and 2019 finished 21st.

“Last year was the first edition with this car and we had a problem at the end in the dunes. We have a clear goal to be in the Top-20 and be closer to the Top-10 than 20th.. And two days from the end we had car trouble on a dune. It didn’t start. But fortunately we have Txema (Villalobos, co-pilot of Isidre Esteve). He removed the entire starter motor, it was an amazing job and after 4 hours we had the car running. We hope that things like this will not happen to us this year and that we will be very competitive,” he declared, revealing an anecdote he had at the time with the director of the Dakar, David Castera.

“David Castera came to tell us that we can’t stay in the dunes. ‘David, I have Txema working and he told me he’s going to start.’ David didn’t believe it. And then the car started. Txema is a good co-pilot, necessary in an adventure like this to deal with all the problems“, he highlighted, also revealing that Toyota Prodrive’s own engineers cannot understand how Txema was able to restart the car after an electrical problem that should have been synonymous with abandonment.

Now, after that adventure, Isidre Esteve, with a car improved in many aspects, faces the Dakar 2024 with more optimism, knowing that there will always be problems in the Dakar, but with the hope that a recession is so serious that it will not happen. repeatedly wasting a lot of time. “We know things will happen. The point is that these are problems that we can solve quickly. It is impossible to have a perfect Dakar. It’s about wasting less time, finding solutions and being aware that things can happen to you and others too. When you have a problem, you think everything is lost, but you have to remember that you are not the only one who is experiencing things. We have to go back and think that tomorrow is another day and we will get better,” he commented.

“There are 72 cars in the Ultimat category and they are all very fast. And about 40 very quickly. You can go to the 18th in one stage and get holed up… It takes Txema 1 minute and 50 timed seconds to change a tire. And when you start again, you’re 35. Now nothing has to happen to you to have a perfect episode. We have to try not to make mistakes, be consistent. In a race where a lot of things happen, we have to try to make sure that few things happen to us,” he concluded.

In Dakar with renewable fuel

Isidre Esteve will return to Dakar 2024 with the aim that his adventure in the toughest race in the world will continue to be an important test for Repsol’s renewable fuel and its lubricants. This year, the Catalan crew will bring renewable fuel made 70% from organic waste. “This year, we increased to 70%, doubling the bet. This project serves as an important test bench and allows us to transfer it to other areas of competition.. And we have a network of more than 30 service stations with renewable fuel. But it’s not just fuel, it’s also lubricant in a vehicle where the symbiosis between fuel and lubricant is essential,” said Javier Aríztegui, director of product design, energy systems and deep technology at Repsol.