Isidre Esteve, ready for the last challenge before the Dakar Rally

Dakar 2025 is looming on Isidre Esteve’s competitive horizon. The driver from Ilerda and his co-driver Txema Villalobos will face the Moroccan Rally starting this Sundays, the final round of the World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC) and also the last stop in the preparation of teams with ambitions for the Dakar. The Repsol Toyota Rally Team arrived in Marrakech with motivation through the roof, determined to continue a clear upward trend for the third year with the Toyota Hilux T1+.

Morocco is a great setting for Isidre Esteve, with the support of Repsol, MGS Seguros and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Spain. Right here, in 2022, the one from Oliana debuted the Toyota Hilux T1+, which rose to the 7th absolute position, its best result to date by a car in the World Championship. The Repsol Toyota Rally Team always puts others ahead of Morocco, because “it’s the best preparation for the Dakar,” Esteve said.

This is for several reasons: “On a sporting level, all the changes planned for the Dakar have been tested here, because the director of both races is the same, David Castera. This allows us to reach the Dakar without hesitation. Second, the terrain is almost identical. The tracks in northern Saudi Arabia are very similar to the Morocco Rally. And finally, We need to have race speed because Dakar 2025 is here and we need to have speed, safety, understanding of the co-driver… In other words, back to the competition.”

In its 25th edition, the Morocco Rally is expected to be very complicated, as recent rains in the country have changed the terrain, erased many tracks and forced the organization to redo the road book. “The chotts (dry lakes) were flooded and lakes formed in front of the dunes of Merzougasomething I have never seen before. All the tracks that were primarily because the lines could be seen were lost; no clue is evident. This will make the rally very complicated in terms of navigation. And we like that; We will see what speed we can do,” said the Repsol Toyota Rally Team driver.

The Moroccan Rally also shows a competitiveness that Isidre Esteve describes as “extraordinary”, with five official teams in the running and 43 cars in the Ultimate category (of which T1+ is included), in addition to 38 Challengers and 36 Side-by-side , which will make the race “rise to a level we haven’t seen in recent years.” Esteve will join this elite fight with the Toyota Hilux T1+ with adapted steering wheel controls. “In the last Dakar we were very satisfied with the car, we were able to go very fast, in Portugal we were also fast and we have to continue this upward trend. We will go out to compete and have fun. We feel very good about the Hilux T1+ . We have to continue to have a good time, and then the results will definitely come,” Esteve hoped.

Renewable fuel

In Morocco, the Hilux T1+ of the Repsol Toyota Rally Team wears the number 222 and retains the V8 gasoline engine, powered by renewable fuel that the team tested in the last two editions of the Dakar. Developed at the Repsol Technology Lab, in its latest evolution it is made 70% from organic waste. The team will continue its development in the competition in Morocco and will also continue to work on the formulation of the Repsol lubricants used by the Hilux T1+ from day one. It is a way to accelerate technical progress in the irreplaceable test bed of racing, and thus contribute to a more sustainable future for the planet.

After competing in April in the Rally Raid of Portugal (also scoring for the W2RC world championship), the Morocco Rally will complete the race preparations of Isidre Esteve, Txema Villalobos and the entire Repsol Toyota Rally Team with the goal of the next Dakar. After three previous days of private tests and the verification process, andThe Moroccan rally starts on Sunday 6th in the prologue, in Marrakech, with 25 timed kilometers.

Five stages of competition will follow, until Friday the 11th, with a total of 2,468 kilometers, 1,512 of which are timed..