If three Dakar Rallies and two World Rally-Raid Championships aren’t enough to convince people that the Toyota Hilux is the top rally raid vehicle today, how about the Hilux winning all five W2RC races in 2023?
Toyota had already clinched the manufacturer’s championship at the penultimate round in Argentina, but put the cherry atop their title at the Rallye du Maroc as Yazeed Al-Rajhi recorded his second win of 2023 after the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. He led a 1–2 finish for Overdrive Racing with Denis Krotov in tow, the latter scoring his best career W2RC finish.
Both of Al-Rajhi’s W2RC wins came on consistency as he failed to win any stages but the frontrunners dropped out. Al-Rajhi himself never finished worse than fifth across the five days.
Nasser Al-Attiyah only needed four points to secure the title when he led Al-Rajhi by fifty-one entering Morocco. He and his Hilux quickly achieved that by winning the first two stages, and he looked poised to claim his fourth victory in five races. The latter ended up falling apart in Stage #4 when one of the rear driveshafts broke, forcing him to drive in front-wheel-drive before the resulting strain led to the right front driveshaft giving way too. He bowed out of the rally altogether on the fifth and final leg with a crash just ten kilometres in. The same had occurred in Abu Dhabi when he won the first three stages only to crash out while Al-Rajhi took the win.
While certainly not an ideal end to the season and possibly his Toyota tenure as his free agency status remains in the air for 2024, Al-Attiyah still waltzed away with the title by twenty-four points on Al-Rajhi. Juan Cruz Yacopini finished fourth overall and third among W2RC competitors to secure a Toyota podium sweep of the final standings.
“2023 has been a fantastic year for the TGR W2RC team,” said Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC boss Alain Dujardyn. “We started by winning the Dakar Rally and, after great determination and excellent teamwork, managed to secure all three W2RC titles. This is the second consecutive year of W2RC success for us, an achievement we’re all very happy to celebrate.
“I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to all the engineers, mechanics, agencies and sponsors involved in our 2023 campaign. Without their collective efforts, as well as those of the drivers and co-drivers, we would have been able to achieve all our goals. Finally, I would also like to thank the wider Toyota family in the service park, including the privateers who campaign in our cars. Their sportsmanship and camaraderie throughout the season have been without equal, and it is a pleasure to continually push the limits for better together. The GR DKR Hilux T1+ has proven its strength and durability once again, and we look forward to embarking on a further journey with this magnificent car in 2024 and beyond.”
While Toyota reigned supreme for yet another season, Team Audi Sport had plenty to look forward to as they prepare for their swan song Dakar Rally in 2024. After a disastrous Dakar in January and soul searching over the next few months, the team returned to the W2RC with a vengeance in Morocco as Mattias Ekström won the Prologue and beat Al-Attiyah for the Stage #3 win on pace, though he was already out of overall contention due to an hour-long penalty for missing a waypoint on the first stage.
Even with Ekström unable to contend for the overall, team-mate Stéphane Peterhansel picked up the slack by winning Stage #4. It was the Dakar legend’s first stage victory in the world championship since the 2022 Rallye du Maroc‘s final day as an Open Car entry. Peterhansel narrowed the gap to just 3:49 behind Al-Rajhi going into the last stage, only for Audi’s Dakar demons to haunt him again in the first thirty kilometres.
Bahrain Raid Xtreme, Toyota’s primary rival in the championship, skipped Argentina to focus on Morocco even if it meant sacrificing Sébastien Loeb‘s hopes of vying for the title. Unfortunately for the Prodrive programme, Loeb was another Stage #4 victim as he crashed into a ditch while running second overall. Orlando Terranova salvaged the race for the team by winning the next day, though a broken suspension in Stage #2 prevented him from making inroads in the general ranking. Non-championship driver Cristian Baumgart was the lone Prodrive Hunter in the top ten.
Krzysztof Hołowczyc finished twenty-second after his Mini John Cooper Works Rally Plus‘s power steering failed from the very first stage. He spent the rest of the rally trying to manage the steering along with suspension issues. While the struggles prevented Hołowczyc from bolstering Mini’s standing in the manufacturer’s championship, Prodrive’s own troubles allowed Mini to hang on for third by just two points.
“It was very hard because we were driving at the limit of our car to see how much we could push the car and where our limits are,” Hołowczyc recapped. “The amazing thing is that all the factory cars had problems, the cars were stopped on the stages due to breakdowns, and we practiced the same. After six days, we are much smarter about the endurance of the car and what we can afford. We have to remember that the Dakar, for which this rally was a test, is very long and we have to make sure the car is in one piece. There the winners are at the finish line. We survived the Rallye du Maroco, Łukasz (Kurzeja) improved navigation a lot and we can say that the next step is done.”
Despite not competing for points, Nani Roma impressed in the maiden W2RC race for the M-Sport Ford Ranger, finishing third overall.
As is customary, the rally serves as a dress rehearsal for those running the 2024 Dakar Rally, meaning T1 was filled with unique names hoping to experiment in new rides. Guillaume de Mévius was one of these drivers as the T3 regular finished twelfth in his first T1 start. Pau Navarro, who had a bigger jump from T4 to T1, quickly impressed as the top T1.1 subcategory driver though was set back by a broken driveshaft and tyre punctures.
T1 overall results
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Team | Class | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 201 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Timo Gottschalk | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | 14:49:09 | Leader |
| 2 | 210 | Denis Krotov | Konstantin Zhiltsov | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | 15:23:26 | + 34:17 |
| 3 | 211 | Nani Roma* | Alex Haro Bravo | M-Sport Ford World Rally Team | T1+ | 15:32:12 | + 43:03 |
| 4 | 202 | Juan Cruz Yacopini | Daniel Oliveiras | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | 15:46:17 | + 57:08 |
| 5 | 225 | Eugenio Amos* | Paolo Ceci | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | 15:49:22 | + 1:00:13 |
| 6 | 205 | Martin Prokop | Viktor Chytka | ORLEN Benzina Team | T1+ | 15:52:57 | + 1:03:48 |
| 7 | 223 | Marcos Baumgart* | Kleber Cincea | X Rally Team | T1+ | 15:57:28 | + 1:08:19 |
| 8 | 206 | Mattias Ekström | Emil Bergkvist | Team Audi Sport | T1.U | 16:34:23 | + 1:45:14 |
| 9 | 228 | Lionel Baud* | Lucie Baud | Century Racing | T1.2 | 17:00:59 | + 2:11:50 |
| 10 | 235 | Michael Van Eikeren* | Jasper Riezebos | Dakar Team Van Eikeren | T1.2 | 17:25:14 | + 2:36:05 |
| 11 | 230 | Jean-Rémy Bergounhe* | Lionel Costes | MD Rallye Sport | T1.2 | 17:47:47 | + 2:58:38 |
| 12 | 216 | Guillaume de Mévius* | François Cazalet | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | 18:04:32 | + 3:15:23 |
| 13 | 227 | Isidre Esteve* | José Maria Villalobos Valcarcel | Repsol Toyota Rally Team | T1+ | 18:11:52 | + 3:22:43 |
| 14 | 209 | Carlos Sainz | Lucas Cruz | Team Audi Sport | T1.U | 18:36:02 | + 3:46:53 |
| 15 | 232 | Benoit Fretin* | Cédric Duplé | YDEO Competition | T1.2 | 18:55:29 | + 4:06:20 |
| 16 | 233 | Urvo Männama* | Risto Lepik | Rally Raid Estonia | T1.2 | 19:31:45 | + 4:42:36 |
| 17 | 234 | Gintas Petrus* | Jose Marques | Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics | T1.2 | 20:22:45 | + 5:33:36 |
| 18 | 208 | Stéphane Peterhansel | Édouard Boulanger | Team Audi Sport | T1.U | 27:55:11 | + 13:06:02 |
| 19 | 200 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Mathieu Baumel | Toyota Gazoo Racing | T1+ | 28:59:10 | + 14:10:01 |
| 20 | 217 | Jean-Luc Ceccaldi | Thomas Gaidella | MD Rallye Sport | T1.2 | 34:21:19 | + 19:32:10 |
| 21 | 215 | Orlando Terranova | Bernardo Graue | Bahrain Raid Xtreme | T1+ | 34:34:28 | + 19:45:19 |
| 22 | 212 | Krzysztof Hołowczyc | Łukasz Kurzeja | X-raid Team | T1+ | 35:08:22 | + 20:19:13 |
| 23 | 203 | Sébastien Loeb | Fabian Lurquin | Bahrain Raid Xtreme | T1+ | 35:12:11 | + 20:23:02 |
| 24 | 222 | Cristian Baumgart* | Alberto Andreotti | X Rally Team | T1+ | 35:12:30 | + 20:23:21 |
| 25 | 226 | Simon Vitse* | Frédéric Lefebvre | MD Rallye Sport | T1.2 | 35:35:34 | + 20:46:25 |
| 26 | 219 | Pau Navarro | Gonçalo Reis | FN Speed Team | T1.1 | 37:20:23 | + 22:31:14 |
| 27 | 229 | Maik Willems* | Robert Van Pelt | Dakar Team Van Eikeren | T1.1 | 38:51:36 | + 24:02:27 |
| DNF | 207 | Guerlain Chicherit | Alex Winocq | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 214 | Mathieu Serradori | Loïc Minaudier | Century Racing | T1.2 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 218 | Magdalena Zajac | Jacek Czachor | Proxcars TME Rally Team | T1.1 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 231 | Daniel Alonso Villaron* | Alejandro Lopez Fernandez | Past Racing | T1.1 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 236 | Patrice Étienne* | Antoine Sanchez | YDEO Competition | T1.2 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 237 | Frédéric Tuheil* | Jean-Jacques Martinez | Sodicars Racing | T1.1 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 238 | Henk de Jong* | Pieter van Kruijsdijk | Dakar Team Van Eikeren | T1.1 | DNF | N/A |
T1 stage winners
| Stage | Driver | Time |
| Prologue | Mattias Ekström | 10:19.8 |
| Stage #1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | 3:15:32 |
| Stage #2 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | 2:52:29 |
| Stage #3 | Mattias Ekström | 2:56:36 |
| Stage #4 | Stéphane Peterhansel | 3:30:49 |
| Stage #5 | Orlando Terranova | 1:57:42 |
Overall winners
| Class | Number | Competitor | Team | Time |
| T1 | 201 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Toyota Gazoo Racing | 14:49:09 |
| T2 | 251 | Ronald Basso* | Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body | 22:14:17 |
| T3 | 315 | Marek Goczał | EnergyLandia Rally Team | 16:22:12 |
| T4 | 403 | João Ferreira | South Racing Can-Am | 18:26:24 |
| T5 | 506 | Michiel Becx* | Team de Rooy | 21:32:34 |
| RallyGP | 8 | Toby Price | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 15:56:43 |
| Rally2 | 32 | Bradley Cox | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 17:06:37 |
| Rally3 | 164 | Cheikh Yves Jacquemain | Africa Rallye Team | 23:42:39 |
| Quad | 186 | Alexandre Giroud* | Drag’on Rally Team | 21:07:24 |
| Open Auto | 601 | Jérôme Cambier* | MD Rallye Sport | 21:21:46 |
| Open SSV | 653 | Tomas Mickus* | BRO Racing | 21:42:23 |
| Road to Dakar Bike | 71 | Toby Hederics* | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 19:11:16 |
| Road to Dakar SSV | 420 | William Grarre* | Team Horizon Off-Road | 21:50:39 |
W2RC standings
Unlike T3 and T4, T1 does not have its own standings and instead uses a championship in which the aforementioned categories can also earn points based on their finishes among all FIA W2RC entries.
Drivers’ standings
| Rank | Driver | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | 205 | Leader |
| 2 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | 181 | – 24 |
| 3 | Juan Cruz Yacopini | 132 | – 73 |
| 4 | Sébastien Loeb | 112 | – 93 |
| 5 | Sebastian Halpern | 89 | – 116 |
| 6 | Martin Prokop | 81 | – 124 |
| 7 | Mattias Ekström # | 77 | – 128 |
| 8 | Denis Krotov | 64 | – 141 |
| 9 | Guerlain Chicherit | 56 | – 149 |
| 10 | Seth Quintero | 48 | – 157 |
| 11 | Austin Jones | 43 | – 162 |
| 12 | Mitch Guthrie | 38 | – 167 |
| T-13 | Cristina Gutiérrez | 31 | – 174 |
| T-13 | Guoyu Zhang | 31 | – 174 |
| T-13 | Wei Han | 31 | – 174 |
| 16 | Rokas Baciuška # | 24 | – 181 |
| 17 | Mathieu Serradori | 22 | – 183 |
| 18 | João Ferreira # | 20 | – 185 |
| 19 | Marek Goczał # | 19 | – 186 |
| 20 | Francisco Lopéz Contardo | 15 | – 190 |
| 21 | Carlos Sainz | 11 | – 194 |
| T-22 | Stéphane Peterhansel | 10 | – 195 |
| T-22 | Claude Fournier | 10 | – 195 |
| T-24 | David Zille | 9 | – 196 |
| T-24 | Zi Yunliang | 9 | – 196 |
| T-24 | Pau Navarro # | 9 | – 196 |
| T-24 | Orlando Terranova | 9 | – 196 |
| T-28 | Kees Koolen # | 8 | – 197 |
| T-28 | Eryk Goczał | 8 | – 197 |
| 30 | Dania Akeel | 7 | – 198 |
| 31 | Aliyyah Koloc | 6 | – 199 |
| 32 | Jean-Luc Ceccaldi | 5 | – 200 |
| 33 | Shinsuke Umeda | 2 | – 203 |
| 34 | Michal Goczał # | 1 | – 204 |
| Erik Van Loon # | 0 | – 205 |
Italics – T3 entry
Underscore – T4 entry
Co-drivers’ standings
Co-drivers do not earn points if their driver is not competing for the W2RC.
| Rank | Co-Driver | Driver | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Mathieu Baumel | Nasser Al-Attyah | 205 | Leader |
| 2 | Timo Gottschalk | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | 162 | – 43 |
| 3 | Daniel Oliveiras | Juan Cruz Yacopini | 132 | – 73 |
| 4 | Fabian Lurquin | Sébastien Loeb | 112 | – 93 |
| 5 | Bernardo Graue | Sebastian Halpern, Orlando Terranova | 98 | – 107 |
| 6 | Viktor Chytka | Martin Prokop | 81 | – 124 |
| 7 | Emil Bergkvist # | Mattias Ekström # | 77 | – 128 |
| 8 | Konstantin Zhiltsov | Denis Krotov | 64 | – 141 |
| 9 | Alex Winocq | Guerlain Chicherit | 56 | – 149 |
| 10 | Dennis Zenz | Seth Quintero | 48 | – 157 |
| 11 | Gustavo Gugelmin | Austin Jones | 43 | – 162 |
| 12 | Kellon Walch | Mitch Guthrie | 38 | – 167 |
| T-13 | Ma Li | Wei Han | 31 | – 174 |
| T-13 | Pablo Moreno Huete | Cristina Gutiérrez | 31 | – 174 |
| 15 | Oriol Mena # | Eryk Goczał #, Guoyu Zhang | 29 | – 176 |
| 16 | Oriol Vidal Montijano # | Rokas Baciuška # | 24 | – 181 |
| 17 | Loïc Minaudier | Mathieu Serradori | 22 | – 183 |
| T-18 | Dirk Von Zitzewitz | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | 19 | – 186 |
| T-18 | Maciej Marton # | Marek Goczał # | 19 | – 186 |
| 20 | Filipe Palmeiro # | João Ferreira # | 12 | – 193 |
| T-21 | Bruno Jacomy | Hernán Garcés, Lucas Del Rio* | 11 | – 194 |
| T-21 | Szymon Gospodarczyk # | Michal Goczał #, Claude Fournier | 11 | – 194 |
| T-21 | Lucas Cruz | Carlos Sainz | 11 | – 194 |
| T-24 | Jean-Pierre Garcin | Guoyu Zhang | 10 | – 195 |
| T-24 | Édouard Boulanger | Stéphane Peterhansel | 10 | – 195 |
| T-26 | François Cazalet # | Guillaume de Mévius, Pau Navarro | 9 | – 196 |
| T-26 | Sha He | Zi Yunliang | 9 | – 196 |
| T-26 | Sebastian Cesana | David Zille | 9 | – 196 |
| T-29 | Manuel Porem | João Ferreira, Rui Carneiro* | 8 | – 73 |
| T-29 | Wouter Rosegaar | Kees Koolen | 8 | – 73 |
| 31 | Sébastien Delaunay # | Erik van Loon # | 7 | – 74 |
| 32 | Stéphane Duple | Aliyyah Koloc | 6 | – 199 |
| 33 | Cédric Duplé # | Jean-Luc Ceccaldi, Benoit Fretin* | 5 | – 200 |
| 34 | Juan Pablo Latrach | Francisco López Contardo, Hernán Garcés* | 4 | – 201 |
| 35 | Maurizio Dominella | Shinsuke Umeda | 2 | – 203 |
| Alex Haro Bravo | Orlando Terranova, Nani Roma* | 0 | – 205 |
Manufacturers’ standings
| Rank | Manufacturer | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Toyota | 230 | Leader |
| 2 | Mini | 127 | – 103 |
| 3 | Prodrive | 125 | – 105 |
| BAIC | 0 | – 230 |