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Issue #19:October 18, 2024
TLC participated in the final round of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship, at the Rally of Morocco 2024, held in Morocco from Friday, October 4 to Friday, October 11, 2024, with two rally cars based on the Land Cruiser 300 GR SPORT*1. Here, the rally cars, which have been developed for the 2025 Dakar Rally, faced their final testing.
*1: Car #701 (Miura/Polato team, Open category), Car #500 (Basso/Garcin team, FIA T2 Stock (Production Car) category)
The Rally of Morocco 2024 started with a prologue stage on October 6 in the central Moroccan city of Marrakech to determine the starting order. From there, participants made their way to Zagora in the southeast. The rally then entered its full-fledged stages on October 7, passing through the Merzouga sand dunes, and finished in the eastern city of Mengoub after a total of six stages, covering a total distance of approximately 2,400 km.
While en route from Marrakech to Zagora after the prologue stage, localized rain temporarily cut off roads. As a result, most rally vehicles came to a standstill for around two hours and arrived at the bivouac late at night. Consequently, urgent changes had to be made to the Stage 1 route, marking a turbulent start to the rally. Fortunately, the two TLC cars were largely unaffected and started Stage 1 without any issues.
In Stage 2, Car #500 experienced some electrical trouble and an issue in the intake system was detected. Although this caused a slight time loss, the team responded appropriately, and successfully cleared the stage.
After arriving at the bivouac, parts were inspected and replaced, and the team continued to Stage 3 of the rally. As the engineers and mechanics performed vehicle maintenance, they also investigated the cause of the issues, working until around 6 in the morning. It was a physically demanding stage, but the team’s strong motivation toward the Dakar Rally carried them into the second half of the rally.
In Stage 4, Car #701 encountered some trouble; they broke a driveshaft while driving on a winding high-speed gravel road. The driver and navigator worked together to replace it using on-board spare parts and tools, and after an approximate 1-hour time loss, they were back in the rally. The improved suspension and increased output for future testing increased load on the undercarriage which resulted in this issue, but this enabled the team to identify new challenges to push the car’s performance limits further.
Both cars performed well in Stage 5, the final stage. Car #701 reached the rally’s regulated top speed of 170 km/h, demonstrating stable driving performance even at high speeds. This stage gave the team confidence in the future evolution of their rally cars.
Both TLC cars successfully cleared all five stages, with Car #701 winning first place in the Open category, and Car #500 taking first place in the Stock (Production Car) category, finishing 62nd overall.
Chief Mechanic and Engineer Philippe Challoy commented, "There are still minor issues, but we’ve made good preparations for the Dakar Rally 2025. The Rally of Morocco involved a large amount of work, often continuing until dawn, and our two Japanese mechanics worked hard; I feel we’ve made good progress since the last test. We’ll continue making adjustments to the cars as we aim for a 1-2 finish at the 2025 Dakar Rally."
Team Manager Kakutani passionately shared his thoughts, "This time, our goal was to identify issues rather than focus on results, so it was a good test that highlighted various problems, both big and small. We’ll continue vehicle development for as long as time allows. I feel the team’s overall performance has improved; I want to unite the team to fight as one."
Driver Miura also shared his enthusiasm, "Like the Dakar Rally, the Rally of Morocco increases in difficulty each year. This time, we competed on a wide range of challenging terrains, which provided valuable experience in preparation for the Dakar Rally. We’ll all work together to secure our 12th consecutive victory at the 2025 Dakar Rally."
We appreciate your continued support as we approach the 2025 Dakar Rally.