In 24 days, one of the world’s toughest rally races, the Dakar Rally, will kick off in Saudi Arabia. As all the teams make their final checks, drivers Toby Price and Sam Sunderland have completed their first car test with the Toyota Hilux Overdrive T1+.
Toby Price and Sam Sunderland have previously competed in the race as motorcycle riders, and this will be their first time competing in the car category. Price has been competing in car and other events since 2015, and he won the Baja 500 this year and has also scored podiums in the Stadium Super Trucks series. He also recently competed in the Dubai Baja with Hannes Kiningadner.
“It’s all a bit surreal to be honest. We’ve worked so hard on this and it’s incredible to see it all come together. It’s really exciting to show the car to the world and to have the great partners who support us,” said Price.
Sunderland will be the navigator for the team and he highlighted the ability to focus on one thing as a positive aspect of competing in a car. “The advantage is that there are two riders in one car. We’re going to make mistakes, things are going to go wrong sometimes, but we’ll still have some traces of bikes and cars in front of us until we get used to it and find our bearings. After that, we’ll be good,” said Price. “I’m extremely lucky to have been in this sport for a long time and to have good relationships with the riders and drivers. I was lucky to be able to talk to Mathieu Baumel a few days ago and get a lot of information. I still have a lot to learn, but I’m picking out the key information and learning day by day,” said Sunderland.
Pierce highlighted that the advantage of the two will be experience, as they have both won this race twice. “Even though we have more than 20 Dakar participations, this is still a new category for us, so previous victories do not guarantee anything. Finishing the Dakar in the top 10 would be a great result for us. You can make a thousand plans, but it will not be enough. We have to go day by day and make sure the wheels are rolling,” said Price.
It remains to be seen how this duo will work together and whether, with their experience, they will be able to contribute to a good result for the team.
Source: Reuters
