Basson/Pienaar claim rookie victory and top 10 finish on Dakar debut

South Africa’s Eben Basson and his teammate, Leander Pienaar, raced over the finish line of their debut Dakar Rally in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, on January 15.

After 14 stages that covered nearly 8 000km, of which 5 000 were against the stopwatch, the #TeamHilux Rally Raid Crew did themselves, their team and their country proud by arriving at the finish line with their names occupying the seventh position on the overall classification in class T3.

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But to get there, they had to fend off more than just some of the biggest names in the sport of rally racing. The pairing had to get to grips with their G Rally Team OT3 car quickly, as they had never driven it before the start of the event. Luckily for #TeamHilux, they took to it like a duck to water and it did not take them long to bust into the top 10.

The elements of the Arabian Desert also took its toll on some of the South African drivers. “We didn’t expect rain and cold weather in the desert, but that’s exactly what we got. We got soaking wet on several occasions and it was freezing for many days. Doing 500km in the freezing cold without a windscreen in the car was not the most enjoyable part, but it all forms part of the challenge,” said Pienaar at the finish line.

In the end, all their efforts added up. The pairing were rewarded with a fine seventh position. All the competitors in front of them have done the Dakar before, so the crew also walked away with the coveted rookie prize on the 2023 Dakar.

“It is still sinking in. It will probably take me another two weeks to realize what we experienced over the past two weeks,” said Pienaar.

“I’m very satisfied that we had the pace to run with the front runners on our first Dakar,” added Basson. “As a racer at heart, one always wants to win, but realistically, our rookie victory and seventh overall is a great result for us. I’m already thinking of how we can put things in place to return to the world’s toughest race once more in 2024.”

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Basson and Pienaar, together with the other two #TeamHilux Rally Raid crews, including their teammates of Malalane Toyota, Johan and Werner Horn, and the brothers from eMalahleni, Fouche and Bertus Blignaut, will compete in the South African Rally Raid Championship across South Africa. The flag will drop for the first race in March, when the team will be racing in their Toyota Hilux bakkies.