Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) will be attempting to conquer the tough and challenging Dakar Rally for the tenth time since 2012 with a team consisting of 4 units of the Toyota Hilux.

That’s right, everyone’s favourite default pick-up truck is selected as the vehicle of choice by the rally team. The team will be spearheaded by 2019 winners Nasser Al-Attiyah and his navigator, Mathieu Baumel. Al-Attiyah and Baumel won the 2019 Dakar Rally with TGR.

The team will be competing in the latest version of the Toyota Hilux which is built and developed at the TGR’s HQ near the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Johannesburg, South Africa. This won’t be the first time the Hilux was brought into the legendary rally though with the pick-up truck competing since 2018.

The robustness of the race-proven Hilux is shown in the amazing results the team has achieved with a second and third-place finish in 2018, overall victory in 2019, and second place in 2020.

This is not your ordinary Hilux mind you as it has been extensively modified to feature a naturally-aspirated V8 engine and the suspension has been refined to ensure that the rally-ready Hilux remains competitive and reliable.

The 2021 edition of the Dakar Rally will take place in Saudi Arabia again, setting off from Jeddah on 3-January 2021. Despite the African roots, the Dakar Rally has never competed in the continent since 2007.

The iconic rally took place in South America from 2009 to 2019 before moving to Saudi Arabia for the 2020 season.

As for the Hilux, we did a quick review of the Hilux Rogue. Apart from looking absolutely rugged, the top-of-the-line facelift is packed with enough advanced safety features to make you think twice about calling it utilitarian.