ON TUESDAY, Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa faced a demanding Stage 3 of the Dakar Rally, covering 421km of varied terrain with complex navigation and no mid-stage tyre support.

Despite punctures and mechanical challenges, the team made steady progress. Guy Botterill and Oriol Mena, Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet, and João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro all showed resilience as they kept their cars competitive and ready for Stage 4, the rally’s first Marathon leg, where no overnight assistance is allowed.

Stage 4: Marathon begins

Wednesday’s Stage 4 marked the opening leg of Dakar’s Marathon stage, running 452km from AlUla to the Marathon Refuge, part of a 530km total day. Crews faced rock-strewn tracks and were forced to balance speed with car preservation, knowing that no external support would be available overnight.

Leading TGRSA on the day were Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet in car No.213, who finished ninth on the stage, 22 minutes 09 seconds behind the winner. Their strong start was disrupted by punctures in the rocky mid-section, forcing a more cautious approach for the remaining distance.

“Today was not the best of days,” said Variawa. “We were going quite well at the start and passed a lot of guys that started ahead of us. Then we hit the rocky section and got two punctures close together. After that we still had another 260 kilometres to go, most of it on rocks, so we had to be quite cautious. It could have been worse, but we’ll see how the overall looks.”

The pair remain sixth overall, 18 minutes 19 seconds off the lead.

For João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro in car No.240, Stage 4 brought further frustration. Two early punctures forced the duo to drastically reduce pace, finishing 17th on the stage, 30 minutes 50 seconds down.

“Not a good day for us again,” said Ferreira. “Two early punctures meant we had to drive super carefully and super slowly. It’s tough racing and I’m gutted for the team, but we’re still alive for the second part of the Marathon and we’ll reassess our strategy after tomorrow.”

Palmeiro added: “We had two punctures again, one around kilometre 100 and the second around kilometre 150. After all the rocky sections we slowed down a lot and lost time, but the second part was much faster and we could drive again. That’s Dakar.”

The duo now sits 17th overall at +36:53 ahead of Stage 5.

Elsewhere down the field, Guy Botterill and Oriol Mena in car No.218 endured a particularly challenging day. Navigation issues led to a missed waypoint and a 15-minute time penalty.

They finished 37th on the stage, 52 minutes 05 seconds behind the leader, and hold 22nd overall at +01:04:55 heading into Stage 5.

Looking ahead: Stage 5

Stage 5 will conclude the Marathon stage with a 371km special from the Marathon Refuge to Ha’il, forming part of a 427km total day. Reliability and tyre management remain critical, with no external assistance allowed. 

Toyota Gazoo Racing SA’s focus will be on bringing all three GR Hilux IMT Evo cars safely to Ha’il before resetting for the next phase of Dakar 2026.

DAKAR RALLY 2026 – STAGE 4 RESULTS

1st: H. Lategan / B. Cummings (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC) – 4h47m08s

2nd: N. Al-Attiyah / F. Lurquin (The Dacia Sandriders) – +07m03s

3rd: M. Goczal / M. Marton (Energylandia Rally Team) – +14m15s

4th: E. Goczal / S. Gospodarczyk (Energylandia Rally Team) – +17m36s

5th: S. Loeb / E. Boulanger (The Dacia Sandriders) – +17m54s

6th: M. Goczal / D. Ortega (Energylandia Rally Team) – +19m53s

7th: T. Price / A. Monleon (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC) – +20m07s

8th: B. Baragwanath / L. Cremer (Century Racing Factory Team) – +21m35s

9th: S. Variawa / F. Cazalet (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA) – +22m09s

10th: M. Serradori / L. Minaudier (Century Racing Factory Team) – +22m34s

17th: J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA) – +30m50s

37th: G. Botterill / O. Mena (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA) – +52m05s

DAKAR RALLY 2026 – OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 4

1st: H. Lategan / B. Cummings (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC) – 16h29m15s

2nd: N. Al-Attiyah / F. Lurquin (The Dacia Sandriders) – +03m55s

3rd: M. Ekström / E. Bergvist (Ford Racing) – +13m00s

4th: C. Sainz / L. Cruz (Ford Racing) – +15m53s

5th: M. Serradori / L. Minaudier (Century Racing Factory Team) – +16m53s

6th: S. Variawa / F. Cazalet (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA) – +18m19s

7th: N. Roma / A. Haro (Ford Racing) – +18m36s

8th: S. Loeb / E. Boulanger (The Dacia Sandriders) – +19m57s

9th: E. Goczal / S. Gospodarczyk (Energylandia Rally Team) – +21m22s

10th: C. Gutierrez / P. Moreno (The Dacia Sandriders) – +25m18s

17th: J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA) – +36m53s

22nd: G. Botterill / O. Mena (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA) – +1h04m55s