It’s Official: Fernando Alonso Will Race In 2020 Dakar With Factory Toyota Hilux

Toyota Gazoo Racing has announced an all-star lineup for the 2020 Dakar Rally, which includes two-time F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso.

Alonso will team up with navigator Marc Coma, with Toyota’s works team featuring three more crews: Nasser Al-Attiyah and navigator Mathieu Baumel; Giniel de Villiers and navigator Alex Haro; Bernhard Ten Brinke and navigator Tom Colsoul.

Nasser and Mathieu want to defend their Dakar Rally title, with the duo having multiple FIA World Cups for Cross Country Rallies and Dakar victories under their belt.

Giniel is another experienced driver, having won the 2009 Dakar Rally and the Rally of Morocco – the latter four times. Berhard is also a former winner of Morocco and has competed in multiple rally events over the years.

Also Read: Fernando Alonso Completes Tests With Toyota In Preparation For 2020 Dakar

Fernando Alonso’s ambition to try different motorsport categories brought him to the Dakar Rally, joined by Marc Coma, who has six FIM Cross Country World Championships and five Dakar Rally victories in the bike category.

All four crews will be competing with the latest rally raid version of the Toyota Hilux, which was developed and built in South Africa. In its Dakar Rally debut in 2018, the Hilux finished in second and third place before snatching the outright win the next year.

The 2020 Dakar Rally will take place in Saudi Arabia for the first time in its history. It kicks off on January 5 in Jeddah, with the route heading north before turning south-east to the capital city of Riyadh. The second half of the race will go through Rub’ al Khali, the world’s largest continuous sand desert that’s also known as the “Empty Quarter”, before finishing in Al-Qiddiya on January 17.