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TOYOTA GAZOO Racing South Africa eased into the madness of the Dakar Rally 2026 with a cool-headed Prologue run around Yanbu… and yes, all three GR Hilux IMT Evo machines survived without drama, dents, or swearing on the radio. Which, at Dakar, counts as a small miracle.
Fastest of the SA trio was Saood Variawa, who parked the Hilux neatly in P10… just 18 seconds off the lead. Not bad for a day where the ERCF tablets decided to add some pre-start chaos for spice. Still, Saood kept his head, didn’t push like a caffeinated rookie, and brought the car back in one piece… exactly the point of a Prologue.
Right on his dust was Portuguese charger João Ferreira in P12… one lonely second behind Variawa. Early road position, high speeds, tricky nav for the copilots… and yet the Hilux emerged healthier than a gym oke in January.
Then there’s Guy Botterill in P15… doing what clever Dakar drivers do on Day Zero. No heroics, no TikTok moments, just banking kilometres and letting the rally come to him. Sensible? Yes. Boring? Not when the race is still 7,000km long.
Team boss Shameer Variawa summed it up best… 10th, 12th, 15th, happy drivers, straight cars. That’s a solid launch pad before Stage 1 throws 305km of proper suffering at the field.
So no fireworks yet. No champagne either. Just calm confidence, mechanical sympathy, and a Hilux that’s clearly ready for war.
Because at Dakar… the loudest oke on Day One usually goes home early.