Dakar

2023 Dakar Rally: Husband/wife duo Juan Morera, Lidia Ruba win Dakar Classic

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Credit: Momabikes Raid Team

The Dakar Classic is like a moving museum of racing history as competitors race through the deserts of Saudi Arabia in vehicles built between 1979 (the first year of the Dakar Rally) and 1999. It also stands out from the Rally in that one’s position is based on navigation ability rather than time, meaning the winner is determined by whoever has the fewest points like in golf.

As if it were a guerrilla army (or the Rally’s T2 category), Toyota Land Cruisers dominated the Classic. Six finished in the top ten with all but one being the HDJ80, a model of the Land Cruiser that peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including a 1–2 finish led by Juan Morera. Morera and his wife Lidia Ruba Cuartero recorded 428 points, 101 fewer than Carlos Santaolalla, with two stage wins. It was a strong rebound for Morera, a businessman who raced a Fiat Panda in 2022 but was plagued by mechanical troubles.

“Reality has surpassed my dreams,” said Morera. “It sounds like a cliché, but it’s the plain truth. We knew we could do well, but everything went very well for us and that’s what allows you to win the Dakar.”

Land Cruisers swept the podium as Paolo Bedeschi was third in the BJ71, which existed at around the same time as the HDJ80.

“These days have been intense, tiring, challenging, but also full of emotions,” posted Bedeschi’s co-driver Daniele Bottallo. “We placed third overall in the Classic category and this pays off for all our efforts. The Dakar, the ‘toughest race in the world,’ tests you both physically and mentally. In addition to the medal and the trophy, I bring home many feelings, many good memories of exciting moments. Met many interesting people, saw beautiful landscapes, lived a dream.”

The Land Cruiser would have occupied the top seven if not for the Nissan Terrano II, also known as the Mistral in Japan and the Ford Maverick in Europe, of Riccardo Garosci. The Terrano, especially its predecessor also marketed as the Pathfinder, won the most stages thanks to Urbano Clerici who claimed four of the last five legs though inconsistency relegated him to fiftieth overall. Nissan also scored a fifth win thanks to the Patrol K260 of Luís Pedrals Marot, who competed in the Dakar Rally on a bike in the 2000s.

2022 winner Serge Mogno finished fifth. Two spots behind him were Erik Qvick and co-driver Jean-Marie Lurquin, whose son Fabian Lirquin was the T1 runner-up as navigator for Sébastien Loeb.

Eighth-placed Julien Texier was the highest finisher among those with vehicles before 1986 in a Porsche 911. Texier, who restores Porsches in his native France, raced a replica of the 911 that competed in the East African Safari Rally and the early Paris–Dakar Rally. Such a finish perhaps also comes with additional publicity for the 911 as Porsche is set to roll out the 911 Dakar model.

Stage #1 winner Jérôme Galpin came up just short of making the top ten in eleventh. The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series president and his wife Anne drove the Team FJ Protruck, a Ford truck previously used in the Rally by Thierry Saby. While just shy of the upper eighth, the Galpins set the fastest times in each stage, which allowed them to start the Classic ahead of the field, for the second straight year. Ondřej Klymčiw and his Škoda 130 LR, a 1980s Group B rally car, also won a stage but was out of overall contention early and settled for thirty-seventh.

The Classic was split into groups based on the speed capability and age of their cars, with H1 being open to all vehicles while H2 is for faster vehicles. They are then split by era with H1/2.1 through .3 being for pre-1986, .4 through .6 for 1987 to 1996, and 2.7 through 2.9 for 1996 to 1999. Each specific designation is also based on the type of automobile: those classified .1, .4, and 2.7 are 2×4; .2, .5, and 2.8 are 4×4; and .3, .6, and 2.9 are trucks. For example, the top three were classified in Group H1 as their Land Cruisers are 2×4 vehicles. There is also the H0 group for slower and weaker cars, won by Bertus Alteena (thirty-third overall) in his Volkswagen Taro, a rebadge of the fifth-generation Toyota Hilux (whose upgraded, modern version won the Dakar Rally).

Mogno led H2 while Galpin claimed T3. Among the trucks, Marco Giannecchini claimed the H0T group in an IVECO EuroCargo (fifty-sixth overal0) whereas Juan Manuel González Corominas (seventeenth) topped H1T with his Mercedes-Benz 1638 tractor.

Unlike the main Rally, the Classic ended after the thirteenth stage, one day earlier. The third leg was cancelled due to rain, a fate that somewhat befell the Rally as its stage was shortened.

Dakar Classic overall top ten

FinishNumberDriverCo-DriverTeamVehiclePointsMargin
1778Juan MoreraLidia Ruba CuarteroToyota ClassicToyota Land Cruiser HDJ80428Leader
2704Carlos SantaolallaAran Sol I JuanolaToyota ClassicToyota Land Cruiser HDJ80529+ 101
3776Paolo BedeschiDaniele BottalloBedeschi-BottalloToyota Land Cruiser BJ71631+ 203
4790Riccardo GarosciRudy BrianiTecnosportNissan Terrano II813+ 385
5700Serge MognoFlorent DrulhonTeam FSOToyota Land Cruiser HDJ80889+ 461
6728Dirk van RompuyChristiaan Michel GorisTH-Trucks TeamToyota Land Cruiser HDJ80923+ 495
7793Erik QvickJean-Marie LurquinTH-Trucks TeamToyota Land Cruiser HDJ801,055+ 627
8707Julien TexierJérémy AthimonTeam Logistic RallyePorsche 9111,163+ 735
9716Rene DeclercqJohn DemeesterVW Iltis TeamBombardier Iltis1,414+ 986
10714Cédric ZollikerClemens LansingZolliker-LansingToyota Land Cruiser HDJ801,732+ 1,304

Dakar Classic stage winners

StageNumberDriverTeamVehiclePoints
Stage #1701Jérôme GalpinTeam FJTeam FJ Protruck57
Stage #2778Juan MoreraToyota ClassicToyota Land Cruiser HDJ8021
Stage #3N/ACancelled due to rainN/AN/AN/A
Stage #4748Luís Pedrals MarotTH-Trucks TeamNissan Patrol K26028
Stage #5709Ondřej KlymčiwKlymčiw RacingŠkoda 130 LR12
Stage #6704Carlos SantaolallaToyota ClassicToyota Land Cruiser HDJ8013
Stage #7776Paolo BedeschiBedeschi-BottalloToyota Land Cruiser BJ7126
Stage #8778Juan MoreraToyota ClassicToyota Land Cruiser HDJ8038
Stage #9750Urbano Alfonso Gherardo ClericiTecnosportNissan Terrano21
Stage #10750Urbano Alfonso Gherardo ClericiTecnosportNissan Terrano12
Stage #11704Carlos SantaolallaToyota ClassicToyota Land Cruiser HDJ8021
Stage #12750Urbano Alfonso Gherardo ClericiTecnosportNissan Terrano15
Stage #13750Urbano Alfonso Gherardo ClericiTecnosportNissan Terrano16

Overall winners

ClassNumberCompetitorTeamTime
T1200Nasser Al-AttiyahToyota Gazoo Racing45:03:15
T2250Ronald Basso*Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body107:39:42
T3303Austin JonesRed Bull Off-Road Junior Team51:55:53
T4428Eryk GoczałEnergyLandia Rally Team53:10:14
T5502Janus van KasterenBoss Machinery Team de Rooy IVECO54:03:33
RallyGP47Kevin BenavidesRed Bull KTM Factory Racing44:27:20
Rally217Romain DumontierTeam Dumontier Racing47:03:58
Malle Moto40Charan Moore*HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing52:24:42
Quad151Alexandre Giroud*Drag’on Rally Team56:44:30
Classic778Juan Morera*Toyota Classic428 points
* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship
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Justin is not an off-road racer, but he writes about it for The Checkered Flag.
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