35th Peru-Argentina-Chile (Dakar Rally) – January 5th-20th, 2013
For immediate release
Sunday, January 20th 2013
OVERDRIVE MANAGEMENT DELIGHTED TO FINISH
WITH ALL FOUR TOYOTA HILUXES IN DAKAR TOP 20
· Last stage roll caused suspension damage to Nunzio Coffaro’s Toyota Hilux
SANTIAGO (CHILE): The 2013 Dakar Rally drew to a close this afternoon after the official podium celebrations in front of the Palacio de La Moneda on the Plaza de la Constitución in the Chilean capital of Santiago.
Overdrive Racing reached the finish of the gruelling 14-day event with four cars inside the top 20. Only 89 of the original 153 starters reached the final podium and Overdrive Racing’s Geoff Olholm, Lucio Alvarez, Adam Malayz and Nunzio Coffaro were classified in 10th, 11th, 15th and 20th positions.
The Venezuelan pairing of Coffaro and Daniel Meneses had actually rolled on the first section of the final special stage and that had inflicted the damage to the Team Azimut Toyota’s suspension and cost the crew four positions in the overall standings.
“I am really happy with this result,” said Overdrive Racing’s team principal Jean-Marc Fortin. “To have all the Toyotas in the top 20 after a difficult race is a superb achievement. The Hilux again showed that it is capable of competing with the best.
“It was a pity that Nunzio rolled yesterday and dropped four positions, but the race trucks did a great job to keep him in the race. Once again, I would like to thank the entire team for all the effort they put in over the past few months and during the race.”
Toyota Imperial South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz also enjoyed a successful event and brought their Toyota Hilux home in second overall, one position higher than last season.
Overdrive is based at Villers-le-Bouillet, near Huy, in Belgium. Overdrive Racing received support for the Dakar Rally from sponsors Toyota Belgium, Mistral, Donaldson Filtration and Michelin.
Ends
For further information: contact Jean-Marc Fortin (E-mail: jmf@overdriveracing.be) or Scott Abraham (E-mail: sa@overdriveracing.be), Overdrive S.A., rue de la métallurgie 37, 4530 Villers-le-Bouillet, Belgium, Tel: + 32 475 762 391. www.overdriveracing.be