Actualizaciones de la carrera

16/1/2011: stage 13 (Cordoba – Buenos Aires)

Al Attiyah took the chequered flag in the overall ‘Car’ standings but Sainz delivered his 24th stage victory in the Dakar, his seventh in this year’s contest, but even so, he was third in the final rankings.

The Toyota Cooper Tire pair of Xavier Foj and Pablo Jaton finished a fast, hot stage in 18th, proving again that they are a formidable partnership even when competing alongside the highly tuned vehicles of the top runners in their production specification Cooper shod Toyota. Their admirable performance throughout and excellent recent form rounds off a great Dakar for the two experienced racers.

Speaking about the challenge presented to them in 2011’s Dakar, Foj said: “I’ve completed 20 Dakars now and this was spectacular. The racing was tough and the heat was almost unbearable at times, but nothing can match the excitement and adventure of competing in this contest. A big thanks to Cooper Tires and to Toyota for their backing this year.”

Although both vehicles in the Toyota Cooper Tires team didn’t make the finish line, they both delivered excellent team performances and handled all the challenges the Dakar had up its sleeve magnificently. 

14/1/2011: stage 12 (San Juan – Cordoba)

In a stage that was shortened due to overnight storms which caused extremely muddy and almost impassable conditions, Sainz, the third placed driver in the overall standings, took the stage win, narrowing the gap a little on the first and second placed drivers, Al Attiyah and De Villiers.

Foj and Jaton had an excellent result, finishing the stage in 16th position – their best finish this year – which leaves them in 18th overall.

“This was a long stage, nearly 800km in total including liaison sections, but we managed the difficult narrow sections early on in the stage very well,” said Foj.

“The mud really tested the drivers but the stage was neutralised before the end because of the conditions. It was a fun stage though and I’m now looking forward to the last day tomorrow which is short and fast.”

13/1/2011: stage 11 (Chilecito – San Juan)

Former race leader, Carlos Sainz, who was already having difficulties yesterday, seriously damaged his Volkswagen Touareg and lost more than an hour, after ripping his front wheel off while driving hard in thick dust. Nasser Al Attiyah now holds a solid lead over his rival, De Villiers, taking the stage win.

Foj and Jaton, in their production specification Toyota Land Cruiser, finished the day in 21st, only half an hour behind Sainz. Conditions were hot on the 370 km stage and the pair brought the Cooper Tires shod vehicle home safely.

12/1/2011: stage 10 (Copiapo - Chilecito)

Carlos Sainz’s hopes of regaining the lead of the Dakar were crushed as early on as the day's 13th kilometer. Stuck in the dunes around Fiambala, the Spaniard then lost more time after a navigation error. Al Attiyah increased his lead in the general standings, while Giniel De Villiers took the stage win. Xavier put in another sterling effort to bring the car home in 20th position.

Now back on Argentinian territory, Foj said: “We had a long liaison across the Andes which was spectacular, but when the racing started we were faced with a fairly short but hard stage.

“Massive rocks were a problem and in the dunes we had to drop the pressures on the Coopers to 0.2 bar, which is very low. The heat, which was nearly 50 degrees at times, also caused problems because the car was running very hot.”

After stage 10, Foj and Jaton are now placed 19th overall in the ‘Car’ section.

11/1/2011: stage 9 (Copiapo – Copiapo)

The battle at the top intensifies as Sainz closed in on Al Attiyah with his 5th stage win of the 2011 contest. These two are very closely matched. Foj and Jaton had a good day on the mixed terrain stage which incorporated dunes, stoney sections and dust riddled areas, making it tricky at times.

“In the dunes we set the Coopers at 0.8 bar, which worked really well and meant we got through with no big dramas. But if you get stuck, it’s hard to get moving again and you can lose hours”.

“On the faster, stoney sections we set the tyres at 1.6 bar, which is better for the quick sections, and we made the loop back into Copiapo in pretty good time.”

Xavier and his co-pilot finished the stage in 24th position and lie 20th overall.

10/1/2011: stage 8 (Antofagasta – Copiapo)

Carlos Sainz, the leader since the first stage of the Dakar ‘Car’ contest in Argentina and Chile, lost his place to Nasser Al-Attiyah in the last five kilometers of the stage. Meanwhile, Foj and Jaton managed 30th place after many competitors finished late or not at all.

“Navigation was very tough again and some of the dunes were more like mountains of sand. It’s not an easy stage for the production cars but we managed and the tyres have been excellent, no punctures again.”

Xavier Foj now lies in 22nd place overall. For the other half of the Toyota Cooper Tires team, however, the news is not so positive. Jesus Calleja and Ignacio  Santamaria didn’t make it through stage 7, having damaged their radiator so badly it was beyond repair, and therefore, they are eliminated from the competition. We’d like to thank both driver and co-pilot for their efforts this year and look forward to working with them in the future.

9/1/2011: stage 7 (Arica – Antofagasta)

Nasser Al-Attiyah is, once again, in hot pursuit of Carlos Sainz with another stage win. The Qatari is now just 1'22'' from first place in the general standings. In the Dunes, Foj and Jaton managed to navigate their way through and return to the final checkpoint in good time.

“Many cars rolled over today in the dunes but we managed to pass the dusty areas and enter the dunes in exactly the right area for a much easier passage through – a lot of people didn’t.” said Foj after reaching the end of the stage.

“We had to drive conservatively because the car is not perfect, it has had a tough time and tomorrow’s stage is going to be very long. Two years’ ago, I spent three hours on one dune in a similar area.”

The pair finished the stage in 26th position, improving to 21st position overall.

Like several other teams, Calleja and Santamaria had to spend the night in the dunes having damaged their car and missed the final check points.

7/1/2011: stage 6 (Iquique – Arica)

On an extremely tough, dusty stage, Stephane Peterhansel's momentum was halted by several punctures and he now trails Carlos Sainz by 15 minutes, after the Spaniard took his 21st stage victory in the Dakar. Nasser Al-Attiyah was on the pace again, only losing 9 seconds to his colleague, regaining 2nd place in the general standings, 2'42” behind Sainz. Toyota Cooper Tires own Foj and Jaton endured a hard stage battling through the dunes.

Xavier Foj said: “This was a very, very long stage which had all the famous elements of the Dakar: the dunes, dust and stones.

“We broke our front suspension, which meant the dampers weren’t working, but we had more dunes to get past. We then broke another damper after passing the dunes but the main thing is that we got the car back, and unlike many people, we had no punctures.”

Driving the Hilux, Calleja said: “Many of the drivers have said this was one of the toughest days for many years in the Dakar.

“I could hardly see anything because of the dust – it was terrible. We had a few accidents but finally got home safely.”

After the day’s action, Foj and Jaton were still placed 24th, having finished the stage in 49th.

Calleja’s and Santamaria’s even tougher day saw them finish 62nd, with an overall position of 74th.

6/1/2011: stage 5 (Calama – Iquique) Foj and Calleja relax after a hard day  Calleja inspects the days damage

Stephane Peterhansel took his first stage win this year, taking advantage of navigational mistakes made by close rivals Sainz and Al-Attiyah, but Saniz retains his overall lead in the ‘Car’ contest. Foj and Jaton had a day described as: “The day the real Dakar started, with very, very high dunes and lots of technical problems along the way.”

“The first 200km was almost perfect, no problems. Then we broke a brake pipe next to the real wheel, which meant the brakes wouldn’t work properly and we had to stop to fill up with brake fluid.”

“We also had problems with the clutch, not good when you are about to drive over tall sand dunes. Lots of drivers got flat tyres as well but we were ok, no problem with the tyres even when the pressures were set very low on the dunes.”

The pair eventually came back in 28th, leaving them in 24th position overall.

As for Calleja and Santamaria – news of their eventful stage to follow.

5/1/2011: stage 4 (San Salvador De JuJuy – Calama) Calleja and Foj discuss the days events

Carlos Sainz returned to winning ways by beating close rival Nasser Al-Attiyah by 50 seconds and therefore pocketing his 20th Dakar stage win. Toyota Cooper Tires pilot Xavier Foj returned home in 28th position, during a stage that saw the rally enter Chilean territory for the first time. Calleja and Santamaria ran into all sorts of trouble, rolling their Toyota Hilux onto its side and losing valuable time to their rivals, eventually finishing in 110th.

After arriving in Calama, Foj said: “It was a long and varied stage, with several liaison sections between the real racing but crossing through the Andes is spectacular.

"Some sections we very fast and the altitude was nearly 5,000 meters, so we had to take care of tyre and engine temperatures,” commented Foj. “For me, the real Dakar starts tomorrow when we go to the Atacama desert; the dunes will be very challenging and it’s a long stage of about 500km."

Calleja, talking about his eventful stage, said: “This was a really difficult stage and we had two major problems. The engine temperature got higher and higher and we didn’t know why, but we kept putting many litres of water into the engine and we went pretty slowly. Then, on a rocky section we managed to roll the car, but we got pulled out after 25 minutes. We were tired and muddy by the end.”

Frustratingly, both vehicles equipped with Cooper tyres dropped down the overall rankings. After stage 4, Foj and Jaton are now positioned 25th, while Calleja’s and Santamaria’s difficulties have seen them drop to 65th overall.

At the very front of the leaderboard, Carlos Sainz’s command of the Dakar was diminished slightly after a first stage win in the 2011 rally for Nasser Al-Attiyah. While Foj and Jaton, in the their Cooper shod Toyota Land Cruiser, finished a highly respectable 21st in the rocky, mountainous stage. Calleja and Santamaria didn’t have such a good day, however, coming home in 56th place.

“The car is perfect, this stage was excellent for us,” said Foj. “The sand was very, very soft in parts but there were several fast sections, too, through fantastic landscapes.”

Calleja, driving the second Toyota Cooper vehicle, had a tougher time and commented: “We had our first problem after 20 minutes when we got stuck, but we got moving and enjoyed the fast sections, where the Coopers were great. The sandy parts were much harder.”
After the glamour of the parade and the various sideshows and demonstrations, not to mention scrutineering and all the preparation, the first challenge was the make it to Victoria - about 380km from Buenos Aires - under 'liaison', rather than race conditions, which the Toyota Cooper Tires teams managed without any drama.

After the fourth day of the 2011 Dakar, Foj and Jaton improved to 24th overall, which, if it wasn’t for the fact minor technical changes weren’t validated to allow them into the production class, would have seen the pair leading the T2 category. Calleja and Santamaria lie a highly creditable 42nd overall.

Stage 1 saw the real racing begin. Commencing from Victoria, participants headed some 222km to Cordoba, crossing varied terrain along the way and battling heavy rain. Carlos Sainz was the overall victor, completing the course in 2 hours, 18 minutes and 32 seconds. Foj and Jaton managed a solid 2 hours, 53 minutes and 12 seconds, placing him 30th in the standing. While Calleja and Santamaria came home in a time of 3 hours, 5 minutes and 20 seconds, giving them 51st place in the 'CAR' standings.

3/1/2011: stage 2 (Córdoba - San Miguel de Tucumán)

Another rain soaked, but exciting stage meant conditions deteriorated throughout the day's action along the 324km route. Though, flatter, faster stages like this are less affected by adverse weather. Xavier Foj, the Toyota Cooper Tires lead driver, commented: "There was lots of risk on this stage, the rain meant there was lots of slippery mud and at times I had to drive steadily rather than as fast as possible.

"The short wheelbase cars like ours don't work as well in these conditions but the torque [from the engine] is good." On a stage which is easily accessible for the fans, Foj also commented: "The crowds were huge, which is great for the rally and for the country, and they were quite excited but it didn't get too unsafe."

The stage was again won by Spaniard, Carlos Sainz, who brought his Volkswagen home in a time of 3 hours, 10 minutes and 48 seconds. Foj and Jaton piloted their Cooper equipped Land Cruiser home in 03:51:58; Calleja's and Santamaria's Hilux achieved a time of 04:04:19, placing the Toyota Cooper Tires vehicles in overall positions of 29th and 44th respectively.