Toyota Hilux Racer Flips Twice at Dakar Rally, Keeps on Truckin’
With a Dakar rookie on board, Toyota’s legendary Hilux proves once again why it’s our world’s toughest truck.
Toyota’s Hilux has long enjoyed a reputation for being the toughest vehicle on the planet. To the point where Top Gear once famously had to resort to some pretty insane extremes to kill one. Thus, we’ve seen a Hilux crashed into a tree, sunk in water, dropped from a crane, smashed into a building, dropped off a building, and even set on fire. And despite suffering a ridiculous amount of damage, it just wouldn’t die. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised at what transpired recently at the famously tough Dakar Rally, one of the most grueling off-road races in the world.
In yet another example of how indestructible the Hilux is, two-time Formula 1 champion, two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, FIA World Endurance Champion, and current Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Fernando Alonso managed to flip his pickup twice over a giant sand dune and survive. He then somehow landed on all four wheels, obviously dazed for a moment. But then, the most incredible thing happened. He simply drove off, sans windshield, like nothing ever happened.
Not a smooth start of the stage for @alo_oficial!
He dropped over 1h with an early crash and resumed driving without a windshield!
Live race updates ➡ https://t.co/qTNrMHIKg1#Dakar2020 pic.twitter.com/zZFh6gvbq5
— DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 15, 2020
The absolutely insane sight is even more incredible when you consider that this is Alonso’s Dakar debut. The accomplished race car driver just completed his first series of off-road races months before the iconic event kicked off. But you would never know that by the way Alonso fearlessly competed in this particular stage. He even went on to finish the day in 14th place in his class, alongside co-driver Marc Coma.
By the time the dust settled (literally), the Dakar rookie had finished an impressive 13th place overall. A pretty incredible result given the fact that he had never even competed in such an event just a few months ago.
Of course, we can credit the legendary Toyota Hilux for at least part of that success. After all, the pickup has been surprising everyone with its inherent toughness for decades now. And despite that long track record, the Hilux never ceases to amaze us every time we see it do something like this and bounce back like nothing ever happened.
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