TOYOTA

Last year, before he’d actually raced the Dakar, many ‘pundits’ reckoned he could go well in Saudi Arabia. Not least Red Bull, with whom he’d just signed a coveted sponsorship deal. The reason: his impressive results ‘back home’ in South America. These included winning the Mitsubishi Cup twice, the biggest single-make competition in South America, the Brazilian championship three times and South America’s toughest race, the Rally dos Sertoes twice, first in 2019 and then in 2022 with Toyota Overdrive. ‘Overseas’ pre-2023 Dakar warm up races like the Baja Aragon, where he finished third behind Al Attiyah and Al-Rajhi, or the Dubai Baja where he won the first day, did nothing to lessen the buzz. But even his most fervent supporter would have been hard pushed to predict that for his very first Dakar Lucas and co-driver Timo Gottschalk would finish on the podium just behind the likes of Nasser and Sebastien Loeb and in front of a whole host of other, much more experienced and decorated drivers. For the 2024 Dakar, Lucas will be teaming up with the hugely experienced ex-motorcycle racer Armand Monleon, who last year navigated for Jakub Przygonski aboard the new Mini.