IMPERIAL Toyota Team Test
Day ONE

The breathtaking dunes on the skeleton coast south of Walvis Bay in Namibia was home to the IMPERIAL Toyota Off Road Racing team today, during their preparations for the 2012 Dakar event.

It was a day of settling in and calibrating the sophisticated telemetric systems to conditions that are similar to those expected on the Dakar. A number of runs were made with the express purpose of gathering data which will enable the experts to analyse the performance of the various systems.

The new, self adjusting, engine mapping was a big hit with both Giniel de Villiers and Duncan Vos expressing their delight with the power delivery from the Hilux's V8 powerplant.

Duncan Vos had his first run in proper dunes where he indulged in the Hilux's abundant power to the delight of the attending photographers and cameramen. If the size and duration of the irrepressible grin on Duncan's face is anything to go by, this first dune test went a lot better than expected.

Tomorrow the team will move camp to give them better access to the section of road on which the suspensions will be tested, which will also be the main focus of the team's efforts. The numerous data sets that were collected during today are now being analysed and tomorrow will see the implementation of suspension settings derived from these analyses.

Glyn Hall, IMPERIAL Toyota team manager, expressed his satisfaction at the day's progress and is looking forward to another productive day tomorrow.

4th November 2011