Japanese brand Toyota has been racing in the Dakar Rally since the inaugural event in 1979. Land Cruisers have a rich history of partaking in the legendary off-road endurance race, but the Hilux has been the athlete of choice for the Toyota Gazoo Racing outfit since 2012, and is produced in SA by Hallspeed — the local motorsport company owned and managed by Glynn Hall.
The British born Hall moved to SA in 1980, and began working in SA’s motorsport scene, and established Hallspeed in 1990, running works teams for a variety of brands. He also raced in the national rally championships and took over the running of Toyota SA’s Motorsport division in 2010, including the building of the FIA sanctioned endurance off-roaders for global clients.
In 2012 four Toyota Hilux pickups designed and built by Hallspeed made history when they entered for the first time in the Dakar, one of them piloted by the 2009 Dakar winner Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz. When Hall retired in 2024, former client and off-road racing fanatic Shameer Variawa took over the reins of building the bakkies, culminating in the opening of the SVR’s new headquarters located in Kyalami in May.
We recently got a glimpse of how the cars are pieced together, and got to experience the capabilities of the hand-built final product.
SVR HQ
The 12,500m² facilities are tucked away below the Kyalami circuit, and it’s the only place in the world that builds the GR Toyota Hilux EVO Dakar racing platform for global clients. Expansion continues and the Rally-Raid Hub will serve as the new home of Toyota Gazoo Racing SA, housing the team’s race vehicles and technical departments under one roof.
The engineering of the components such as the lightweight tubular frame chassis is done in-house. The facilities feature a damper laboratory, an engine room and an in-house dyno. Other components, such as the body shell fabrication, are done elsewhere by an SVR subsidiary, and the operations are impressive.
The beast
We drove 85km to Legends Adventure Farm in Bronkhorstspruit to taste Toyota’s Dakar racer. The venue offers a variety of adventure treats, and seemingly the only place that can simulate a Dakar rally stage. Terrain includes gravel, deep ruts, blind corners and loose sand.
With most clients of the Hilux Dakar EVO based overseas, the cars are born left-hand drive, and powered by the 3.5l twin-turbo petrol V6 from the Land Cruiser 300. It produces 264kW and 620Nm, with a 540l fuel tank for the long travels between stages. TGRSA rally team manager Guy Botterill is the driver who effortlessly whips up and expertly guides the racing machine through the obstacles.
The experience is heart-pumping. The bespoke dampers with 350mm of travel allow the Dakar Hilux to shoot through terrain with little regard to impact. It’s incredible how the car wafts over bumps and lands comfortably after jumps that would instantly disintegrate anything mainstream.
The items also safeguard drivers and navigators against discomfort and injuries when crossing dunes and rocks as Dakar stages can be up to 800km. New Dakar regulations will require damping for the seats themselves, and other modifications. SVR is ready to build the next evolution right here in SA.
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