Toyota confirms the arrival of Marc Coma alongside Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso will find a compatriot with immense experience in rally-raid dans son Toyota Hilux. Le Gazoo Racing a confirmé ce vendredi matin que Marc Coma, quintuple vainqueur moto du Dakar, serait l’équipier du double champion du monde F1 in its preparation for a potential entry in the Dakar in Saudi Arabia in 2020.

Coma recently left his role as Dakar sporting director and joined Toyota and Fernando Alonso's tests in Namibia and Poland. The tandem will be lined up at the start of the Lichtenburg 400, 5th round of the South African Cross Country Series, which begins this Friday.

Initially planned to be a non-competition entry, Toyota finally decided to put the Alonso – Coma duo up against the competition.

“I am really happy and proud to be part of this team and to be able to share my experience of rally raid with Fernando, underlines Coma. Even though I have been practicing this sport for a long time, it remains a new challenge for me.

I never imagined that I would be in the navigator's seat preparing for the rally raid in a Hilux. However, this new challenge really excites me because I am confident that I can bring something to Toyota and I want to push my limits to give the best of myself.

Fernando and I work very well together and I can see that he is really methodical in his approach to the rally raid. It also adapts very well to driving the Hilux and we see improvements not only day by day. »

“I learned a lot from him about rally raid thanks to his knowledge and experience, admits Alonso for his part. In this type of motorsport, when you have to travel hundreds of kilometers every day, it is very important to be comfortable with the person in the car.

Marc and I get along very well and we work efficiently. I'm looking forward to training in a competitive environment for the first time, which will be very different from our private tests. So it will be a good challenge and an enriching experience. »

Glyn Hall, head of Toyota Gazoo Racing SA, specified that the tandem completed double the mileage planned in tests in Poland, and that the performances seen at the shakedown of the Lichtenburg 400 encouraged Toyota to enter the crew in the race.