The stage for January 14 was held between Shaybah and Al-Hofuf. The 153km SS (competition stage) took place close to the bivouac in Shaybah, where TLC’s Land Cruiser 300 cars arrived at the finish with the following results: Akira Miura and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #246 came in 101st place overall in the car category and 1st place in the production car category. Meanwhile, Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato in car #250 experienced trouble with their turbo soon after the start. Repairing the problem on site proved difficult, so the team had to leave the course and head for the bivouac in Al-Hofuf.

It is January 13, and it is the second day of the marathon stage. The 185km competition section was held between the Empty Quarter bivouac and Shaybah. Just like yesterday, Akira Miura and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #246, who made it through the first day in their TLC Land Cruiser 300, drove carefully once again and reached the finish in 113th place overall in the car category and 1st in the production car category. Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato in car #250 finished the stage in 117th place overall and 2nd place in their category and arrived at the bivouac after sunset in Shaybah. With these results, the cumulative ranking for car #250 is 97th overall and 1st in the production car category, with car #246 running 25h 26' 29'' behind in 113th place overall and 2nd in their category. TLC is maintaining their one-two formation in the production car category.

On January 12, the 2023 Dakar Rally entered the 2-day marathon stage starting in Shaybah in southeastern Saudi Arabia. The first day of the marathon featured a 275km competition stage situated between Shaybah and the marathon bivouac in the Empty Quarter, where the TLC Land Cruiser 300 cars reached the finish. Despite getting stuck, Akira Miura and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #246 only lost about 5 minutes. They had no punctures and came in 98th place overall in the car category, and 1st in the production car category.

It is January 11, and in the 2023 Dakar Rally a 114km SS (competition stage) was held between Haradh and Shaybah, after which crews arrived at the highlight of the rally - the “Empty Quarter”, a vast desert area in southeastern Saudi Arabia. The TLC Land Cruiser 300 cars arrived at the finish with the following results: Akira Miura and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #246 came in 113th place overall in the car category and 1st place in the production car category, and Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato in car #250 came in 120th overall and 2nd in their category. In the cumulative ranking until January 11, car #250 held onto 94th place overall and 1st place in the production car category, while car #246 is in 123rd place overall and 2nd place in their category.

For the 2023 Dakar Rally, January 10 marks the beginning of the second half of the rally. A 359km competition stage was held between Riyadh and Haradh, where the TLC Land Cruiser 300 cars made it to the finish with the following results: Akira Miura and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #246 came in 107th place overall in the car category and 1st place in the production car category, while Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato in car #250 came in 121st place overall and 2nd in their category. With these results, the cumulative rankings for the cars are as follows: Car #250 is in 93rd place overall and 1st in the production car category, while car #246 is in 124th place overall and 2nd in their category.

The 2023 Dakar Rally had its rest day on January 9 in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. The bivouac near the city's airfield was blessed with fine weather for the first time in days, and mechanics at each of the teams’ tents were busy inspecting and servicing their vehicles in preparation for the second half of the rally.

January 8 marked the final day of the first half of the rally. The competition stage took participants from Al Duwadimi to Riyadh over a distance of 346km, and the Land Cruiser 300 cars in the production car category finished the SS with the following results: Akira Miura and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #246 finished in 104th place overall in the car category and 1st place in the production car category. Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato in car #250 finished in 105th place overall in the car category and 2nd in the production car category. With these results, the cumulative rankings for car #250 are 98th overall and 1st in the production car category, and for car #246, 124th place overall and 2nd in the production car category. TLC has maintained the top two positions in the production car category. Both cars have made it to the end of the first half of the rally. Participating in the same category, Ibrahim Almuhna (Nissan Patrol) was following behind in 3rd place, but left the rally on January 7, leaving the two TLC cars to continue in the category.

The first half of the 2023 Dakar Rally has reached its climax, and on January 7, the first day of the marathon stage, a 333km SS (competition stage) was held between Riyadh and Al Duwadimi. Although this stage mainly featured gravel, it also included dunes and was full of a variety of challenges. TLC's Land Cruiser 300, car #246 with Akira Miura and Laurent Lichtleuchter, came in at 101st overall and 1st in the production car category, while car #250 with Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato came in at 108th overall and 2nd in the category. Car #250 piloted by Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato came in at 108th overall and 2nd in the category. With these results, the cumulative ranking for car #250 is now 100th overall and 1st in the production car category, while car #246 is now 130th overall and 2nd in the category, and TLC continues to maintain its one-two positions in the production car category.

Miura and Lichtleuchter, who had some drivetrain trouble on January 5 in car #246 on the SS (competition stage), were able to make repairs just in time for the start at the bivouac and continued the rally. The issues they had yesterday had absolutely no effect on this stage, and they had a smooth run which saw them finish in 102nd place overall and 1st place in the production car category. Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato in car #250 finished in 120th place overall and continued at 2nd in the category.

The second loop stage in Ha’il was held on January 5. This massive 645km loop stage was set up on sandy terrain expanding out to the east of the bivouac and included a 373km SS (competition stage). The TLC Land Cruiser rally cars continued their steady rhythm on this difficult SS, but at the 135km mark, Akira Miura and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #246 suddenly stopped due to drivetrain trouble. The crew decided that it would be difficult to repair the problem on site, so they asked the support trucks behind to tow them off the course. They withdrew from the course and headed back to the bivouac in Ha’il where mechanics worked on repairs to the damage to get the car back on course.

January 4 is the first day for the loop courses starting in Ha’il. Yesterday’s route to Ha’il was cancelled due to inclement weather so there was no racing in the Ha’il area, but today, weather conditions have recovered and the 425km competition stage was held as planned.

Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato in car #250, TLC’s Land Cruiser 300, arrived at the bivouac in AlUla just after 1:30 am after suffering steering problems in the final section of the SS on January 2. The crew were exhausted, but there were no injuries. The car was successfully repaired by the mechanics by the 11:00 a.m. start and made its way to the start of the stage together with Akira Miura and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #246.

On January 2, the 2023 Dakar Rally has a 430km competition stage (SS) which runs from the Sea Camp to AlUla. Akira Miura (Toyota Auto Body staff) and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #246 recovered after yesterday’s accident and reached the finish for this stage in 84th place in the overall car rankings and 1st place in the production car category. Their overall cumulative ranking until today is 133th place (provisional 1st place in the production car category since other cars have not arrived yet). Yesterday’s tumble had no effect on performance in today’s SS and the team had a steady run. Countless rocks hiding in the sand in the first half of the stage led to two punctures, but apart from that the team had a smooth run and didn’t lose any time due to course errors, and they safely made it to the finish line.

On January 1, the 2023 Dakar jumped into its full-scale competition schedule. The first stage of the rally took place on a 368km loop course starting at the Sea Camp near Yanbu. Both TLC Land Cruiser 300 cars kept a smooth and steady pace all the way to the later sections of the stage, but at the 306km mark, Akira Miura (Toyota Auto Body staff) and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #246 encountered an unforeseen rollover. Luckily, there were no injuries, but the car rolled onto its side on rough terrain that looks like the bottom of a mortar.

On New Year’s Eve near Yanbu on the Red Sea coast in northwestern Saudi Arabia, the rally’s opening ceremony was held. Starting with a 13km prologue run on January 1 to decide starting positions, the 45th Dakar Rally commenced. For the start that day, a total of 355 vehicles showed up. 121 2-wheelers, 18 quads (4-wheel bikes), 69 4-wheelers, 47 small buggies, 45 heavily modified small buggies and 55 trucks.

On December 1 in France, A.S.O. (Amaury Sport Organisation), the organizer of the Dakar Rally, announced the outline and route information for the 2023 rally.

Starting on December 31 at a specially set up camp on the outskirts of Yanbu in western Saudi Arabia, the 2023 rally will finish in Dammam in eastern Saudi Arabia on January 15 after 16 days and 15 stages.

The team is taking on the challenge for a 10th consecutive victory with the debuting Land Cruiser 300

On Monday 14 November 2022 at Sanage Adventure Field, TLC held a rally press announcement for the debuting 2023 Dakar Rally car based on the Land Cruiser 300 GR SPORT and announced the team structure for the rally.

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