Dakar! Get your Dakar Rally here!

[Gnam]

It is started. :thumbup:


First stage of Dakar Rally in the books

The 2014 Dakar Rally got underway Sunday with the first stage between the Argentine towns of Rosario and San Luis.

The United States’ Robby Gordon, also competing in the car category, had a disastrous beginning to his 2014 Dakar and after Stage 1, he’s already two hours and eight minutes off Sousa’s pace.


http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/05/first-stage-of-dakar-rally-in-the-books/

NBC Sports will broadcast a recap show at 5pm every night thru Jan 17.

[Gnam]

One bike rider and two civilians died in separate incidents on Friday. :(


Belgian motorcycle rider Eric Palante has died at the Dakar Rally, organizers said Friday.

Two other rally-related deaths were reported earlier Friday. Police said two people following the race died on Thursday when their vehicle overturned in rough terrain in northern Argentina.


http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/people-race-killed-dakar-rally-21486243
It's a brutal race. The NBCSports coverage has captured that side of it pretty well.

Last night they showed two bikes burning to the ground in the dunes. The riders took it pretty hard.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr4ZMp9rZE4

I also don't know why the event organizers play hide-and-seek with the way points. In Stage 5, a good part of the car field missed a waypoint, and they all received 1-hour penalties. One of the drivers said he spent 40 minutes looking for it. :saywhat:

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140110/MOTORSPORTS/140119993

[Anteater]

Thank you for the reminder about Dakar, Gnam--it had slipped my mind until you posted about it. Even though the broadcast coverage is down to 30 minutes a day, it's still something to enjoy during off-season. The past 2 days have been brutal, though, for the reasons that you listed. Feel especially awful about the motorcyclist who was missing for hours until they found his lifeless body. :(

[Gnam]

I wish I could find video of American BJ Baldwin's interviews from Stage 7 and Stage 8. His recap of his adventures with the other drivers was hilarious. :D

All I could find was this clip in french. The best part was his dead pan admission that he could do better as a representative and ambassador for America. Keep on truckin' BJ. :thumbup: :laugh:

Background:
The first car in the clip was blocking his path. BJ deployed something called the Sentinel system, which is supposed to alert the driver ahead of faster traffic coming up from behind. The driver did not yield, so BJ used the chrome horn. The other driver was not pleased.

The second car in the clip was ahead of BJ when he lost sight of it in a dust cloud. When it re-appeared, BJ couldn't stop and smashed into it. He tried to apologize, but the other driver didn't want to hear it. "You Not Normal People. This is not Stock Car."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubl0JIGGP3E

[Gnam]

The way Mini ended this year's Dakar was disgusting. :mad:

To orchestrate a 1-2-3 car finish they issued team orders three days before the end of the race, forbidding their cars from passing each other. Their excuse was they wanted to preserve the cars and make sure they all finished.

The drivers followed orders for two days, but on the second to last day their lead car dropped back changing the order. With the order shuffled, there was hope Mini would rescind the team orders since they still had a lock on all three podium positions.

However, on the last day, 26 km from the end of the race, Mini forced the leading cars to pull over and park until their chosen winner could catch and pass them. :yuck: disgraceful.

Race organizer Etienne Lavigne summed it up nicely. "Fighting without risk is triumph without glory."

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/dakar-cars-team-orders-force-peterhansel-abandon-quest-215718260--spt.html


In comparison, the leader of the truck class, Russian Andrey Karginov, displayed a nobler spirit. His lead on the last day was only 7 minutes and his nearest competitor was closing the gap when they came across a Chinese driver on his roof. Karginov stopped to help even though his competitor kept going. Karginov righted the car, but in doing so lost the lead. He would have lost the race, but the stewards recognized his good deed and credited him the time he spent helping another competitor. He ended up winning by minutes.

Despite Mini's dishonor, the race was fun to follow this year. :thumbup: