DAKAR 2020Rally 

Mike-ZENKAI

Mike-ZENKAI

Gran Turismo Veteran
Premium
1,048
Netherlands
Rockanje
Mike-ZENKAI
Good day all,

Could not find a thread about this years Dakar rally, which is starting tomorrow in Saudi Arabia.

I'm a fan of the Dakar but not a big supporter of moving the rally to Saudi Arabia.

Anyway anybody else following the Dakar?

- How will Alonso perform?
- Will Kamaz crush the competition once again? (probably YES)
- Can Toby Price win overall victory again?
- What kind of trouble will Tim and Tom Coronel encounter this year?


https://www.dakar.com/en

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I'm so happy that Red Bull TV exists because even though NBCsn is listed as the official US broadcaster I can find absolutely no mention of the event anywhere on their website. Pathetic, really. You'd think they would try crank up the Alonso hype like they do with Indy, but whatever.
 
Here in the Netherlands we have daily updates on RTL7 and Eurosport.

Guess it is not that popular or well known in the US.

With Ricky Brabec and Andrew Short on the bike and Casey Currie in the SSV some US competitors for the podium.
 
I've been watching the YouTube highlights at night. Overall, I'm not really liking Saudi Arabia, it's just not as interesting as South America was.
 
Haven't checked out the youtube highlights yet. Is there a good amount of coverage? I appreciate RedBullTV, but their coverage of quads, trucks, and side-by-sides is sorely lacking. About 3-4 minutes total of actual event highlights with only ten seconds to mention those three classes. Then the rest of the 20min. show is life-style behind the scenes blabla. It makes the rally seem like an afterthought.
 
Will Toyota Gazoo Racing triumph for the second consecutive time with its venerable Hilux pickup truck? I greatly wonder.
 
Up till now, I like this Dakar. Land scape is beautiful and reminds me of the proper Dakar in Africa.

Already quite some competitors out of the race after 3 days. And not only 'amateurs'.

Do think Toyota is still top favorite as long as they stop puncturing tyres all the time. Do hope Sainz and Peterhansel can give a proper fight.

Do like the new rule with the roadbook been given just before a stage. Before most/all top teams had an unfair advantage with whole stages being checked beforehand.

Luckely in Holland we have good tv coverage by RTL7 with a daily show of almost an hour. With presentors travelling with the Dakar.

It is quite popular in the Netherlands mainly because of Dakar Legend, Jan de Rooy. See below clip of him overtaking Ari Vatanen with a truck!

 
Dakar 2020 has been pretty brutal. I've been very fascinated with the amazing scenery Saudi Arabia has to offer in the world's greatest rally raid. I've also been pretty impressed with how a lot of the American drivers have done so far. I have been trying to catch NBCSN's coverage of Dakar 2020 as much as I could. A lot of the attrition has been intense, as per usual. This year just seems to be one of the hardest-hitting in terms of attrition. The first Dakar Rally I followed was back in 2002. This 2020 rendition may be one of the most intriguing Dakar rallies I've followed.
 
Not too much love for the Dakar on GTP.

Great rally up till now and very hard.
Today a welcome rest day for the competitors.

Nice link from the Dakar 2018 game thread. Thanks to @die996

die996
BTW, Benediktas Vanagas (the guy with the black HiLux V8) is posting onboard summaries of each stage. The first ones were each around 30 minutes long but now he has started uploading 60-minute ones. As a big fan of the race, it's incredibly interesting to watch.


I personally like the 2-head shot, the one where you can read the dashboard. Quite cool to see things like speed, RPM, the CAP, the odometer and more.
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Mike-ZENKAI
Not too much love for the Dakar on GTP.

Great rally up till now and very hard.
Today a welcome rest day for the competitors.

Nice link from the Dakar 2018 game thread. Thanks to @die996
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I got the job in Dakar18 because I loved the Dakar Rally. They wanted some tester that knew about the race and I guess some rally-raid freak with no job experience (but some ideas) was the best option, hahaha.
 
UnkaD
Haven't checked out the youtube highlights yet. Is there a good amount of coverage? I appreciate RedBullTV, but their coverage of quads, trucks, and side-by-sides is sorely lacking. About 3-4 minutes total of actual event highlights with only ten seconds to mention those three classes. Then the rest of the 20min. show is life-style behind the scenes blabla. It makes the rally seem like an afterthought.
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The dakar youtube highlights are pretty short.

I feel the same about RedBullTV. The daily videos are only about 20 minutes, so it would be better if the majority of it was highlights. Then they could drop another part for the people that wanted more interviews and the camp stuff. It seems to be common among some of these highlight shows. I guess they're aiming for the casual viewer?
 
Benediktas' videos showed us how stupidly straight everything in Saudi Arabia was. I'm not gonna say it was "inevitable" but, damn, it looked likely from day 1. Back in South America, elevation changes were so notable that the dirt roads they used were basically mountain passes. Saudi Arabia is stupidly flat, it's all almost-straight dirt roads, it's not uncommon to find yourself at over 120kph.
 
die996
Benediktas' videos showed us how stupidly straight everything in Saudi Arabia was. I'm not gonna say it was "inevitable" but, damn, it looked likely from day 1. Back in South America, elevation changes were so notable that the dirt roads they used were basically mountain passes. Saudi Arabia is stupidly flat, it's all almost-straight dirt roads, it's not uncommon to find yourself at over 120kph.
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Did he died after a crash?
 
I sympathize with everyone on the passing of Paulo Gonçalves. Racing is truly exciting, but it is also immensely dangerous. My condolences go out to all who known and loved Paulo.
 
Incredible stage victory for Mathieu Serradori in his Century buggy. The first Dakar stage victory with a car in 32 years (!) for an amateur driver without factory support.

Serradori.jpg


Great result for Fernando Alonso with a second place. With Marc Coma as co-driver he learns quickly.

Top drivers looking only to each other without tracks laid out by the bikes.
 
Looking good for a first ever American overall victory with Ricky Brabec (bikes) and Casey Currie (SSV).

Al-Attiyah did a very good job today.
Only 24 seconds to Sainz in first place after more then 35 hours racing.
 
BEST PERFORMANCES of the 2020 Dakar Rally (my picks)
· Motorbikes = Skyler Howes - 9th overall, best rider without full factory support. Not 1 major loss throughout the race. If he doesn't get a full factory ride for 2021 this is rigged.
· Quads = Ignacio Casale - He makes the class boring, he is that good, I've never such domination since Stephane Peterhansel when he was on his Yamaha.
· Cars = Mathieu Serradori - A stage win and 8th overall (best from a minor manufacturer). He had a couple of bad stages but that can happen when you're David and you're surrounded by 2 Goliaths like X-Raid and Overdrive.
· UTVs = José Antonio Hinojo and Jesús "Chus" Puras - Hinojo got 5th (best finisher without a huge racing background), showing us you don't need to have been amazing somewhere else to be good on a UTV. Also, who would've thought that an old tarmac rally specialist like Chus Puras could be so good on the desert on a UTV?
· Trucks = Andrey Karginov and Siarhei Viazovich - Karginov would've been NINTH among the cars, showing that not even Gerard de Rooy could've posed a realistic challenge. Viazovich faced the Russian Army with plenty of dignity and got a podium out of it, big props.
 
Wow, America... it took you 40+ years to finally have Americans win in any class of the Dakar Rally... but you did it! I'm proud for Casey Currie and Ricky Brabec in this year's Dakar Rally. I usually don't play the nationality or patriotic card, but I'm glad these two won their classes for the USA. It was great hearing the Star-Spangled Banner in the trophy ceremonies of Dakar 2020.

By the way, that Century Dakar car looks sweet!

Congratulations also to the other class winners of Dakar 2020. Bring on Dakar 2021!
 
Great Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. Hope they can extend the Dakar next year into Jordan and Egypt. (depending on the political situation at that time...)

One of the many highlights for me was the 80th (!!!) stage win for Stephane Peterhansel and finally a US victory.

Of course very sad to loose Paulo Gonçalves.

And on the second to last stage Dutch biker Edwin Straver (winner of Malle Moto 2019) crashed and got seriously injured. He is still in hospital in Riyadh and latest news is far from optimistic.
 
If it were up to me, I'd try to keep Dakar within Dakar and not on other sides of the world. But of course, there are always issues like political issues and such. I found Saudi Arabia to deliver incredible desert conditions with some amazing scenery. Dakar is still Dakar as being the world's toughest rally raid/cross-country. It was great to follow the action.

Extra musings... what more can I say? Stephane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz are legends. I highly respect both. I surely respected Sainz in his days in the World Rally Championship. Taking that success to Dakar during his career has been wonderful. S. Peterhansel to Dakar is like Tom Kristensen to Le Mans- just money in the bank. It was also great seeing those big KAMAZ trucks rule the Dakar Trucks class again. It is always fascinating seeing racing machines that huge take on sand dunes and other off-road scenery. Almost like racing a school bus or a garbage truck around a race track.

Again- congratulations to all winners of Dakar 2020 across all classes.
 
Here are some conclusions related to the location of the 2020 Dakar Rally from a 23-year veteran (me):
· Repetitive - This was easily the most repetitive or 2nd-most repetitive edition ever. There were only 2-3 types of locations and Saudi Arabia just has 2 areas: the coast and some flatlands at around 1400m above sea level.
· Flat - I thought Western Africa was flat but this is on another whole level. Saudi Arabia is so flat that of course the dirt roads are insanely straight and fast.
· Unsafe - Flat, straight and with many rocks all over the place, what could go wrong? We might have 2 dead riders (1 amateur, 1 pro) and all this just with 450cc single-cylinder four-stroke engines on the motorbikes.
· No seas of dunes - Participants commented on it and you could even see it in some shots. The areas with dunes are many but each area is supersmall, only lasting for a couple of kilometers each time.
· Propaganda - On the very first day of the rally, the local broadcaster thought it was adequate to make a propaganda piece on how you can be a couple and have a very Euro-like life in Saudi Arabia. I almost stopped watching the whole race just because of that, it was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen on national television.

Boy, I miss South America and I'm very angry the ASO went for the money and didn't try Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia and Botswana at first, maybe more in the future). I could easily identify a stage's location back in South America just by looking at the landscape, Saudi Arabia makes me feel like the race is run in front of the background from a Tom & Jerry cartoon.

PS: Do I really need to tell you why a V8 engine won the Dakar Rally with the shortest stages ever (2019)? It's very very easy to understand it if you know the FIA's rulebook.
 

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