The Dakar

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Milliethemutt

Milliethemutt

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DJC330Wagon
It starts (started) today and no thread yet.

http://www.dakar.com/2007/DAK/LIVE/us/100/index.html#

You can get live timing of vehicles of your choice on the website and Eurosport does a daily update show in the evening. Not sure if it is covered anywhere else in the world.

I have to say they mst all be mental. Especially the bike privateers who sometimes arrive after dark, have to repair their bike, get a couple of hours sleep and then off again on stages over 500 km long.
 
I felt pretty bad for Yvan Muller, he seemed to be doing fine, then he nearly slides the thing into a tree.

Also, have you guys seen Robbie Gordons Hummer? That thing is one of the sweetest looking vehicles on the Dakar.
 
That Hummer looks insane. It rolled today but kept going. Ari Vatenen might be out after going into a ford too quickly and swamping the engine.
 
Vatenen got the car going again, but he had to wait a while, as the trucks couldnt do the stage. (they were too wide)

Carlos Suza still leads (i think) from Carlos Sainz, as the teams make they're way into Morroco.
 
Wonderful to get coverage here in the US again. It's being shown on VERSUS in half hour shows nightly. They do such an artsy job of shooting it too.

I may have to dig out my Dakar PS2 game and give it a try again. I'm not nuts about the out-of-car view and it's way too sensitive with my MC2 wheel.
 
Heh, anyone see R. Gordon bump drafting another car? I thought that was funny.
 
Yeah, you gotta feel sorry for him, he had a terrible rally.

DeVilliers (sp?) & Sainz are both out of the running due to techinal problems, Peterhansel now takes the lead of the rally with 5 days left.

If Mitsubishi win, then you'd really think that Volkswagon earned the moral victory.
 
Hmm, I wasn't aware till now that Robbie Gordon's Hummer was only 2wd...
 
Neither was i, but i suppose that it could account for the car being too heavy if it was 4wd, remember its not factory built Hummer, this is a specially made racer.
 
Let me tell you something. The Dakar Rally is one of the toughest events anywhere. I have great respect for all the teams and drivers that compete in a race like this. It is a terribly challenging race. It is not easy going from Western Europe to Dakar, Senegal. Hell, in 1992, it was a rally going from Paris to Dakar to Cape Town, South Africa! That was a hellishly long trip through the Mother Land (at least, speaking as an African-American).

From what I've been reading on this blog by Sandy Divelec of the Mitsubishi Motors team < http://blog.valeo-motor-sports.com/dakar/index.php/en/ (English) and http://blog.valeo-motor-sports.com/dakar/index.php/fr/ (French) >, Mitsubishi is regaining their stride as they've been watching the Volkswagens dominate most of the rally. I don't care who wins the race- EVERYONE is a winner for participating in this grueling race.
 
Without a doubt, i agree with what was just said then John. I believe in 1991 or 1993 they went from Paris to Dakar & back to Paris! It took up three bloody tapes, it was that long!
 
nosturbo
Neither was i, but i suppose that it could account for the car being too heavy if it was 4wd, remember its not factory built Hummer, this is a specially made racer.
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Wasn't it factory backed last year? I wonder if it was awd last year. I don't remember seeing Robbie getting stuck like that last year.
 
nosturbo
If Mitsubishi win, then you'd really think that Volkswagon earned the moral victory.
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Was it Alain Prost that said "To finish first, one must first finish."

There's a few VeeDubs waiting back a bit for the same to happen to the Mitsus.

I've been watching the daily clips of Team Hummer at robbygordon.com. Nice run Robby.
 
I guess I'll have to wait for shows to start popping up on Youtube or something of the sort... I've managed to catch a whopping one show covering the Dakar so far on OLN. Covered the day with Robbie Gordon bump-drafting the other guy (The name doesn't come to mind).

As much as I respect the Barrett-Jackson auctions and do find them interesting, I supremely dislike that SPEED has chosen to stop airing the Dakar in favor of four or six hours straight of auctions.
 
Agh! Sainz is out of contention for the lead! What a shame!

I think Mitsu's going to take it again this year... but that was an enormous stroke of luck (or bad luck) that put them back there.... still... yes, finishing is an accomplishment in itself.

It just would have been such a memorable thing if old man Sainz had taken it. :(
 
Gordon wasn't bump-drafting the other competitor. He was faster, and the other guy was ignoring his Sentinel Warning, so Gordon hit him to remind him that there was a car behind.

The Hummer is two wheel drive. Gordon did run Dakar before in a 4WD car, and was factory-backed. It was with the VW squad.
 
GilesGuthrie
Gordon wasn't bump-drafting the other competitor. He was faster, and the other guy was ignoring his Sentinel Warning, so Gordon hit him to remind him that there was a car behind.
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What he said.

It was very funny to see, it reminded me of the old proverb in off-road racing: "If you won't get out of the way, you'll get two toots, two taps, then two tonne!"
 
Coma out after crashing yesterday. He crashed, got back on and then lost conciousness while riding again. When he came round he was asking the medics where he was in relation to the course and stuff. Shame to see him go out but at least he's ok.
 
Yeah thats a shame, i taped that leg, i need to get round to watching it, apparently a rider had a fatal heart-attack while on the road section to Dakar today, i couldn't catch what the riders name was though.

R.I.P, so close, yet so far....
 
R.I.P Eric Aubijoux & Elmer Symons

The Dakar was a nice way to start off the 2007 motorsport season.
 
Tell you what. Mitsubishi has built themselves a little dynasty in the Cars class. The Volkswagen Touareg models were pretty tough competitors. But in the end, Mitsubishi was money. They've won in this class since 2001. And as much as I can't stand Hummer, 8th Place in the Cars class is pretty good.

And yes, rest in peace to Eric A. and Elmer S. This is a grueling rally where the strong (and sometimes, even the lucky) survive. I have great respect for all the competitors that take part in an event like this. It is so punishing. But in the end, it's Heaven when you either finish or win. The Rolex24 at Daytona usually starts the racing year in America. But the REAL opener of the year is Dakar. Congratulations to all teams. You all earn my respect every time its run.

And Speed Channel, I have not a lot of problems with Barrett-Jackson, but there are race fans that want to see some Dakar action. Are you jive turkeys going to finally give us some love next year? Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with sugar on top?
 
JohnBM01
Tell you what. Mitsubishi has built themselves a little dynasty in the Cars class. The Volkswagen Touareg models were pretty tough competitors. But in the end, Mitsubishi was money. They've won in this class since 2001. And as much as I can't stand Hummer, 8th Place in the Cars class is pretty good.

And yes, rest in peace to Eric A. and Elmer S. This is a grueling rally where the strong (and sometimes, even the lucky) survive. I have great respect for all the competitors that take part in an event like this. It is so punishing. But in the end, it's Heaven when you either finish or win. The Rolex24 at Daytona usually starts the racing year in America. But the REAL opener of the year is Dakar. Congratulations to all teams. You all earn my respect every time its run.

And Speed Channel, I have not a lot of problems with Barrett-Jackson, but there are race fans that want to see some Dakar action. Are you jive turkeys going to finally give us some love next year? Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with sugar on top?
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John,
Watch VS (formerly Outdoor Life Network) for Dakar. They were showing half-hour nightly updates and they've been repeating a one hour recap of the first half. I think the second half will be airing this weekend.
 
JohnBM01
Tell you what. Mitsubishi has built themselves a little dynasty in the Cars class. The Volkswagen Touareg models were pretty tough competitors. But in the end, Mitsubishi was money. They've won in this class since 2001. And as much as I can't stand Hummer, 8th Place in the Cars class is pretty good.
Click to expand...

The Mitsubishi win this year was a classic case of The Tortoise And The Hare.

The Hummer is nothing more or less than a Hummer-bodied Buggy. Gordon was very interested in the Schlesser machine. I thought it was an amazing machine. That suspension is awesome.
 

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