Dakar 2014

[Grant_RSA]

Bit early to be starting a new thread, but thought it would be interesting for you all to read,

FORD confirms participation in 2014 DAKAR (http://boxscorenews.com/ford-confirms-participation-in-dakar-p59080-68.htm)

These Ford's compete very well with the Toyota Hilux in South Africa, expect them to be very competitive!

[kober]

The route has been published: Route: Dakar (http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2014/us/route.html). Notably, there will be several marathon stages, and shorter liaison sections. Only four months to go :)

[ProRally]

They are testing soon in Namibia, hopefully we know more soon...

[kober]

Any idea if that's the latest evolution of Hilux? Test Toyota Hilux Dakar - Peter van Merksteijn Jr. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfKKK_4yehk)

[Zeakiwi]

Did the evolution Hilux have roof scoops like this?
http://youtu.be/iYQGQPPY9AY (2012 - roof scoops)
http://youtu.be/PhkLFvG7a_Q (2013 - new engine air intake on right hand window pillow)

PvM Jr's Hilux has probably had a few tweaks since it was last used. Sounds like the 5 litre engine.

[Zeakiwi]

Alister McRae is competing on a KTM in this week's Australasian Safari Rally.
http://www.australasiansafari.com.au

Kees Weel would have to be favoured for a podium in the auto section.

[Grant_RSA]

http://www.motorsport.co.za/News/Displa ... niid=18253 (http://www.motorsport.co.za/News/DisplayNewsItem.aspx?niid=18253)

[Zeakiwi]

Alister McRae is 5th in the bikes going into last day.
The 'Overdrive' Hilux leads the 'Hallspeed' Hilux.

Sad day on Wednesday. RIP Ivan Erceg. http://www.speedcafe.com/2013/09/25/com ... an-safari/ (http://www.speedcafe.com/2013/09/25/competitor-dies-australasian-safari/)

[raybak]

WE finished the Safari in 7th outright and did the last 2 days on only 3 cylinders. Our team mate Peter Jerie finished 5th and 1st in class. He will be doing Dakar in the other DMax that is ready to go in the container to be shipped off next week.

Overall a good event apart from the loss of Ivan, he was a larger than life character, RIP Ivan.

Ray

[Zeakiwi]

Morocco Rally and Baja soon.
My pickems - Coma in the bikes. Terranova in the 'cars'.
http://rallyemaroc.npo.fr/?lang=en

[kober]

Ford Racing Ranger Teaser (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYXG21zEur8)

[vino_93]

French driver Christian Lavieille is leaving Team Dessoude (which them he had lot of mechanical trouble) for Great Wall (SMG).

[kober]

X-RAID TEAM: ALL GOOD THINGS COME IN FOURS! (http://x-raid.de/news/news-article/dakar-2014---monster-energy-x-raid-team--all-good-things-come-in-fours--.html)

Monster Energy X-raid armada will be four-strong on 2014 Dakar:
- Peterhansel / Cottret - black Mini
- Roma / Perin - yellow Mini
- Holowczyc / Zhiltsov - red Mini
- Terranova / Fiuza - orange Mini

Note that Holowczyc's co-driver during the season, Schulz, has been replaced by Zhiltsov, who co-drove for Novitskiy on 2013 Dakar. Novitskiy has been replaced by Terranova / Fiuza, for whom it will be the first Dakar in the factory team.

[Zeakiwi]

Caselli is reported to have gained a head injury while competing on the Baja 1000.

[kober]

Carlos Sainz joins Red Bull SMG Rally Team for 2014 (http://www.marathonrally.com/news/dakar_rally_2014_carlos_sainz_joins_red_bull_smg_r ally_team_for_2014.23787.0.html)

Two-car Red Bull SMG Rally Team:
- Sainz / Gottschalk
- Chabot / Pillot

[Grant_RSA]

http://www.rallystar.co.za/article/arti ... /11859/1/1 (http://www.rallystar.co.za/article/articleview/11859/1/1)

[MartijnS]

Al-Attiyah stopped the buggy project apparently and will drive Mini too.

Really looking forward to the event, first time visit for me! :D Photographing for van Merksteijn #335 in a Toyota again.

[J4MIE]

Martijn... Utterly jealous does not fully express my feelings at this time ;) Hope you enjoy it and post your photos up and also give us a story of how you are doing the trip :up: Something I want to do within the next few years!

[MartijnS]

Hehe :) I'll make a report and show some photos offcourse!
We'll be doing the trip with these cars: http://instagram.com/p/g7vABjw_HF/ :)

[dimviii]

Hehe :) I'll make a report and show some photos offcourse!
We'll be doing the trip with these cars: http://instagram.com/p/g7vABjw_HF/ :)

please stop! :angryfire

[Grant_RSA]

Very little has been said about the 2nd Toyota from SA,

Leeroy Poulter is extremely fast, probably faster than Giniel de Villiers, but hasnt got anywhere near the experience of such a long event, if everything holds together you may just see a surprise up front.

Im not convinced Al Atiyah joining Mini this year is a good idea, its going to be a similar issue to the Alonso/Raikonen problem at Ferrari, i dont see him or Peterhansel taking a step back, which may be their downfall at the end of the day.

[drive]

found some pictures from the port Le Havre where cars/truks etc were loaded to the ship:

http://buzzybeeforum.nl/viewtopic.php?f=376&t=44689

Would be great event! strong starting list, loads of good stuff coming to Dakar!

[trifonvl]

Thanks man, great photos!!!

[makinen_fan]

nice photos! love these trucks

[Co-driven]

Team Mitsubishi Brasil with two ASX this time. One for regular driver Guilherme Spinelli, the second one for Reinaldo Varela, 2012 World Cross Country Rally Champion in T2 class.
Although it's Varela's first Dakar in a top car (he did a few of the last editions with T2 cars, UTV and in beginning of 2000's in Africa with T2 car), my guess is that he will do better than Spinelli. Id even say that we'll see some top 5 times from him, specially on the stages without dunes.

[Mirek]

nice photos! love these trucks

Me to :) As a Czech I have to because it's the only category where we are strong (since Machá?ek is not running a quad anymore) :)

[karim007]

Really looking forward to the event, first time visit for me!

[drive]

any one overhere with real knowledge to share their thoughts on possible top10? :) cars/truks/bikes... lets start this game!! oops, sorry, is this called pickems over here? :) I'm new to this forum

[Mirek]

any one overhere with real knowledge to share their thoughts on possible top10? :) cars/truks/bikes... lets start this game!! oops, sorry, is this called pickems over here? :) I'm new to this forum

About trucks...

Probably the biggest favorite is Gerard De Rooy if his Iveco truck is reliable. Kamaz is always strong but after the end of career of Chagin and Kabirov they lost the top drivers. Still Eduard Nikolaev won last year and the others like Mardeev or Karginov are catching up. From photos it is clear they have some new trucks too. Hans Stacey with another Iveco will be fast sure as well. From the number of Tatras the fastest will be probably Aleš Loprais but he is quite brutal driver and rarely finishes without problems, also his new truck suffered from plenty of problems in Silk Way rally. Martin Kolomý who finished fifth last year changed team for newly created Tatra-Buggyra factory one. The truck shall be fast but it was finished too late for some extensive testing so the reliability is a question. In the Tatra Bonver team the new big name is Artur Ardavicius who runs another newly built truck about which nobody knows how fast it is. With Man and Ginaf I don't know that much about them. They will be probably close to the top too.

[MartijnS]

Yes, Versluis with the MAN has speed for top 5, but probably wont be faultless troughout the rally.
Marcel van Vliet also has top 10 speed. If Wuf van Ginkel keeps his Ginaf in 1 piece he normally should also be around the top 10.

Cars will be a big Mini fight I think. Hope Sainz will be close and wondering what kind of Hummer Gordon is driving.

[Mirek]

... and bikes shall be again Coma vs. Despres battle :)

By the way we forgot the new but maybe strong truck team - the Belarussian Maz. They were very strong in Silk Way rally where they were fighting Kamaz!

[Grant_RSA]

Cars... Big fight between Peterhansel and al Atiyah with Sainz and Gordon coming with some stage wins, but i doubt will be consistent, De Villiers in the Toyota will be waiting in the wings to pick up the pieces when it all falls apart for the top guys.

Chances are Gordon will once again be his own worst enemy.

As i mentioned before, dont discount the 2nd Toyota, Poulter is very very quick, he just needs experience.

As a South African i am very excited to see another team Ford with 2 cars, not sure they can run in front, but they may sneak some top 10 places and of course would love to see the Toyota's finally take an overall win.

[Mirek]

Holowczyc can be really fast too.

[X-raid]

The new Monster Energy X-raid Dakar video is online

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W4tfgLN ... 6rjtuY8muw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W4tfgLNSCs&feature=share&list=FLjhEg66Qy_o8Q6rjtuY8muw)

[Grant_RSA]

The new Monster Energy X-raid Dakar video is online

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W4tfgLN ... 6rjtuY8muw

That seemed a bit Ken Block Gymkhana like, common sponsor i suppose.

[Tom206wrc]

Strange there's no more chinese bikers(on Jincheng motorcycles)this year :confused:

[Zeakiwi]

Looks like Gordon's HST has spent a bit of time in the windtunnel or in the aero modelling computer.

http://www.planetrobby.com/photo/2014-d ... eak-peek-6 (http://www.planetrobby.com/photo/2014-dakar-rally-robby-gordon-hst-sneak-peek-6)

[drive]

lets begin! some Scruteneering pictures from Thu (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.571169926303146.1073741872.489380407815432&type=1) and Wednesday (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.505867789527338.1073741831.367497236697728&type=1)

Please post other image sources :)

[drive]

Brenthel Dakar racer - Made in USA (http://m.dirtsportsnation.com/features/masterpiece-in-metal/dreams-of-dakar/) :lips:

[GigiGalliNo1]

DAKAR!!!!!

[vino_93]

First stage between Rosario and San Luis, on rally roads.
In bikes, Joan Barreda fall down ... but win ! Fantastic perf and a surprise with this victory for Honda. We can notice good perf from young guns Sam Sunderland and Michael Metga, and other surprise with Top 10 of small brands : Sherco and Speedbrain.
1 Joan Barreda (Honda)
2 Marc Coma (KTM) 37"
3 Cyril Despres (Yamaha) 1'40
4 Alain Duclos (Sherco) 1'56
5 Paulo Goncalves (Honda) 2'25
6 Francisco Lopez (KTM) 3'24
7 Juan Pedrero (KTM) 3'47
8 Sam Sunderland (Honda) 4'33
= Michael Metge (Yamaha)
10 Alessandro Botturi (Speedbrain) 4'48
11 Ben Graham (KTM) 4'50
12 Ruben Faria (KTM) 5'11
13 David Casteu (KTM) 5'32
14 Jordi Viladoms (KTM) 5'51
15 Gerard Farres (Gas Gas) 6'37
16 Olivier Pain (Yamaha) 6'47
17 Stefan Svitko (KTM) 6'57
18 Frans Verhoeve (Yamaha) 6'58
19 Javier Pizzolito (Honda) 8'59
20 Kuba Przygonski (KTM) 8'23
...
22 Helder Rodrigues (Honda) 8'58


Surprise is the word is all categories. Ignacio Casale take the first lead in Quad :
1 Ignacio Casale (Yamaha)
2 Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 21"
3 Lucas Bonetto (Honda) 1'17
4 Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) 1'30
5 Sebastian Husseini (Honda) 2'49
...

And Carlos Sousa wins the stage with the Haval ! In a classification where more or less all buggys are out of the game ... except Sainz. Baldwin lose 50', Chicherit 1h20, Gordon 2h10 and Chabot 2h45 !
Other bad thing happened to De Villiers, who lose 16' due to mechanical troubles ... and both Ford Ranger have a really bad start.
At the end of the stage that was hot with Roma and Sainz. The first was blocked during 60km by the second ...
1 Carlos Sousa (Haval)
2 Orlando Terranova (Mini) 11"
3 Nasser Al Attiyah (Mini) 47"
4 Nani Roma (Mini) 1'15
5 Carlos Sainz (SMG) 4'03
6 Krzystzof Holowczyc (Mini) 4'21
= Stéphane Peterhansel (Mini)
8 Christian Lavieille (Haval) 5'42
9 Leeroy Poulter (Toyota) 5'57
10 Erik Van Loon (HRX) 6'02
11 Federico Villagra (Mini) 6'09
12 Erik Wevers (HRX) 7'49
13 Vladimir Vasyliev (Mini) 8'00
14 Guilherme Spinelli (Mitsubishi) 9'48
15 Pascal Thomasse (Optimus) 10'02
16 Marek Dabrowski (Toyota) 10'41
17 Emiliano Spataro (Renault) 10'42
18 Arturo Yacopini (BMW) 11'03
19 Aydin Rakhimbayev (Toyota) 11'24
20 Patrick Sireyjol (SMG) 11'32
...
27 Giniel de Villiers (Toyota) 15'57
30 Bernhard ten Brinke (HRX) 17'38
92 BJ Baldwin (Colorado) 52'30
114 Chicherit (Jefferies) 1h18'28
130 Alvarez (Ford) 2h05'08
133 Gordon (Hummer) 2h08'06
134 Chabot (SMG) 2h44'37
141 Visser (Ford) 4h34'38

In trucks, other small surprise with the victory of Mardeev.
1 Mardeev (Kamaz)
2 Loprais (Tatra) 10"
3 van Vliet (Man) 21"
4 de Rooy (Iveco) 1'33
5 Nikolaev (Kamaz) 4'00
6 Vila (Iveco) 4'56
7 Shibalov (Kamaz) 7'05
8 Stacey (Iveco) 8'09
9 Valtr (Liaz) 9'18
10 van Ginkel (Ginaf) 10'31


Today they go in Nihui Desert. :)

[Mirek]

There was a really bad luck for Kolomý with the official Tatra. At the stage he was chasing De Rooy who started two minutes before him but than a broken spring caused rear tyre to burn. He lost 36 minutes due to that.

By the way a son of Aleš Loprais was born few days a go :)

[drive]

Start Podium pictures (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.507970099317107.1073741833.367497236697728&type=1)

Stage 1 pictures (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.508453065935477.1073741834.367497236697728&type=3)

[drive]

some Day 2 images (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.508828375897946.1073741835.367497236697728&type=1)

[vino_93]

Etape 2 :
Bikes : Bareda consolids his leadership, whereas his young teammate wins the stage !
1 Sunderland (Honda)
2 Lopez Contardo (KTM) 39"
3 Barreda (Honda) 2'00
4 Faria (KTM) 4'07
5 Duclos (Sherco) 5'51
6 Graham (KTM) 7'15
7 Casteu (KTM) 7'27
8 Gonçalves (Honda) 7'45
9 Coma (KTM) 8'23
10 Despres (Yamaha) 8'43
11 Viladoms (KTM) 9'21
12 Pain (Yamaha) 11'12
13 Przygonski (KTM) 11'19
14 Pedrero (Sherco) 14'04
15 Rodrigues (Honda) 14'07

Retirements for Botturi and Ullevalseter.
Overral Barreda leads by 2 minutes on Lopez and Sunderland, Coma is at 7 min and Despres 8min33.

Quads :
1 Patronelli (Yamaha)
2 Bonetto (Honda) 2'54
3 Sonik (Yamaha) 4'57
4 Husseini (Honda) 6'06
5 Lafuente (Yamaha) 6'11

Patronelli takes the lead

Autos : Again lot of problems for Jefferies buggys. Peterhansel and Sainz creates a small gaps on other guys, but Al-Attiyah had 3 flat tyres and Roma 2. Sousa broke his turbo, we still don't know if he can finish the stage - or no.
1 Peterhansel (Mini)
2 Sainz (SmG) 46"
3 de Villiers (Toyota) 5'34
4 Roma (Mini) 7'25
5 Al-Attiyah (Mini) 7'44
6 Terranova (Mini) 12'41
7 Chabot (SMG) 14'03
8 Lavieille (Haval) 19'38
9 Alvarez (Ford) 26'00
10 Varela (Mitsubishi) 28'06
11 Dabrowski (Toyota) 31'48
12 Wevers (HRX) 34'51
13 Holowczyc (Mini) 37'08
14 Villagra (Mini) 37'32
15 Thomasse (MD) 42'57
16 Poulter (Toyota) 44'34
...
20 Spinelli (Mitsubishi) 54'47
23 Chicherit (Jefferies) 1h03'15
28 Gordon (Hummer) 1h13'31
82 Baldwin (Jefferies) 6h38'02
98 ten Brinke (HRX) 8h32'57

Retirement for Visser.

Camions :
1 de Rooy (Iveco)
2 Shibalov (Kamaz) 13'20
3 van Vliet (Man) 15'09
4 Stacey (Iveco) 22'43
5 Kolomy (Tatra) 23'14
6 Karginov (Kamaz) 26'09
7 Sotnikov (Kamaz) 26'50
8 Nikolaev (Kamaz) 29'00
9 Adua (Iveco) 35'25
10 Kuipers (Man) 37'47
...
14 Loprais (Tatra) 45'09
...

Well that's the classification on Dakar website, but news said :
1 Shibalov
2 van Vliet 1'49
3 de Rooy 9'12

and de Rooy lost time to help Mardeev in difficulty. So we have to wait in order to know what's true, what isn't ...

Today :
http://www.dakar.fr/PHOTOS/DAK/2014/300/M/CARTE.gif

http://www.dakar.fr/PHOTOS/DAK/2014/300/A/CARTE.gif

Important stage for bikes, because tonight there will be no teams. Marathon stage.
For cars, it looks like a transition stage crossing canyons.

[Mirek]

I just read press release from Loprais. He said Mardeev had a big crash and the crew was stuck in the cabin. De Rooy's crew was helping them to get out.

For Loprais himself he had only 2WD truck without front windscreen hence the time lost.

[A FONDO]

Good news - De Rooy gets 22 minutes down

[vino_93]

and does anyone know what happened to Nikolaev ?

[A FONDO]

http://cs320926.vk.me/v320926398/6592/ALYWOGPeIGI.jpg

p.s. the forum cuts it from the right, this is the full image http://cs320926.vk.me/v320926398/6592/ALYWOGPeIGI.jpg

[vino_93]

Bikes : Du coup au final les 3 grands du Dakar creusent un bel écart sur les suivants.
Lot of things today. The big three create an important gap on the other guys. We have to notice the injuries of Frans Verhoeven (Yamaha) and Ruben Faria (KTM). And a lof of drivers lose their way : Pain, Viladoms, Pedrero, Pizzolito, Sunderland, Graham or Gonçalves !
1 Barreda (Honda)
2 Despres (Yamaha) 4'41
3 Coma (KTM) 6'56
4 Duclos (Sherco) 10'51
5 Casteu (KTM) 11'17
6 Lopez (KTM) 16'36
7 Farres (Gas Gas) 16'50
8 Svitko (KTM) 19'06
9 Przygonski (KTM) 20'12
10 Pain (Yamaha) 20'34
11 Viladoms (KTM) 21'21
12 Israel (Speedbrain) 26'34
13 van Niekerk (KTM) 28'15
14 de Souza (Yamaha) 35'34
15 Rodrigues (Honda) 37'36
...
43 Pedrero (Sherco) 1h37'56
66 Gonçalves (Honda) 2h13'56
74 Sunderland (Honda) 2h28'06
...

Remember that tonight their is no assistance. It will be important to manage tyres and make caution.

Quads :
RETIREMENT FOR PATRONELLI ! He seems seek. So the race appears really open between for guys, who will fight for victory.
1 Sonik (Yamaha)
2 Casale (Yamaha) 3'50
3 Lafuente (Yamaha) 4'02
4 Husseini (Honda) 4'51
5 Pacheco (Yamaha) 29'02
...
Sonik leads by 7' on the 3 other contenders.

Autos :
Lot of things here too ! First, Sousa retired yesterday, he couldn't restart.
Then today, lot of punctures, for Peterhansel (who finished with flat tyres) and Al-Attiyah. Probably for Sainz too. Good navigation by Roma, who takes the lead. Rallymen are in good condition : Holowczyc 2nd, Poulter 3rd, Wevers 8th, Villagra9th, and Van Loon 10th !
And buggys are back, good times for Chicherit and Gordon.
1 Roma
2 Holowczyc (Mini) 1'07
3 Poulter (Toyota) 3'19
4 Terranova (Mini) 4'54
5 Chicherit (Jefferies) 6'52
6 Gordon (Hummer) 7'02
7 Al-Attiyah (Mini) 10'09
8 Wevers (HRX) 10'39
9 Villagra (Mini) 10'50
10 van Loon (Mini) 11'01
11 Sireyjol (SMG) 11'13
12 Kaczmarski (Mini) 13'17
13 de Villiers (Toyota) 13'32
14 Zhou (Mini) 14'18
15 Lavieille (Haval) 14'43
16 Spinelli (Mitsubishi) 15'27
17 Garafulic (Mini) 15'50
18 Sainz (SMG) 15'53
19 Thomasse (MD) 16'55
20 Rakhimbayev (Toyota) 17'03
...
26 Chabot (SMG) 21'12
27 ten Brinke (HRX) 22'01
29 Peterhansel (Mini) 28'27
42 Baldwin (Chevrolet) 47'57

Roma has a 9' gap on Terranova and Al-Attiyah.

Time of trucks in a few minutes.

Tomorrow :
More than 657 km for the cars ! Longest stage since 2005. A lot of things can happened, moreover if tyres on Mini are still bad.
http://www.dakar.fr/PHOTOS/DAK/2014/400/A/CARTE.gif

Shorter stages for bikes, but with tonight no assistance, it'll be difficult.
http://www.dakar.fr/PHOTOS/DAK/2014/400/M/CARTE.gif

Tomorrow I'll post overall classification, after first big test in whole categories !

[Mirek]

Nikolaev continued today. Don't know what happened to him yesterday or maybe just mistake in timing? It doesn't work well this year. With Mardeev it was not a heavy crash. The truck rolled on the roof after a roadside collapsed bellow it's wheels. They recovered it and finished the leg but too late to continue.

Today so far in finish

1. Karginov
2. De Rooy +2:42
3. Loprais +4:54
4. Kolomý +5:53
5. Vila Roca +7:22
6. Van Vliet +7:34
7. Viazovich +10:44
8. Van de Brink +13:01
9. Adua +16:55
10. Van Ginkel +17:50
11. Stacey +18:59
12. Nikolaev +19:14
13. Shibalov +30:43
14. Sotnikov +31:08
15. Kuipers +31:49
16. Van Eerd +39:22
17. Tománek +41:15 (fomer co-driver of Kresta or Prokop)
18. Valtr +49:00
19. Lammers +50:00

[vino_93]

Well if Karginov wins, it seems it's not Kamaz year ... all trucks are really far from de Rooy and van Vliet. Their only hope is that de Rooy could have a problem ... Karginov is third overall at 39' :(

[A FONDO]

The media feed (outside the official eurosport showing mainly frenchmen) is terruble this year. In the service parks (which are deep in the nowhere) the organizers provide internet connection at 2000 euro per gigabyte :angryfire


p.s. So far Sainz is very strong. If the buggy remains reliable, he would destroy others when they enter the chilean dunes.

http://cs613418.vk.me/v613418315/2ff1/NcB-lheST50.jpg

[kober]

So far Sainz is very strong. If the buggy remains reliable, he would destroy others when they enter the chilean dunes.
Shame that all the other buggies have fallen apart already - with the exception of a single SMG, it's a Mini feast.

Sainz took his 26th stage win today and he's leading the rally - 2' ahead of Roma, and 7' ahead of Al-Attiyah. Go Carlos!

[Mirek]

And Chicherit's buggy completely burnt. Fortunately crew is ok.

[tommeke_B]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hUOmqe3nOI&sns=tw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWUIusf4bBE

[Mirek]

Loprais had again only 2WD truck yesterday (last 150 km). He has always too many technical problems...

[A FONDO]

http://cs421921.vk.me/v421921039/aede/1snFXO3GRns.jpg

[vino_93]

Tatra should join their force to do a really good truck :(

So yesterday, what a great race !
In bikes, second part of marathon stage. The big news is the mechanical problem for Despres : he lost 45' !
Other things : the victory of Pedrero with french bike Sherco ! Second stage win in Dakar (after 2010) for this brand.
Some time lose by Barreda : he lost his way and fall.
Retirements for Sunderland (engine) , or for australian Ben Graham, who did a good beginning of race.
1 Pedrero (Sherco)
2 Lopez (KTM) 29"
3 Coma (KTM) 3'10
4 Israel (Speedbrain) 6'30
5 Pain (Yamaha) 7'01
6 Barreda (Honda) 13'56
7 Gonçalves (Honda) 18'38
8 Jakes (KTM) 19'30
9 Duclos (Sherco) 23'13
10 Gouet (Honda) 24'38
11 Villadoms (KTM) 28'37
12 Svitko (KTM) 30'32
13 Przygonski (KTM) 30'54
14 Casteu (KTM) 33'57
15 Farres (Gas Gas) 38'51
16 Despres (Yamaha) 42'09
...
19 Rodrigues (Honda) 50'50
...

Overall : So after Barreda problems, the classification is really tricky. After the big three, there's a big gap.
1 Barreda (Honda)
2 Coma (KTM) 3'10
3 Lopez (KTM) 5'12
4 Duclos (Sherco) 25'25
5 Pain (Yamaha) 29'38
6 Despres (Yamaha) 41'17
7 Casteu (KTM) 42'17
8 Israel (Speedbrain) 46'33
9 Viladoms (KTM) 49'14
10 Przygonski (KTM) 54'52
11 Svitko (KTM) 56'45
12 Farres (Gas Gas) 1h20'07
13 Gouet (Honda) 1h32'11
14 Jakes (KTM) 1'32"43
15 Rodrigues (Honda) 1h35'35
16 Pedrero (Sherco) 1h39'51
17 de Souza (Honda) 2h02'59
18 Sanz (Honda) 2h16'36
19 Gonçalves (Honda) 2h26'48
20 Metge (Yamaha) 2h26'56
...



Quad : great stage from Casale !
1 Casale (Yamaha)
2 Husseini (Honda) 12'05
3 Lafuente (Yamaha) 13'33
4 Sonik (Yamaha) 15'45
5 Gonzalez (Yamaha) 2h54'09

Overall : 4 guys fight, the others just wanna finish.
1 Casale (Yamaha)
2 Sonik (Yamaha) 9'35
3 Husseini (Honda) 13'14
4 Lafuente (Yamaha) 14'49
5 Abu-Issa (Honda) 5h32'45
6 Almeida (Yamaha) 5h41'22
7 Sanabria (Yamaha) 5h44'03
8 Copetti (Yamaha) 5h54'09
9 Mazzuco (Can Am) 6h13'51
10 Gonzalez (Yamaha) 6h20'36
...


Cars : what a stage from Sainz ! He took the victory and the leadership. Great job by SMG.
Another puncture for Peterhansel, who looks a bit lost ... he doesn't know what to do. When he pushed, he had punctures ... when he don't pushed, same thing ...
Small time lost for other Mini due to a difficulty to find a waypoint.
Chicherit retired, fire.
And mechanical problem for Poulter.

1 Sainz (SMG)
2 Peterhansel (Mini) 6'04
3 Al-Attiyah (Mini) 8'58
4 Villagra (Mini) 13'19
5 Roma (Mini) 14'08
6 Terranova (Mini) 16'04
7 de Villiers (Toyota) 24'49
8 Lavieille (Haval) 26'59
9 Thomasse (MD) 33'37
10 Rakhimbayev (Toyota) 34'08
11 Dabrowski (Toyota) 37'14
12 van Loon (HRX) 40'52
13 Chabot (SMG) 41'42
14 Gordon (Hummer) 42'16
15 Malysz (Toyota) 43'47
16 Garafulic (Mini) 44'41
17 Rundle (Toyota) 45'00
18 Holowczyc (Mini) 45'06
19 Spinelli (Mitsubishi) 46'31
20 Kaczmarski (Mini) 52'12
...
31 Alvarez (Ford) 1h29'37
59 Poulter (Toyota) 3h38'35
...

Overall :
1 Sainz (SMG)
2 Roma (Mini) 2'06
3 Al-Attiyah (Mini) 6'56
4 Terranova (Mini) 13'08
5 Peterhansel (Mini) 18'10
6 de Villiers (Toyota) 39'10
7 Lavieille (Haval) 46'20
8 Villagra (Mini) 47'12
9 Holowczyc (Mini) 1h07'00
10 Dabrowski (Toyota) 1h18'44
11 Thomasse (MD) 1h22'49
12 Varela (Mitsubishi) 1h32'00
13 Spinelli (Mitsubishi) 1h45'51
14 Kaczmarski (Mini) 1h48'38
15 Rakhimbayev (TOyota) 2h00'57
16 Garafulic (Mini) 2h02'47
17 Malysz (Toyota) 2h06'44
18 Sireyjol (SMG) 2h07'14
19 Fouquet (Buggy) 2h22'59
20 Rundle (Toyota) 2h57'46
...
22 Schott (Mini) 3h07'44
27 van Loon (HRX) 3h48'54
29 Poulter (Toyota) 4h11'43
30 Vasyliev (Mini) 4h16'05
31 Gordon (Hummer) 4h16'23
35 Chabot (SMG) 4h40'52
46 Baldwin (Jefferies) 7h01'59
53 Zhou (Mini) 8h45'41
55 Wevers (HRX) 8h56'06
62 Alvarez (Ford) 11h12'17
66 Ten Brinke(HRX) 12h36'14

Trucks : de Rooy seems so easy ...
1 de Rooy (Iveco)
2 Karginov (Kamaz) 2'01
3 Nikolaev (Kamaz) 9'04
4 Kolomy (Tatra) 10'18
5 Stacey (Iveco) 14'06
6 van Vliet (Man) 17'23
7 Sotnikov (Kamaz) 19'21
8 Shibalov (Kamaz) 19'22
9 Loprais (Tatra) 23'12
10 Versluis (Man) 27'14
...

Overall :
1 de Rooy (Iveco)
2 van Vliet (Man) 36'12
3 Karginov (Kamaz) 41'11
4 Nikolaev (Kamaz) 57'03
5 Stacey (Iveco) 59'42
6 Shibalov (Kamaz) 1h06'15
7 Loprais (Tatra) 1h09'10
8 Kolomy (Tatra) 1h11'19
9 Viazovich (Maz) 1h22'00
10 Sotnikov (Kamaz) 1h32'06
11 Vila (Iveco) 1h34'07
12 van den Brink (Ginaf) 1h35'06
13 Kuipers (Man) 1h54'42
14 Adua (Iveco) 2h17'14
15 Sugawara (Hino) 3h47'16
...
19 Valtr (Liaz) 4h58'23
21 van Eerd (Daf) 5h27'50
22 Vratny (Tatra) 5h38'21
32 Ardavichus (Tatra) 9h20'35
38 van Ginkel (Ginaf) 12h54'44

[Mirek]

Tatra should join their force to do a really good truck :(

Tatra factory together with Buggyra was preparing the truck of Kolomý. He had an unfortunate tyre fire during the second leg but besides that he is doing fairly well. Yesterday he had however a health problem when he almost physically collapsed towards the end of stage.

I think that the truck of Loprais is good but maybe he is too brutal driver...

[dimviii]

http://www.ewrc.cz/ewrc/fotogalery.php? ... tograf=328 (http://www.ewrc.cz/ewrc/fotogalery.php?events=14938&fotograf=328)

[makinen_fan]

http://www.ewrc.cz/ewrc/fotogalery.php?events=14938&fotograf=328

Not Dakar but absolutely beautiful!! Thanks for posting Dim

[dimviii]

sorry mistake.

[Mirek]

Goncalves is out, his bike is on fire...

[A FONDO]

two long clips of the big guys

http://vk.com/video192237851_167082636

http://vk.com/video192237851_167070426

[vino_93]

Goncalves is out, his bike is on fire...
it looks like today, in both categories, stage will be crucial. Lot of drivers lose time by looking their way.
I've read that stage will be stopped at CP1, but I don't know where it is ? End of first part or after in the second part ?
Edit : ok it's look in the second part of the stage. I don't know why it is stopped.

[Mirek]

They write bikes and quads will not continue into second part of stage. Cars and trucks will.

[kober]

Cars and trucks will.
… but their finish has been moved to CP1 on the second part of the stage, which is WP9 on the map.

[Mirek]

OK, thanks. Already huge gaps. Sainz lost over one hour for example...

[kober]

Roma's lead is about half an hour, and that's just after five stages. Navigation is crucial this year - Perin has been doing a stellar job. Or they're just lucky :)

[vino_93]

From the live tv show, it seems it's not chance. They work really well, study the route and choose the best way, whereas all other guys made mistakes in navigation (and more especially in bikes, where Coma took a decisive advantage).
Al-Attiyah, Roma and Peterhansel stayed stuck in sands too today.

And in bikes, Gonçalves and Farres bikes burnt ! It's due to blade of dried grass which were blocked in radiotar, and with warm burnt ... and destroy bikes ... it could have been dangerous for riders !

[kober]

From the live tv show […]
What channel is it on?

[Mirek]

Kolomý is trying to repair broken air compressor. The truck is without brakes and shifting. Maybe it's his end...

[kober]

Having over 40 minutes advantage over De Villiers in fifth, and an hour over Sainz in sixth, X-raid can start to think about a team play already. The rally is theirs to loose.

Also, I'm more than happy to see both Orlen Team Toyotas (run by Overdrive) so high in the rankings. Great job by the crews!

[A FONDO]

Sainz one hour behind - now we must push - the show on and around of the stage is guaranteed!

In the truck category, the dutch Man is a month behind, and the winner of the stage is ... Kamaz's assistance truck :D

[vino_93]

From the live tv show […]
What channel is it on?
France 4 ;)

I don't know if you can see videos on this website : http://pluzz.francetv.fr/videos/le_dakar.html
in sport : France 2 "Bivouac" daily show at midnight (what happened during the day + some itw)
France : Le Dakar : live show, first informations, ...

[vino_93]

Also, I'm more than happy to see both Orlen Team Toyotas (run by Overdrive) so high in the rankings. Great job by the crews!
Right, great job ! Isn't it first Dabrowski participation with a car ?
And Malysz is driving well :)

Other interesting guy with Toyota is Rakhimbayev from Kazakstan, in top 20.

And does anyone know what happened to Holowczyc ? He seems really out of his race :(

[kober]

Unfortunately, it looks that some crews have been given an one hour penalty added to the results of stage five - notably #301 and #303, and therefore Al-Attiyah is down to fifth (+1h26'), Sainz is now eight (+2h00'). Most likely they had missed a WP. A shame :(


Other interesting guy with Toyota is Rakhimbayev from Kazakstan, in top 20.
Rakhimbayev and Issabayev are on Team Astana, and their Hiluxes are run by Overdrive too. Additionally, the team consist of a T2 Nissan, and T4 Tatra (run by Czech Bonver).


And does anyone know what happened to Holowczyc ? He seems really out of his race :(
Holowczyc's rally has been more of downs rather than ups - a mix of punctures, and navigation problems. The latter might be due to the fact that this is his very first rally with Zhiltsov. They're tenth overall - it could have be worse than that ;)

[vino_93]

for sure it can have been worse, but that's not so good. I didn't notice it was his first rally with Zhitsov ... quite strange as he did the whole year in World Cup.


Yesterday :
Bikes : Fire for Gonçalves and Farres !
Big stage from Coma, who create a biiiig gap on other guys, especially Lopez and Barreda.
Viladoms back in the head of the field. He is really good when it's time for navigation ! And some good time for amator drivers who are good in nav' too, great for them !
Despres seems to have lost the race ...
1 Coma (KTM)
2 Viladoms (KTM) 12'54
3 Rodrigues (Honda) 25'53
4 van Niekerk (KTM) 32'04
5 Salvatierra (Speedbrain) 33'12
6 Pedrero (Sherco) 34'03
7 van Pelt (Honda) 37'04
8 Gouet (Honda) 37'53
9 Duclos (Sherco) 39'28
10 Israel (Speedbrain) 40'07
11 Metge (Yamaha) 42'17
12 Stanovnik (KTM) 43'39
13 Barreda (Honda) 44'20
14 Oliveira (Speedbrain) 45'51
15 Bianchi (Husqvarna) 46'17*
...
19 Przygonski (KTM) 51'20
20 Lopez (KTM) 51'39
23 Pain (Yamaha) 1h00'54
24 Casteu (KTM) 1h13'34
27 Svitko (KTM) 1h36'38
33 Despres (Yamaha) 1h44'54 (with a one hour penalty due to engine change ?)

Overall :
1 Coma (KTM)
2 Barreda (Honda) 41'10
3 Lopez (KTM) 53'41
4 Viladoms (KTM) 58'58
5 Duclos (Sherco) 1h02'13
6 Israel (Speedbrain) 1h23'30 (great race for him, the revelation in bike ! And good for Speedbrain too)
7 Pain (Yamaha) 1h27'22
8 Przygonski (KTM) 1h43'02
9 Casteu (KTM) 1h52'41
10 Rodrigues (Honda) 1h58'18
...
12 Despres (Yamaha) 2h23'01
...

Quads : Husseini lost 2 hours, and Sonik many times too. Lafuente and Casale had a sooo big gap on other guys than they take an hour penalty and still won the stage. I suppose the penalty is for engine change.
1 Lafuente (Yamaha)
2 Casale (Yamaha) 1'21
3 Copetti (Yamaha) 11'00
4 Gallegos (Honda) 16'21
5 Gonzalez (Yamaha) 21'59

Overall :
1 Lafuente (Yamaha)
2 Casale (Yamaha) 16'52
3 Sonik (Yamaha) 23'12
4 Husseini (Honda) 1h45'45
5 Copetti (Yamaha) 6h20'40

Autos : Great, great stage from Roma !
1 Roma (Mini)
2 de Villiers (Toyota) 4'20
3 Terranova (Mini) 20'44
4 Peterhansel (Mini) 23'55
5 Malysz (Toyota) 27'18
6 Dabrowski (Toyota) 29'20
7 van Loon (HRX) 39'19
8 Vasyliev (Mini) 44'41
9 Thomasse (MD) 51'27
10 Chabot (SMG) 53'15
11 Garcia ('Renault) 53'15
12 Lavieille (Haval) 57'38
13 Garafulic (Mini) 1h03'21
14 ten Brinke (HRX) 1h07'06
15 Rakhimbayev (Toyota) 1h07'51
...
19 Gordon (Hummer) 1h20'12 (1h penalty)
20 Al-Attiyah (Mini) 1h21'38 (1h penalty)
21 Alvarez (Ford) 1h25'45 (1h penalty)
24 Kaczmarski (Mini) 1h53'22 (1h penalty)
25 Villagra (Mini) 1h57'36 (1h penalty)
26 Sainz (SMG) 2h01'49 (1h penalty)
36 Poulter (Toyota) 2h28'08

Don't know why these penalities ... missed waypoint ?

Overall :
1 Roma (Mini)
2 Terranova (Mini) 31'46
3 Peterhansel (Mini) 39'59
4 de Villiers (Toyota) 41'24
5 Al-Attiyah (Mini) 1h26'28
6 Lavieille (Haval) 1h41'50
7 Dabrowski (Toyota) 1h45'58
8 Sainz (SMG) 1h59'43
9 Thomasse (MD) 2h12'10
10 Holowczyc (Mini) 2h22'59
...
12 Villagra (Mini) 2h42'42

Camions : finally the more quiet place here, even if van Vliet lost lot of time. Kamaz attacked Iveco, but de Rooy is still strong.
1 Sotnikov (Kamaz)
2 Karginov (Kamaz) 2'56
3 de Rooy (Iveco) 12'07
4 Ardavichus (Tatra) 21'03 *:cheers:*
5 Nikolaev (Kamaz) 24'45
6 Kuipers (Man) 28'50
7 Vila (Iveco) 28'52
8 Stacey (Iveco) 33'29
9 Loprais (Tatra) 42'04
10 Shibalov (Kamaz) 43'24
...
24 van Vliet (Man) 1h36'23

Général :
1 De Rooy (Iveco)
2 Karginov (Kamaz) 32'00
3 Nikolaev ('Kamaz) 1h09'41
4 Sotnikov (Kamaz) 1h19'59
5 Stacey (Iveco) 1h21'03
...

[vino_93]

ok I've the information for the one hour penalty for a lot of crew : it's due to a missed waypoint.
I suppose it's the same in Quad / Bike, ...

[tv1k]

Here is an interactive chart about standings of the cars:
http://www.traxpace.net/dkr14c#leaders
You can select more participants at the left side grid.
By hovering the chart's points you can see some more information.

[Mirek]

Onboards of Loprais from leg 5 (start at 2:15)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZeLs7wEGmk

[kober]

for sure it can have been worse, but that's not so good.
According to the Holowczyc's interview (http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fterenowe.autoklub.pl%2Fnews%2Fholow czyc-to-cud-ze-jestesmy-na-mecie%2C52990) at the end of stage five, the majority of their delay on that day was caused by burring their Mini in sand during an attempt to overtake Mr. Scumbag. Unfortunately, #309 lost an hour there.


Here is an interactive chart about standings of the cars: http://www.traxpace.net/dkr14c#leaders
Here's something better: www.trackingdakar.nl (http://www.trackingdakar.nl/index.php?stand=S)

[kober]

I don't know if you can see videos on this website : http://pluzz.francetv.fr/videos/le_dakar.html
The website is geo-locked, but no worries - I've found an online streaming of France 4. "Le Dakar" is on now :) Thanks!

[A FONDO]

the famous fesh-fesh powder, sometimes 1 meter deep, hiding stones below

http://cs312725.vk.me/v312725315/7418/8LojLIY4nrA.jpg

http://cs312725.vk.me/v312725315/7410/Pr6Xgf8Xx2k.jpg

http://cs312725.vk.me/v312725315/7408/HlEWI9Kt_Ww.jpg

http://cs409624.vk.me/v409624659/6bb1/sjefeaVbNeA.jpg

http://cs409624.vk.me/v409624659/6bf0/nUvtYJI5o9k.jpg

[A FONDO]

http://cs409624.vk.me/v409624659/6bba/r1lT8zXoynI.jpg

http://cs409624.vk.me/v409624659/6bc3/1wzgIspZm_g.jpg

http://cs409624.vk.me/v409624659/6bcc/eAw0BFB8F1s.jpg

http://cs409624.vk.me/v409624659/6be7/tW0S9OYsm88.jpg

[vino_93]

Eric Palante, a belgian rider, is dead :( :( :(
He was one of the most experimented rider, it was his 11th participation.

The circumstances are still unknown... he was find this morning when the truck came to find crews missing. He didn't use his alert phone, and that is quite strange that he didn't do this, or at least someone who could passed close to him.

RIP :(

[vino_93]

Today ... the show must go on.
Bikes : Retirement for Lopez. he falled, bike broken. So there's only Barreda who can try to match Coma (if he has no problem). Nice victory for Sherco, their second this year, and for Duclos !
1 Duclos (Sherco)
2 Coma (KTM) 1'15
3 Metge (Yamaha) 1'49
4 Barreda (Honda) 2'22
5 Despres (Yamaha) 2'55
6 Rodrigues (Honda) 4'21
7 Svitko (KTM) 7'46
8 Przygonski (KTM) 8'12
9 Viladoms (KTM) 10'26
10 Israel (Speedbrain) 11'13
11 Gouet (Honda) 11'47
12 Jakes (KTM) 12'53
13 van Niekerk (KTM) 13'25
14 Pain (Yamaha) 17'01
15 Patrao (Suzuki) 18'46
...
17 Casteu (KTM) 20'39
82 Pedrero (Sherco) 4h32'10

Quads : Sonik take the victory, Lafuente still leading.
1 Sonik (Yamaha)
2 Lafuente (Yamaha) 54"
3 Gallegos (Honda) 3'43
4 Casale (Yamaha) 8'06
5 Karyakin (Yamaha) 17'52
6 Husseini (Honda) 19'03
...

Cars : Peterhansel = Chagin !
1 Peterhansel (Mini)
2 Al-Attiyah (Mini) 2'43
3 Terranova (Mini) 5'20
4 de Villiers (Toyota) 6'06
5 Sainz (SMG) 6'31
6 Roma (Mini) 6'36
7 Vasyliev (Mini) 12'02
8 Holowczyc (Mini) 12'34
9 Villagra (Mini) 12'53
10 Lavieille (Haval) 13'01
11 Kaczmarski (Mini) 14'07
12 Thomasse (MD) 15'34
13 Malysz (Toyota) 17'53
14 Alvarez (Ford) 18'08
15 Spinelli (Mitsubishi) 18'36
16 Dabrowski (Toyota) 20'17
17 ten Brinke (HRX) 21'46
18 Rakhimbayev (Toyota) 22'35
19 Spataro (Renault) 22'36
20 Lachaume (MD) 23'28
21 Gordon (Hummer) 24'26
22 Van Loon (HRX) 25'50
23 Chabot (SMG) 25'57
24 Garafulic (Mini) 26'15
25 Garcia (Renault) 33'37
26 Poulter (Toyota) 34'17
...

Trucks : surprise victory by Versluis ! Little by little, Karginov try to catch de Rooy.
1 Versluis (Man)
2 Karginov (Kamaz) 1'11
3 van Vliet (Man) 1'36
4 Nikolaev (Kamaz) 2'07
5 Stacey (Iveco) 2'47
6 Shibalov (Kamaz) 3'09
7 de Rooy (Iveco) 4'06
8 Vila (Iveco) 4'48
9 Loprais (Tatra) 4'52
10 Sotnikov (Kamaz) 6'42
...
23 Kolomy (Tatra) 16'05

[Mirek]

Good that Kolomý continues (when You mention him) but he lost 8+1 hours yesterday, the crew had zero sleep and today broke a wheel. Only Loprais left from our truckers in top ten. Hardly a chance for podium but You never know. It's still a long and rough way to go.

Sad thing with the Belgian rider as well with the two journalists who died yesterday in a car accident but it's Dakar. Things like that happen...

[kober]

Only Loprais left from our truckers in top ten. Hardly a chance for podium but You never know. It's still a long and rough way to go.
He's just half an hour behind Nikolaev (currently third), so there's no reason to loose all the hope. Yet ;)

Interesting thing is that, at the half-point of the rally, tenth truck in the general classification is closer to the front than tenth car. Impressive!
Cars: 1. Roma 22h11' … 10. Malysz +2h43'
Trucks: 1. De Rooy 23h14' … 10. Shibalov +2h36'

On the other hand, in my opinion, separation of quads from the bike category was a mistake, as least from the sporting point of view. The competition is rather bleak compared to the other categories. Especially, that quads take air time away from T2s and T3s, which are not mentioned at all, and they used to be covered, if I recall correctly.
In the meantime, the current leader of T2, Mitsuhashi (who else?!), is 22nd overall, 6h15' behind Roma and the leader of T3, Coronel, is 44th, +12h19'.
Also, have you noticed that T3s don't carry "visibility flags" any more?

[kober]

Especially, that quads take air time away from T2s and T3s, which are not mentioned at all, and they used to be covered, if I recall correctly.
I watched Eurosport's coverage of the day after I wrote this, and guess what? Yes, they had a small feature on #366 T3 buggy, and they even mentioned the leaders of T2 class - #344 Gibon/Miura (who were leading after day five).


Also, have you noticed that T3s don't carry "visibility flags" any more?
My mistake - they still carry those.

[vino_93]

Well like each year Gibon vs Mitsuhashi in T2, with Foj here :)

For me quad should not be with bikes. That's quite different things. Let the time to the category to find his leaders ... but this with Patronelli there's an open race, and that's one of most interesting battle. Casale, Lafuente, Sonik and Husseini are really fighting.
And I think in the year coming Abu-Issa could become an interesting contender.


@Mirek : do you know anything about new Tatra of Ardavichus ? It seems quite bad truck :(

[Rod Richardson]

Well, they’re at the halfway point in the rally but the dnf rate has been ridiculously high.
DNF % at halfway point:-
Bikes 57.6%
Quads 64.6%
Cars 84%
Trucks 31.5%

As far as I am concerned whoever set the stages should be penalized by spending a week with my former mother-in-law.

[Mirek]

@Mirek : do you know anything about new Tatra of Ardavichus ? It seems quite bad truck :(

It's a brand new truck from Bonver team (last year Kolomý drove with that team and finished 4th overall). It has a powerful Gyrtech Buggyra engine such as Kolomý, all Bonver Tatras and also both KM Liaz's. As far as I know his problem is a loooot of technical and other issues (at one of first legs he broke a fuel tank and now in most of the stages he runs far behind many slower trucks and cars which he has to overtake). I don't know how much testing Bonver did but generally most of Czech trucks went to this year's Dakar with very little testing. That's unfortunately very clear from the reports of their never-ending problems...

Rod Richardson: I don't know how others but our competitors mostly welcomed the tougher and longer route (it was claimed by the organizers in advance). Maybe now they regret I don't know...

[A FONDO]

Well, they’re at the halfway point in the rally but the dnf rate has been ridiculously high.
DNF % at halfway point:-
Bikes 57.6%
Quads 64.6%
Cars 84%
Trucks 31.5%

As far as I am concerned whoever set the stages should be penalized by spending a week with my former mother-in-law.
No, it means finishing dakar is really a notable achievement, even id you are not on the podium.
for everything else, there is bicycle tour-de-something

[Mirek]

First Dakar photos from Petr Lusk :vader:

http://www.ewrc.cz/ewrc/fotogalery.php? ... fotograf=2 (http://www.ewrc.cz/ewrc/fotogalery.php?events=14936&fotograf=2)

This one is wow :D

http://www.ewrc.cz/images/2014/photos/r ... plu_25.jpg (http://www.ewrc.cz/images/2014/photos/rallye_dakar_2014/plu_25.jpg)

[vino_93]

@Mirek : do you know anything about new Tatra of Ardavichus ? It seems quite bad truck :(

It's a brand new truck from Bonver team (last year Kolomý drove with that team and finished 4th overall). It has a powerful Gyrtech Buggyra engine such as Kolomý, all Bonver Tatras and also both KM Liaz's. As far as I know his problem is a loooot of technical and other issues (at one of first legs he broke a fuel tank and now in most of the stages he runs far behind many slower trucks and cars which he has to overtake). I don't know how much testing Bonver did but generally most of Czech trucks went to this year's Dakar with very little testing. That's unfortunately very clear from the reports of their never-ending problems...

Rod Richardson: I don't know how others but our competitors mostly welcomed the tougher and longer route (it was claimed by the organizers in advance). Maybe now they regret I don't know...

thx you very much ! You are our truck master :)

Crazy picture of the Liaz :eek:

[dimviii]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BduLB4LCEAAVFJ_.png
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BduMJXCIYAAiM1R.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BdsqSpNIEAAh0UT.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BdsXEjUIMAAYp8U.jpg

[Mirek]

I wonder what is the fast emergency used for in Kamaz team. Sotnikov again on charge attacking the first place :D It's also interesting that they decided to give the assistance function to a driver who won Silk Way Rally...

By the way I found that the new-look Kamaz trucks are equipped with Swiss Liebherr engines.

[Zeakiwi]

I thought the new diesel engines for Kamaz was Austrian Liebherr.
http://www.russkiymir.ru/russkiymir/en/ ... 11877.html (http://www.russkiymir.ru/russkiymir/en/news/common/news11877.html)

[Mirek]

We both agree they are Liebherr :) Their engines are made in Switzerland and also the holding management is placed there. Otherwise they are present in many countries.

Kolomý decided to retire due to continuous problems which they can't properly fix on place.

[vino_93]

Yesterday :
Bikes : new victory for Barreda, who try to take minutes by minutes on Coma.
1 Barreda (Honda)
2 Coma (KTM) 4'03
3 Despres (Yamaha) 5'35
4 Pedrero (Sherco) 6'57
5 Przygonski (KTM) 8'56
6 Israel (Speedbrain) 10'04
7 Rodrigues (Honda) 10'57
8 Patrao (Suzuki) 11'27
9 Pain (Yamaha) 11'37
10 Viladoms (KTM) 11'57
11 van Niekerk (KTM) 12'15
12 Sanz (Gas Gas) 13'31
13 Gouet (Honda) 14'20
14 Salvatierra (Speedbrain) 14'40
15 Casteu (KTM) 15'48
16 Jakes (KTM) 16'24
17 Metge (Yamaha) 18'31
18 Pizzolito (Honda) 18'42
...
21 Duclos (Sherco) 19'40
...
40 Svitko (KTM) 34'37
...

Quads : Casale took the lead
1 Casale (Yamaha)
2 Husseini (Honda) 7'40
3 Lafuente (Yamaha) 8'38
4 Sonik (Yamaha) 9'57
5 Gallegos (Honda) 15'28
...

Cars : quiet stage, but big gap. Bad stage for polish Toyota boys.
1 Sainz (SMG)
2 Al-Attiyah (Mini) 4'45
3 Peterhansel (Mini) 7'26
4 Roma (Mini) 8'56
5 Holowczyc (Mini) 10'51
6 Villagra (Mini) 12'54
7 Vasyliev (mini) 15'58
8 de Villiers (Toyota) 16'25
9 Terranova (Mini) 18'00
10 ten Brinke (HRX) 20'04
11 van Loon (HRX) 25'27
12 Kaczmarski (Mini) 27'40
13 Lavieille (Haval) 27'47
14 Spinelli (Mitsubishi) 28'49
15 Rundle (Toyota) 33'01
16 Wevers (HRX) 36'45
17 Schott (Mini) 37'20
18 Alvarez (Ford) 37'23
19 Zhou (Mini) 39'00
20 Spataro (Renault) 39'17
21 Dabrowski (Toyota) 40'04
22 Garafulic (Mini) 40'23
23 Rakhimbayev (Toyota) 42'11
24 Lachaume (MD) 42'39
25 Malysz (Toyota) 42'49
26 Chabot (SMG) 45'54
27 Sireyjol (SMG) 47'24
28 Baldwin (Chevrolet) 50'52
...
56 Gordon (Hummer) 1h59'52

Trucks : de Rooy still easy even if victory went to Kamaz.
1 Nikolaev (Kamaz)
2 Sotnikov (Kamaz) 3'45
3 de Rooy (Iveco) 4'34
4 Verluis (Man) 8'04
5 Loprais (Tatra) 10'23
6 Shibalov (Kamaz) 11'10
7 Karginov (Kamaz) 13'19
8 Stacey (Iveco) 15'10
9 van den Brink (Ginaf) 16'05
10 Kolomy (Tatra) 19'26
11 van Eerd (Daf) 20'27
12 Viazovich (maz) 20'53
13 Vratny (Liaz) 20'56
14 Kuipers (Man) 22'33
15 Adua (Iveco) 22'39
16 Vila (Iveco) 24'26
17 Aradavichus (Tatra) 25'29
...
24 van Vliet (Man) 56'33

[A FONDO]

http://cs605218.vk.me/v605218659/1293/4DLpyjTqyyQ.jpg

http://cs605218.vk.me/v605218659/1267/UhXv5VMpEIQ.jpg

http://cs605218.vk.me/v605218659/1311/FUpJi6M1SBI.jpg

http://cs605218.vk.me/v605218659/12a5/kCMEZtcq-X8.jpg

http://cs605218.vk.me/v605218659/1232/M550eZAfbjA.jpg

http://cs605218.vk.me/v605218659/11ed/boiZ4A86jng.jpg

http://cs605218.vk.me/v605218659/11e4/NmJjAOTV_LA.jpg

http://cs605218.vk.me/v605218659/1122/w_5uJHnQfzE.jpg

[MartijnS]

Unfortunately we are back home again for a few days already.
Van Merksteijn had to retire on day 2 due to technical problems that couldn't be fixed.

Great trip though! Really nice atmosphere everywhere, Argentina is great! Lots of people along the roads, cheering and clapping for every car that passes. Nice cars in the top 40, nice weather. Too bad it only lasted for such a short period. Better luck next time.

Our material for the team can be found at http://www.vm-motorsport.com (http://www.vm-motorsport.com)

Some of the other photos I took in the days we were in Argentina!

http://www.rallymedia.nl/1.jpg

http://www.rallymedia.nl/2.jpg

http://www.rallymedia.nl/3.jpg

More at our Facebook Page (http://facebook.com/rallymedia) or our Website (http://www.rallymedia.nl/images/2014/dakar2014/dakar2014.html) !

[kober]

Unfortunately we are back home again for a few days already.
Van Merksteijn had to retire on day 2 due to technical problems that couldn't be fixed.
Would you be able to shed some light on the difference between Overdrive and Imperial Toyotas? Other than engines being used ;) Is Belgian Hilux based on South African? Do they share data, etc.?

[Zeakiwi]

There have been a few articles on the net over the years about the Overdrive/ Hallspeed Hilux 'cars' so some parts of the story are known.
The OverDrive website says they use AP brakes and the Red Bull video of the Austrian skier showed his Hilux had PowerBrake from South Africa.
http://www.powerbrake.co.za/


http://www.imperialtoyota.co.za/news/ne ... challenger (http://www.imperialtoyota.co.za/news/new_engine_for_the_2014_imperial_toyota_hilux_daka r_challenger)

The current Imperial/ Hallspeed Hilux has an independent rear end, air conditioning, etc.

Kamaz looking at robotized gearboxes - where would the source be?

[A FONDO]

So, in cars the expected "switch" is about to happen. The only remaining intrigue is who will grab the third place on the podium - Villiers, Attiyah, Terranova?

In the trucks, there are 3 assistance ones in the overall top 8 = Total disgrace for the rest - Mans, Tatras etc.

ATV's have good fight, but are always out of the focus.

[MartijnS]

Would you be able to shed some light on the difference between Overdrive and Imperial Toyotas? Other than engines being used ;) Is Belgian Hilux based on South African? Do they share data, etc.?

I'm not really technical, but its quite a big difference.
Imperial are 5 cm wider from the front, 5 cm longer. Much more advanced than the Overdrive cars. More like a WRC, better sitting position of the driver etc. Overdrive have air conditioning too.

Don't know if they share data, but its a close cooperation thats for sure. They share the same servicespot and we got a book with the total planning of the rally from Overdrive and it was combined with Hallspeed.

[Grant_RSA]

From what i understand the Overdrive team are licenced to build cars for Hallspeed in Europe. The Hallspeed cars are most likely just a new evolution of what the Overdrive guys are using. If i remember correctly Giniel de Villiers is using the most recent evolution and Leeroy Poulter's car is a slightly older model with some changes. Thomas Rundle is driving Giniel's car from last years Dakar.

That being said on my last visit to Hallspeed they were doing some rebuilds for overseas customers, so my theory may be flawed.

[Mirek]

Sainz in troubles and Karginov on charge!

[vino_93]

Yesterday : bikes and quads couldn't pass on the lake due to rain.
Bikes : Despres 1st !
1 Despres (Yamaha)
2 Coma (KTM) 2'15
3 Barreda (Honda) 2'39
4 Rodrigues (Honda) 6'38
5 Pain (Yamaha) 10'40
6 Metge (Yamaha) 12'58
7 van Niekerk (KTM) 13'15
8 Gouet (Honda) 13'23
9 Przygonski (KTM) 13'29
10 Viladoms (KTM) 13'34
11 Svitko (KTM) 14'17
12 Pedrero (Sherco) 14'19
13 Israel (Speedbrain) 14'51
14 Jakes (KTM) 17'51
15 Sanz (Honda) 21'10
...
19 Casteu (KTM) 27'14
...
23 Duclos (Sherco) 34'49

Quads :
1 Casale (Yamaha)
2 Husseini (Honda) 8'38
3 Lafuente (Yamaha) 15'25
4 Sonik (Yamaha) 16'04
5 Gallegos (Honda) 23'29
...

Cars : Al-Attiyah won, Peterhansel come back on Roma.
1 Al-Attiyah (Mini)
2 Peterhansel (Mini) 1'12
3 Sainz (SMG) 2'36
4 Terranova (Mini) 6'40
5 Holowczyc (Mini) 7'49
6 Roma (Mini) 9'19
7 de Villiers (TOyota) 9'29
8 Vasyliev (Mini) 11'59
9 ten Brinke (HRX) 13'07
10 Gordon (Hummer) 15'54
11 Lavieille (Haval) 16'56
12 Spinelli (Mitsubishi) 17'09
13 Kaczmarski (Mini) 18'33
14 van Loon (HRX) 18'37
15 Baldwin (Chevrolet) 18'49
16 Rundle (TOyota) 18'53
17 Malysz (Toyota) 19'48
18 Thomasse (MD) 19'55
19 Wevers (HRX) 20'34
20 Garafulic (Mini) 21'10
21 Rakhimbayev (Toyota) 21'42
22 Alvarez (Ford) 23'01
23 Schott (Mini) 24'01
24 Zhou (Mini) 24'51
25 Sireyjol (SMG) 25'01
26 Dabrowski (Toyota) 25'40
...
30 Poulter (Toyota) 29'29
...
40 Chabot (SMG) 45'05
...
78 Villagra (Mini) 3h44'30 :(

trucks : Karginov attacked !
1 Karginov (Kamaz)
2 de Rooy (Iveco) 5'15
3 Sotnikov (Kamaz) 6'55
4 Loprais (Tatra) 8'00
5 Versluis (Man) 8'33
6 van Vliet (Man) 9'02
7 Shibalov (Kamaz) 11'32
8 Nikolaev (Kamaz) 14'08
9 Stacey (Iveco) 15'17
10 Viazovich (Maz) 16'13
11 Adua (Iveco) 19'44
12 van den Brink (Ginaf) 21'29
13 Vila (Iveco) 21'42
14 Kuipers (Man) 22'05
15 van den Heuvel (Daf) 26'06
...

Today two big news : Duclos with his Sherco had problem. He was 4th ...
Sainz broke his car - suspension.

And Peterhansel is now at 12 minutes of Roma !
As Terranova takes the 3rd, and Al-Attiyah is catching de Villiers, I think they will be able to win.

Classification tomorrow or tonight, waiting for whole crews :)

[Mirek]

Karginov took another almost 20 minutes on De Rooy today. Not much left for De Rooy. Big fight ahead!

[A FONDO]

fresh video without narrator of Sainz and other cars from today's 9th stage

http://vk.com/video63747552_167317276

[kober]

From what i understand the Overdrive team are licenced to build cars for Hallspeed in Europe. The Hallspeed cars are most likely just a new evolution of what the Overdrive guys are using.
So, is there a chance that next year Overdrive will use Lexus IS-F engine too?


Karginov took another almost 20 minutes on De Rooy today. Not much left for De Rooy. Big fight ahead!
Yeah, Karginov is in kamikaze mode. According to De Rooy: "Karginov was driving way too fast. He's taking so many risks. I saw all the errors he made on the special. He missed the corners a lot of times so he's pushing too hard." Hopefully, he won't crash and we'll have a battle all the way to Valparaiso.


Sainz broke his car - suspension.
Shame, I hoped for yet another stage win. Luckly, Gottschalk is a good mechanic, so they still have a chance to improve on Sainz's unfavourable 27:30 score against Peterhansel.

[dimviii]

:eek:

The rider Gerard Farres Guell not believe his eyes when he saw a fellow competitor in the Dakar rally , Enric Marti Flix be naked and delirious in the desert The Spanish rider was found by other motorcyclists in a state of dehydration in the fifth series of this year's rally route . For several hours the trail had been lost, until he could be rescued by medical helicopter to oversee the trails .

Speaking to reporters Enric Marti Flix said after the dramatic rescue of :

" I remember being alone and dizzy . Took off my clothes because it warms . Within minutes , arrived Gerard Farres. Recognized me and helped me . 's First Dakar Rampage . Many riders running for years , told me that have not seen anything like it . "


video
http://www.zougla.gr/automoto/article/r ... stin-erimo (http://www.zougla.gr/automoto/article/rali-ntakar-ton-vrikan-gimno-ke-se-paralirima-mesa-stin-erimo)

[Rollo]

Kamaz looking at robotized gearboxes - where would the source be?

Someone called Wabco?

http://www.wabco-auto.com/nc/de/media/m ... hnologies/ (http://www.wabco-auto.com/nc/de/media/media_center/press_releases_wabco/press_releases_single_view/news-article/wabco-supports-defending-champion-kamaz-master-truck-team-with-high-performance-safety-technologies/)

They've supplied ABS, Disc Rotors, air suspension and gear box controls for them since 1992.

[Rollo]

That decent looks mindblowing... especially in the Trucks. Surely that puts most other motorsports to shame; that must be terrifying.

[vino_93]

Lot of things yesterday said here, so I post stage + overall classification.

Bikes : 15' penalties for Barreda and Viladoms. Retirement for Duclos.
1 Coma (KTM)
2 Despres (Yamaha) 5'45
3 Pedrero (SHerco) 9'00
4 Svitko (KTM) 9'59
5 Rodrigues (Honda) 12'01
6 Jakes (KTM) 13'57
7 Sanz (Honda) 14'51
8 Israel (Speedbrain) 15'18
9 Barreda (Honda) 16'58
10 Pain (Yamaha) 17'20
11 Gouet (Honda) 17'38
12 Przygonski (KTM) 19'27
13 Pizzolitto (Honda) 19'57
14 Viladoms (KTM) 26'40
15 Casteu (KTM) 34'04
16 van Niekerk (KTM) 35'29
17 Metge (Yamaha) 39'42
...

Overall : Coma seems to have race win ... but anything can still happen.
1 Coma (KTM)
2 Barreda (Honda) 55'36
3 Viladoms (KTM) 1h54'02
4 Israel (Speedbrain) 2h07'23
5 Pain (Yamaha) 2h16'27
6 Rodrigues (Honda) 2h24'42
7 Przygonski (KTM) 2h25'33
8 Despres (Yamaha) 2h30'13
9 Gouet (Honda) 2h57'59
10 Casteu (KTM) 3h23'33
11 Svitko (KTM) 3h29'19
12 Jakes (KTM) 4h05'58
13 van Niekerk (KTM) 4h17'48
14 Metge (Yamaha) 4h33'30
15 Salvatierra (Speedbrain) 5h07'33
16 Sanz (Honda) 5h09'20
17 Knuiman (KTM) 5h42'52
18 Cardona (Yamaha) 5h50'30
19 Pabiska (-KTM) 6h14'19
20 Rodriguez (Honda) 6h48'13
...
25 Pedrero (Sherco) 7h45'37
...

Quads :
1 Husseini (Honda)
2 Casale (Yamaha) 24'58
3 Sonik (Yamaha) 25'30
4 Lafuente (Yamaha) 25'57
5 Gallegos (Honda) 33'10
...

Overall : that's still open between Casale and Lafuente. All can happen, even if Casale seems faster than Lafuente.
1 Casale (Yamaha)
2 Lafuente (Yamaha) 22'39
3 Sonik (Yamaha) 46'28
4 Husseini (Honda) 3h07'51
5 Abu Issa (Honda) 5h08'24
6 Gonzalez (Yamaha) 9h31'25
7 Gallegos (Honda) 10h10'31
8 Mazzucco (Can Am) 11h59'43
9 Almeida (Yamaha) 13h52'22
10 Nosiglia (Honda) 14h10'53
...

Cars : Sainz lost 2h, Peterhansel beats Chagin and closed to Roma.
1 Peterhansel (Mini)
2 Al Attiyah (Mini) 2'17
3 Roma (Mini) 11'36
4 Terranova (Mini) 14'14
5 de Villiers (Toyota) 22'57
6 Malysz (Toyota) 41'33
7 Holowczyc (Mini) 42'17
8 Villagra (Mini) 43'04
9 Vasyliev (Mini) 44'59
10 Dabrowski (Toyota) 45'15
11 Sireyjol (SMG) 48'17
12 Garafulic (Mini) 50'23
13 Kaczmarski (Mini) 50'36
14 Spinelli (Mitsubishi) 51'24
15 Lavieille (Haval) 53'49
16 Zhou (Mini) 59'43
17 Thomasse (MD) 1h00'10
18 Rakhimbayev (Toyota) 1h07'29
19 Baldwin (Chevrolet) 1h13'28
20 Spataro (Renault) 1h15'35
21 Lachaume (MD) 1h20'43
22 Alvarez (Ford) 1h23'02
...
26 Sainz (SMG) 1h56'04
27 Schott (Mini) 1h56'22
28 Gordon (Hummer) 1h59'31
...
37 Chabot (SMG) 2h45'03
...
56 ten Brinke (HRX) 4h43'06
57 van Loon (HRX) 4h47'28
...

Général : terrific fight to come ... and with Terranova and Al-Attiyah 3rd and 4th, it really looks like they will fight.
1 Roma (Mini)
2 Peterhansel (Mini) 12'10
3 Terranova (Mini) 54'33
4 Al-Attiyah (Mini) 59'46
= de Villiers (Toyota) !!!
6 Holowczyc (Mini) 3h00'03
7 Dabrowski (Toyota) 3h20'47
8 Sainz (SMG) 3h28'27
9 Lavieille (Haval) 3h56'56
10 Malysz (Toyota) 3h57'32
11 Spinelli (Mitsubishi) 4h45'04
12 Garafulic (Mini) 4h45'46
13 Kaczmarski (Mini) 4h54'33
14 Rakhimbayev (Toyota) 5h04'12
15 Vasyliev (Mini) 5h47'11
16 Villagra (Mini) 6h59'36
17 Spataro (Renault) 7h21'47
18 Sireyjol (SMG) 8h16'04
19 Lachaume (MD) 8h38'14
20 Schott (Mini) 8h57'37
...
23 van Loon (HRX) 9h47'32
24 Rundle (Toyota) 9h48'12
...
26 Chabot (SMG) 10h36'33
27 Gordon (Hummer) 10h43'45
...
30 Thomasse (MD) 11h40'39
31 Zhou (Mini) 14h23'17
32 Poulter (Toyota) 14h28'40
...
34 Alvarez (Ford) 14h41'03
...
36 Baldwin (Chevrolet) 15h15'35
...
42 ten Brinke (HRX) 18h42'50

T2 :
1 Mitsuashi (Toyota)
2 Gibon (Toyota) 1h29'59
3 Yacopini (Toyota) 8h51'41

Trucks : Karginoooooov !
1 Karginov (Kamaz)
2 de Rooy (Iveco) 19'07
3 Nikolaev (Kamaz) 28'47
4 Sotnikov (Kamaz) 28'48
5 Loprais (Tatra) 40'05
6 Viazovich (Maz) 41'48
7 van Vliet (Man) 58'35
8 Shibalov (Kamaz) 1h10'30
9 Adua (Iveco) 1h11'25
10 van den Brink (Ginaf) 1h14'36
11 Kuipers (Man) 1h15'50
12 Ardavichus (Tatra) 1h18'53
13 van Ginkel (Ginaf) 1h21'04
14 Vasilevski (Maz) 1h25'12
15 Tomamek (Tatra) 1h28'10
16 Stacey (Iveco) 1h38'00
...
38 Versluis (Man) 5h32'01

Général : Really stage from Karginov, now he can think to victory !
1 De Rooy (Iveco)
2 Karginov (Kamaz) 13'28
3 Nikolaev (Kamaz) 1h21'41
4 Sotnikov (Kamaz) 1h33'07
5 Loprais (Tatra) 2h09'25
6 Stacey (Iveco) 3h14'15
7 van Vliet (Man) 3h33'12
8 Shibalov (Kamaz) 3h40'51
9 Kuipers (Man) 3h47'37
10 van den Brink (Ginaf) 3h56'57
11 Vila (Iveco) 4h48'08
12 Adua (Iveco) 5h54'52
13 Viazovich (Maz) 7h13'46
14 Sugawara (Hino) 8h25'52
15 Vildman (Liaz) 8h28'54
16 Vratny (Tatra) 8h30'44
17 Tomanek (Tatra) 9h29'12
..
21 Ardavichus (Tatra) 11h54'53
...
23 Verluis (Man) 12h20'54
...
26 van Ginkel (Ginaf) 16h38'11

[Mirek]

Roma after some 60 km slower than Peterhansel by 7,5 minutes already...

Karginov already one minute ahead of De Rooy on first split on 32nd kilometer. By the way Karginov, Loprais and Nikolaev are faster on first way point than all but top 7 cars (De Villiers is first slower than top trucks).

[A FONDO]

http://cs320919.vk.me/v320919315/767b/Qwg6DnqOHdo.jpg

http://cs320919.vk.me/v320919315/7652/VmmZbOB8aio.jpg

http://cs320919.vk.me/v320919315/7572/qJsP5lRoX30.jpg

http://cs320919.vk.me/v320919315/7622/PtWL38_TNYk.jpg

http://cs320919.vk.me/v320919315/753a/VPNf9eIngJ8.jpg

http://cs320919.vk.me/v320919315/74d1/IOu9tiIepyQ.jpg

[Mirek]

Sotnikov looses over 1 hour. Loprais on way point 5 would be 3 minutes behind Roma on 5th position among cars. Trucks in the dunes are fast :)

[A FONDO]

https://pp.vk.me/c413431/v413431032/7f0a/mNzY0fv1oBY.jpg

https://pp.vk.me/c614620/v614620032/4b0 ... T0MiuM.jpg (https://pp.vk.me/c614620/v614620032/4b05/vvVYAT0MiuM.jpg)

https://pp.vk.me/c608617/v608617032/b4d/jeCP_TxaxM0.jpg

https://pp.vk.me/c311731/v311731032/760f/1WZ9o-bjVAI.jpg

[Mirek]

Sainz out after an accident! The crew is transported to the medical center for checking. They shall be quite ok.

[A FONDO]

Sainz crashed on the liason - http://cs616921.vk.me/v616921937/518b/rJS6PhYUecQ.jpg

Tomorrow it will be very very hard stage, nothing is decided yet.

[kober]

Any details on Sainz's exit?

Peterhansel is mighty impressive - he took 30 minutes out of Roma's lead in just three stages.

If you're interested in "26' Dakar" (same video as on Eurosport, however with a different commentator), they're hosted on Planet Robby (http://www.planetrobby.com/video/video).

[A FONDO]

Any details on Sainz's exit?
got distracted and lost a corner?

http://cs314919.vk.me/v314919659/92af/E0-FHLRaBrg.jpg

[Mirek]

Two or three years back Loprais had a huge crash with his Tatra on the road section. In that time the mechanic was driving and he was caught by a micro-sleep. Dakar is hugely exhausting event and things like that happen. I also think that Coma once managed to fall asleep on a bike in stage! I believe it was one of the last African editions...

[A FONDO]

http://cs320919.vk.me/v320919315/78e2/1IEAkWE4BDQ.jpg

http://cs320919.vk.me/v320919315/78c7/HD7zwqUgyWg.jpg

http://cs320919.vk.me/v320919315/78ac/8C4yU2dYJoQ.jpg

http://cs320919.vk.me/v320919315/78a3/KeJs8ol-eXI.jpg

http://cs320919.vk.me/v320919315/7891/7CO0VQh7774.jpg

http://cs320919.vk.me/v320919315/787f/2TwcvSPYGmI.jpg

[A FONDO]

http://www.bugaga.ru/uploads/posts/2014-01/1389796454_dakar-2014-1.jpg

http://www.bugaga.ru/uploads/posts/2014-01/1389796421_dakar-2014-15.jpg

http://www.bugaga.ru/uploads/posts/2014-01/1389796453_dakar-2014-25.jpg

http://www.bugaga.ru/uploads/posts/2014-01/1389796425_dakar-2014-16.jpg

http://www.bugaga.ru/uploads/posts/2014-01/1389796470_dakar-2014-9.jpg

[vino_93]

Yesterday :
Bikes : retirement for Israel :cry:
1 Barreda (Honda)
2 Rodrigues (Honda) 7'42
3 Despres (Ymaha) 9'26
4 Pain (Yamaha) 10'57
5 Coma (KTM) 11'12
6 Przygonski (KTM) 14'54
7 Svitko (KTM) 15'00
8 Pizzolito (Honda) 16'44
9 Jakes (KTM) 18'03
10 Gouet (Honda) 19'07
11 Viladoms (KTM) 19'13
12 van Niekerk (KTM) 23'15
13 Salvatierra (Speedbrain) 25'31
14 Patrao (Suzuki) 26'54
15 Ceci (Speedbrain) 27'04
...
17 Casteu (KTM) 29'43
...
19 Metge (Yamaha) 34'14
20 Pedrero (Sherco) 36'25
...

Quads : surprising victory !
1 Karyakin (Yamaha)
2 Casale (Yamaha) 1'49
3 Lafuente (Yamaha) 3'46
4 Gallegos (Honda) 10'24
5 Gonzalez (Yamaha) 29'59
6 SOnik (Yamaha) 30'26
...

Cars :
1 Al-Attiyah (Mini)
2 Peterhansel (Mini) 3'50
3 Roma (Mini) 13'45
4 de Villiers (Toyota) 28'15
5 Holowczyc (Mini) 31'13
6 Vasyliev (Mini) 33'22
7 Terranova (Mini) 33'48
8 Chabot (SMG) 41'40
9 Alvarez (Ford) 43'01
10 Villagra (Mini) 45'06
11 Lavieille (Haval) 49'34
12 ten Brinke (HRX) 51'10
13 Kaczmarski (Mini) 53'06
14 Sireyjol (SMG) 55'35
15 Dabrowski (Toyota) 56'55
16 Rakhimbayev (Toyota) 1h00'42
17 Malysz (Toyota) 1h07'16
18 Spataro (Renault) 1h15'42
19 Lachaume (MD) 1h21'26
20 Gordon (Hummer) 1h26'32
21 Rundle (TOyota) 1h53'04
22 Schott (Mini) 2h02'45
23 Vanagas (Osc) 2h02'52
24 Garafulic (Mini) 2h05'19
25 Mitsuhashi (TOyota) 2h05'49
...
32 van Loon (HRX) 2h41'40
...

Trucks :
1 Loprais (Tatra)
2 Karginov (Kamaz) 37"
3 de Rooy (Iveco) 6'10
4 Nikolaev (Kamaz) 13'57
5 Viazovich (Maz) 28'31
6 Shibalov (Kamaz) 35'22
7 Kuipers (Man) 53'40
8 Adua (Iveco) 55'25
9 Stacey (Iveco) 55'49
10 van Ginkel (Ginaf) 1h03'27
11 Vila (Iveco) 1h17'25
12 Sotnikov (Kamaz) 1h20'51
13 Ardavichus (Tatra) 1h22'21
14 Vasilevski (Maz) 1h22'55
15 Vildman (Liaz) 1h26'52
16 Sugawara (Hino) 1h27'31
17 van den Brink (Ginaf) 1h46'02
18 van Vliet (Man) 1h46'54
19 van Eerd (Daf) 1h58'54
...

[kober]

From stage 11 live feed:

"Nasser Al-Attiyah is still in front in the car special, now with a lead of 4'38" over Stéphane Peterhansel. The third placed driver Nani Roma had moved in front of the Frenchman but has now dropped back to third place, 6'11” behind the Qatari. In light of the fact that there was talk of race instructions demanding the drivers to hold their positions this morning from Mini, the losses and gains of the various competitors are difficult to decipher…".

Team orders at X-raid?

P.S. I think ASO's decision to hold the second week of the rally during RMC is not right.

[kober]

Sotnikov looses over 1 hour. Loprais on way point 5 would be 3 minutes behind Roma on 5th position among cars. Trucks in the dunes are fast :)
Today Karginov would be sixth in the car category. Not bad either :)

[A FONDO]

So, in cars the expected "switch" is about to happen. The only remaining intrigue is who will grab the third place on the podium - Villiers, Attiyah, Terranova?
still big drama :bounce:

http://cs310119.vk.me/v310119039/6a05/91r6pq_ulq8.jpg

[kober]

still big drama :bounce:
Well, not necessarily for the first three places. Quote of Peterhansel after the end of today's stage: "The game is over. We've had a good laugh and enjoyed ourselves. Yesterday evening, the team asked us to not take any more risks. It's a bit frustrating because we've done most of the hard work. But, if Mini wants to have three cars on the podium, at the speed at which we are driving out in front, it's easy to crash a car or even two in just one day. We know that this can happen, but I didn't think that they would do it."

[MartijnS]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BeIHvPXCQAAyLaP.jpg:large

[dimviii]

flying kamaz! :eek:

[A FONDO]

still big drama :bounce:
Well, not necessarily for the first three places. Quote of Peterhansel after the end of today's stage: "The game is over. We've had a good laugh and enjoyed ourselves. Yesterday evening, the team asked us to not take any more risks. It's a bit frustrating because we've done most of the hard work. But, if Mini wants to have three cars on the podium, at the speed at which we are driving out in front, it's easy to crash a car or even two in just one day. We know that this can happen, but I didn't think that they would do it."
yes I just watched the day's review on my local tv. shame if it is true. maybe the french is playing some games, we will see

p.s. waiting to see De Rooy's responce now, he's been too cautious remembering last year but he can't wait for mistakes anymore

[focus206]

So unless a mistake or major time loss by Roma, he's the winner... It could have been such an exciting end :\

[Bartek]

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014 ... ly/100662/ (http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/01/the-2014-dakar-rally/100662/)

[vino_93]

Yesterday :
Bikes :
1 Despres (Yamaha)
2 Pain (Yamaha) 2'37
3 Viladoms (KTM) 3'02
4 Barreda (Honda) 5'21
5 Rodrigues (Honda) 6'32
6 Pedrero (Sherco) 6'59
7 Svitko (KTM) 10'34
8 Przygonski (KTM) 11'49
9 Jakes (KTM) 11'56
10 Coma (KTM) 12'09
11 Metge (Yamaha) 14'11
12 Gouet (Honda) 15'50
13 van Niekerk (KTM) 20'38
14 Casteu (KTM) 23'11
15 Ceci (Speedbrain) 29'03
./..

Quads :
1 Casale (Yamaha)
2 Gallegos (Honda) 5'12
3 Abu-Issa (Honda) 16'09
4 Sonik (Yamaha) 19'27
5 Karyakin (Yamaha) 27'42
6 Husseini (Honda) 1h06'06
retirement for Lafuente ! Well, Casale now has race won.

Cars :
1 Terranova (Mini)
2 Roma (Mini) 10'57
3 de Villiers (Toyota) 12'38
4 Peterhansel (Mini) 14'14
5 Al Attiyah (Mini) 20'57
6 Chabot (SMG) 30'18
7 Villagra (Mini) 33'55
8 Alvarez (Ford) 35'38
9 Holowczyc (Mini) 38'17
10 Vasyliev (Mini) 39'06
11 Garafulic (Mini) 44'05
12 Lavieille (Haval) 47'34
13 Kaczmarski (Mini) 54'49
14 Dabrowski (Toyota) 58'34
15 Sireyjol (SMG) 59'16
16 ten Brinke (HRX) 1h18'22
17 Lachaume (MD) 1h19'05
18 Spataro (Renault) 1h23'02
19 Schott (Mini) 1h34'45
20 Patissier (Buggy) 1h46'42
21 Zhou (Mini) 1h47'40
...
30 Poulter (Toyota) 2h28'00
...
46 Malysz (Toyota) 4h30'38
...
49 van Loon (HRX) 4h49'56
50 Rundle (Toyota) 5h20'50
51 Rakhimbayev (Toyota) 5h46'08

Trucks : Karginov new leader * :bounce: *
1 Karginov (Kamaz)
2 Nikolaev (Kamaz) 14'18
3 de Rooy (Iveco) 15'51
4 Loprais (tatra) 22'36
5 Shibalov (Kamaz) 28'35
6 Sotnikov (Kamaz) 30'56
7 Viazovich (Maz) 49'05
8 Stacey (Iveco) 51'11
9 van Vliet (Man) 1h09'12
10 Kuipers (Man) 1h12'25
11 Vila (Iveco) 1h19'11
12 Vasilevski (Maz) 1h32'04
13 Sugawara (Hino) 1h35'11
14 Ardavichus (Tatra) 1h44'13
15 van Ginkel (Ginaf) 1h45'54
...

[A FONDO]

The jump of Kamaz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzpqaJkYC-c

[kober]

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/01/the-2014-dakar-rally/100662/
Great selection of photos!

[kober]

Peterhansel is ahead of Roma in the virtual overall classification at WP8!

[vino_93]

Yesterday :
Bikes : Barreda fall and lose 2nd place ... what a stupid boy :rolleyes:
1 Despres (Yamaha)
2 Coma (KTM) 2'17
3 Pain (Yamaha) 5'53
4 Rodrigues (Honda) 7'21
5 Viladoms (KTM) 9'10
6 Gouet (Honda) 9'52
7 Przygonski (KTM) 10'45
8 Casteu (KTM) 11'03
9 Jakes (KTM) 12'04
10 Pizzolito (Honda) 12'49
11 van Niekerk (KTM) 19'08
12 Sanz (Honda) 20'34
13 Svitko (KTM) 23'30
14 Salvatierra (Speedbrain) 33'02
15 Ceci (Speedbrain) 33'58
...
42 Metge (Yamaha) 1h07'02
...
50 Pedrero (Sherco) 1h25'14
...
67 Barreda (Honda) 2h29'35

Quads :
1 Casale (Yamaha)
2 Husseini (Honda) 5'05
3 Karyakin (Yamaha) 17'13
4 Sonik (Yamaha) 19'10
5 Gallegos (Honda) 24'42
...

Cars : so Peterhansel took the lead ...
1 Peterhansel (Mini)
2 Al-Attiyah (Mini) 3'38
3 Roma (Mini) 5'58
4 de Villiers (Toyota) 10'48
5 Holowczyc (Mini) 18'06
6 Chabot (SMG) 18'24
7 Garafulic (Mini) 25'26
8 Alvarez (Ford) 26'15
9 Terranova (Mini) 29'50
10 Lavieille (Haval) 31'09
11 Villagra (Mini) 31'26
12 Vasyliev (Mini) 31'34
13 ten Brinke (HRX) 34'21
14 Dabrowski (Toyota) 40'07
15 Zhou (Mini) 41'04
16 Spataro (Renault) 41'30
17 Lachaume (MD) 42'30
18 Kaczmarski (Mini) 43'19
19 Malysz (Toyota) 47'46
20 Sireyjol (SMG) 50'48
21 Rakhimbayev (Toyota) 58'22
22 Poulter (Toyota) 1h04'08
23 Rundle (Toyota) 1h04'39
24 Schott (Mini) 1h06'53
...
44 van Loon (HRX) 2h46'24
and Gordon retired.

Trucks : Karginov still leading.
1 de Rooy (Iveco)
2 Karginov (Kamaz) 31"
3 Nikolaev (Kamaz) 3'18
4 Shibalov (Kamaz) 5'39
5 Sotnikov (Kamaz) 11'30
6 Viazovich (Maz) 20'38
7 Stacey (Iveco) 30'35
8 Vasilevski (Maz) 38'16
9 Vila (Iveco) 41'02
10 van Ginkel (Ginaf) 43'43
11 Kuipers (Man) 45'44
12 Ardavichus (Kamaz) 46'37
13 van Vliet (Man) 50'04
14 Rotsaert (Man) 51'31
15 van den Brink (Ginaf) 54'44
...
34 Loprais (Tatra) 2h53'15

[A FONDO]

Yesterday :
Bikes : Barreda fall and lose 2nd place ... what a stupid boy :rolleyes:

yes and I heard it happened in the last 15 kms. this is Dakar - mentality above everything.

onboard of Petterhansel - http://vk.com/video63747552_167356631

[MartijnS]

For now de Rooij has won the trucks :D
But Karginov had a blocked road due to a crashed car in front of him. Now the question whether he helped the car back on his wheels or not in order to get some time compensation!

[A FONDO]

Okay, seems like they compensated some of Karginov's time and now he is a winner with 3 minutes.

Waiting for video from it - how narrow it was, how much Karginov helped? On the 3rd or 4th day, when De Rooy was blocked from a buggy, he pulled it for 20 seconds and resumed driving.

Anyway they both deserve the win for me.

[A FONDO]

http://cs7001.vk.me/c413430/v413430937/a33f/v-S8ifPhiac.jpg

and then this: (too wide to post here)

http://cs7001.vk.me/c413430/v413430937/ ... KHR9z4.jpg (http://cs7001.vk.me/c413430/v413430937/a336/I0bnTKHR9z4.jpg)

[vino_93]

Bikes : yesterday :
1 Barreda (Honda)
2 Pain (Yamaha) 40"
3 Rodrigues (Honda) 1'23
4 Pedrero (Sherco) 1'35
5 Despres (Yamaha) 2'30
6 Viladoms (KTM) 3'31
7 Metge (Yamaha) 4'08
8 Gouet (Honda) 4'17
9 Przygonski (KTM) 5'16
10 Casteu (KTM) 7'20
...

Overall :
1 Marc Coma (Esp, KTM)
2 Jordi Viladoms (Esp, KTM) 1h52'27
3 Olivier Pain (Fra, Yamaha) 2h00'03
4 Cyril Despres (Fra, Yamaha) 2h05'38
5 Helder Rodrigues (Por, Honda) 2h11'09
6 Kuba Przygonski (Pol, KTM) 2h31'46
7 Joan Barreda (Esp, Honda) 2h54'01
8 Daniel Gouet (Chl, Honda) 3h10'34
9 Stefan Svitko (Svk, KTM) 3h50'10
10 David Casteu (Fra, KTM) 3h58'09
11 Ivan Jakes (Svk, KTM) 4h19'35
12 Riaan van Niekerk (Rsa, KTM) 5h33'38
13 Michael Metge (Fra, Yamaha) 5h56'34
14 Pedro Salvatierra (Bol, Speedbrain) 6h13'42
15 Henk Knuiman (Ned, KTM) 7h44'38
16 Laia Sanz (Esp, Honda) 8h03'02
17 Claudio Rodriguez (Chl, Honda) 8h08'51
18 David Pabiska (Cze, KTM) 8h16'41
19 Paolo Ceci (Ita, Speedbrain) 8h24'06
20 Nicolas Cardona (Ven, Yamaha) 8h46'50
21 Juan Pedrero (Esp, Sherco) 9h19'19
22 Henricus Vogels (Ned, KTM) 9h28'29
23 Javier Pizzolito (Arg, Honda) 9h34'32
24 Pedro Oliveira (Por, Speedbrain) 10h38'29
25 Marc Guasch (Esp, Gas Gas) 10h46'19
...
78 classified

Quads : Stage :
1 Casale (Yamaha)
2 Husseini (Honda) 54"
3 Sonik (Yamaha) 3'07
4 Gallegos (Honda) 4'41
5 Karyakin (Yamaha) 8'47
...

Overall :
1 Ignacio Casale (Chl, Yamaha)
2 Rafal Sonik (Pol, Yamaha) 1h26'49
3 Sebastian Husseini (Ned, Honda) 5h40'24
4 Mohammed Abu-Issa (Qat, Honda) 10h07'11
5 Victor Gallegos (Chl, Honda) 10h23'41
6 Jeremias Gonzalez (Arg, Yamaha) 11h50'17
7 Sergey Karyakin (Rus, Yamaha) 15h40'01
8 Daniel Mazzucco (Arg, Can Am) 17h47'48
9 Santiago Hansen (Arg, Yamaha) 17h51'45
10 Daniel Domaszewski (Arg, Honda) 20h25'13
...
15 clasified

Autos : stage :
1 de Villiers (Toyota)
2 Holowczyc(Mini) 23"
3 Vasyliev (Mini) 41"
4 Roma (Mini) 1'40
5 Terranova (Mini) 1'53
6 Lavieille (Haval) 2'57
7 Villagra (Mini) 3'09
8 Kaczmarski (Mini) 4'45
9 Al-Attiyah (Mini) 4'51
10 Garafulic (Mini) 6'59
...

overall :
1 Nani Roma (Esp, Mini)
2 Stéphane Peterhansel (Fra, Mini) 5'38
3 Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qat, Mini) 56'52
4 Giniel de Villiers (Rsa, Toyota) 1h19'07
5 Orlando Terranova (Arg, Mini) 1h27'44
6 Krzystzof Holowczyc (Pol, Mini) 3h55'42
7 Marek Dabrowski (Pol, Toyota) 5h34'25
8 Christian Lavieille (Fra, Haval) 5h35'50
9 Martin Kaczmarski (Pol, Mini) 6h58'12
10 Vladimir Vasyliev (Rus, Mini) 6h59'34
11 Boris Garafulic (Chl, Mini) 7h35'15
12 Federico Villagra (Arg, Mini) 8h20'52
13 Adam Malysz (Pol, Toyota) 9h58'31
14 Emiliano SPataro (Arg, Renault) 10h18'48
15 Patrick Sireyjol (Fra, SMG) 10h49'20 1er 2RM
16 Pierre Lachaume (Fra, MD) 11h36'52
17 Aidyn Rakhimbayev (Kaz, Toyota) 12h33'00
18 Ronan Chabot (Fra, SMG) 12h53'28
19 Stefan Schott (Ger, Mini) 13h25'38
20 Juan Silva (Arg, Mercedes) 14h47'17
21 Jun Mitsuhashi (Jap, Toyota) 14h54'26 1er T2
22 Lucio Alvarez (Arg, Ford) 16h11'01
23 Eric Bernard (Fra, Nissan) 16h20'27
24 Nicolas Gibon (Fra, Toyota) 16h22'17
25 Thomas Rundle (Rsa, Toyota) 17h49'22
...
27 Erik van Loon (Ned, HRX) 19h44'21
28 Bernhard ten Brinke (Ned, HRX) 21h11'30
...
31 Zhou Yong (Chn, Mini) 23h34'05
...
33 Leeroy Poulter (Rsa, Toyota) 26h13'30
62 classified

trucks : stage
1 Loprais (Tatra)
2 de Rooy (Iveco) 2'25
3 Nikolaev (Kamaz) 2'53
4 Stacey (Iveco) 4'22
5 Adua (Iveco) 4'25
6 Viazovich (Maz) 5'53
7 Karginov (Kamaz) 6'39
8 Sotnikov (Kamaz) 7'31
9 Vasilevski (Maz) 7'41
10 Shibalov (Kamaz) 8'13
...

Overall :
1 Andrei Karginov (Rus, Kamaz)
2 Gerard de Rooy (Ned, Iveco) 3'11
3 Eduard Nikolaev (Rus, Kamaz) 1h34'52
4 Dmitry Sotnikov (Rus, Kamaz) 3h22'10
5 Anton Shibalov (Rus, Kamaz) 4h37'25
6 Ales Loprais (Cze, Tatra) 5h04'01
7 Hans Stacey (Ned, IVeco) 5h14'57
8 Rene Kuipers (Ned, Man) 6h31'08
9 Marcel van Vliet (Ned, Man) 7h06'53
10 Pep Vila (Esp, Iveco) 7h53'35
11 Siarhei Viazovich (Blr, Maz) 8h36'38
12 Teruhito Sugawara (Jap, Hino) 12h19'37
13 Vlastimil Vildman (Cze, Liaz) 13h20'46
14 Artur Ardavichus (Kaz, Tatra) 15h36'11
15 Maurik van den Heuvel (Ned, Man) 16h24'51
16 Frits van Eerd (Ned, Daf) 16h52'53
17 Tomas Vratny (Cze, Tatra) 17h38'43
18 Jan Tomamek (Cze, Tatra) 18h20'48
19 Steven Rotsaert (Bel, Man) 19h04'43
20 Martin van den Brink (Ned, Ginaf) 19h44'46
21 Wuf van Ginkel (Ned, Ginaf) 20h08'32
22 Jo Adua (Fra, Iveco) 22h18'58
...
50 classified

[PLuto]

[quote="vino_93":1bmyhltz]@Mirek : do you know anything about new Tatra of Ardavichus ? It seems quite bad truck :(

It's a brand new truck from Bonver team (last year Kolomý drove with that team and finished 4th overall). It has a powerful Gyrtech Buggyra engine such as Kolomý, all Bonver Tatras and also both KM Liaz's. As far as I know his problem is a loooot of technical and other issues (at one of first legs he broke a fuel tank and now in most of the stages he runs far behind many slower trucks and cars which he has to overtake). I don't know how much testing Bonver did but generally most of Czech trucks went to this year's Dakar with very little testing. That's unfortunately very clear from the reports of their never-ending problems...

Rod Richardson: I don't know how others but our competitors mostly welcomed the tougher and longer route (it was claimed by the organizers in advance). Maybe now they regret I don't know...

thx you very much ! You are our truck master :)

Crazy picture of the Liaz :eek:[/quote:1bmyhltz]

I should add to Mirek, that car for Ardavichius was finished very close to the Dakar. Team has ready also older car for Ardavichius, but he has decided to start with new car despite lack of testing. So technical problems are not so big surprises.

[vino_93]

Thx !
Is it the same model than Loprais ?

[Mirek]

No, they are different teams and use their own know-how. For example Bonver use Buggyra engines while Loprais has MKR Racing (circuit Renaults). There is a lot of other differences.

[vino_93]

ok !
I see Loprais with Tatra T815-2, as Tomanek ... and Ardavichus T163.
Has really Loprais a T815-2 ? Is it only physical change between his truck and Tomanek one ?

[Mirek]

ok !
I see Loprais with Tatra T815-2, as Tomanek ... and Ardavichus T163.
Has really Loprais a T815-2 ? Is it only physical change between his truck and Tomanek one ?

I am not absolutely sure about this. 163 aka Jamal is the nose stock truck while 815 is the one with the cabin in front. So if the truck is based on Jamal it shall be 163. Maybe the one of Loprais is a heavily modified 815 with a front from Jamal. I don't know. Anyway both stock trucks share many same parts.

[zako85]

Watching Al-Attiyah's and Peterhansel's Mini stop to let Nami Roma through on the final stage was a big disgrace to this sport. I can only compare it to the worst of Ferrari team orders. Before the race I thought the competition in car class was still going to be good because X-Raid still had a lot of really good drivers assembled. Well, I didn't know to expect the team orders. We really need another strong factory to join Dakar now. As for all other classes, I thought the competition was very interesting.

[kober]

I don't know why people have a problem with Quandt's order. If a team is in a position to do so, what's wrong with asking their drivers to hold positions? Rallying is a team sport. It was not the first time, it won't the last.

Having said that, I hope that in 2015 X-raid won't be in position to do it again. Let's hope that the competition will increase their investments, because one cannot hope to win the Dakar counting every penny.
Or maybe it is time to limit T1.2's air restrictor by a mm or two :)

Also, what's up with Michelin tires? The amount of punctures during the race was too damn high. For example, De Villiers suffered thirteen (!) punctures during the rally. Time to switch to Toyo? :)

[zako85]

There is no justification for the team orders when the team's win is pretty much assured. With teams positions only 1-2 I can understand, but not with 1-2-3..

[Mirek]

Must watch photo gallery from Dakar!

http://www.ewrc.cz/ewrc/fotogalery.php? ... tograf=283 (http://www.ewrc.cz/ewrc/fotogalery.php?events=14936&fotograf=283)