Dakar 2014

[pearcey]

This years Dakar looks like being the best ever
Over 5000Ks of competition from Rosario to Valparaiso covering 3 countries, with some stages of over 1000Ks long
Aussie entries are down slightly from last year with 6 bikes, 1 car, and 2 guys navigating ,1 in cars and his brother in trucks.
We have a chance of stage wins in the bikes with a couple of our guys and possibly top 10 finishes over all if they have luck on their side.
Competition starts on the 5th in Rosario and ends on the 18th in Valparaiso
Best of luck to all competitors

[pearcey]

First stage complete 809 Kms Rosarno to Sunluis and all Aussies have checked in.
In the bikes we have 3 in the top 50, Ben Grabham in 11, Shane Diener 44, and Troy O`connor 46
Cars Garry connell is in 86th
The leading car is a Chinese built Haval 4x4 possibly they may be mixed up with Great Wall as a Great Wall came in 6th last year.

[taslucas]

I always forget it's on! Only get half an hour coverage each night here. Any good websites?

[macca]

5.30pm on SBS One, I just got to remember.

[taslucas]

5.30pm on SBS One, I just got to remember.

Yeah that's the one I watch if im home in time. But it's only half hour right? It ends up less than 5 mins per class

[pearcey]

I always forget it's on! Only get half an hour coverage each night here. Any good websites?

Maaaate their web site is just DAKAR RALLY it gives all the info you need plus it`s upto date and on time

[pearcey]

Another good day for the Aussies with Grabham taking 6th on the stage and he`s now 9th overall.
All but Diener moved up the leader board. Diener dropped 8 spots
In the cars Connell moved up 3 spots
The next 2 stages will sort a few out as no competitor can get out side assistance not even form their support crews.
The competitors dont even know where the crews are camping so there is no overnight assistance either.
the stages are around 1000Ks each
Carn`t wait to see how it all pans out

[pearcey]

Stage 3 with no support hurt Ben grabham abit as he fell from 9th over all to 73, but has lined up for stage 4.
Shane Diener moved from 52 to 41 so he had a good day , all other Aussies are still running and are close to where they started apart from Garry Connell in the cars who has gone from 83 to 73.
Stage 4 is another stage with no assistance, for the bikes its 563 Ks and the cars 857 Ks
Temps in the desert have been around 42 degrees

[pearcey]

Stage 4 saw the retirement of 3 of our bike riders,Grabham who may have had a chance of a stage win,Davidson and Jacobson,bad luck guys
The other 3 are afew hours down on the leaders but you never know one may be able to grab a stage win
Our guys in the cars and trucks are holding their own
Stage 5 is a long stage with plenty of sand so getting bogged and lost will be the order of the day

[happygu]

Thanks for the updates Pearcey .... now I just got to watch it....

Mic

[pearcey]

No worries mate
I try and keep check of whats going on as we get live timing, mind you it can sometimes be difficult to follow when the field gets really strung out and some guys dont clock in until the morning. This mostly happens in the long sand dune stages. Stage 5 is just such a stage

[pearcey]

Stage 5 sand and more sand.
What a stage Nobody could find the first waypoint then there were people lost and bogged sand and more sand FANTASTIC
All Ajussies who started this stage have completed it
Any body who saw SBS`s report on Aussie MARK DAVIDSON will realize this is no a race for pussies.
It took Mark 27 hours to complete stage 3 and had a turn around time of approximately 2 hours to start stage 4 which he did but withdrew during the stage. Big Bxxxs there Mark.
! of the truck drivers is 72 years old and is still half way up the truck leader board,I bet he doesn`t change too many flats
Not half way yet so there will still be plenty of drama to come

[pearcey]

Stage 6
Our 3 bike riders are all still there and look like they are comfortable and are not having too many troubles.
Both boys in the car section have retired during stage 6, no reasons given as yet
Our lad in the trucks is still in there and looks like they should be there at the finish.
Tomorrow is a rest day and i bet god got thanked a lot for that

[pearcey]

Rest day over an it`s back into it
A great stage with some very fast sections combined with high altitude and some serious mud had the boys full abstention.
Our 3 guys left in the bikes all completed the stage in good condition, and our only truck competitor in the truck seemed to be hold his own.
The high altitude gave some people problems with lack of oxygen not only for the humans but also engines.
There may be some quite large time differences but there is still along way to go and thing can change in the blink of an eye

[pearcey]

Stage 8
A fast and uncomplicated stage of around 500Ks
All Aussies finished the stage with only small losses of time, but what is doing the damage to some guys is time penalties,an hour here and an hour there really puts you behind the 8 ball.
As we get closer to the sea we get more sand. the dunes give the 2 wheel drive buggies a bit of an advantage as there lighter and faster.
With the bikes its a matter of good navigation an dont get bogged
The trucks have to take care so as not to roll as it can take a lot of time to get them upright again
Still a long way to go so every body has to be on their toes still, as its not done and dusted yet

[pearcey]

Stage 9
A fast an sometimes complicated stage of some 500ks with some secret way points to find which can lose you time.
Small time losses for all the Aussies but all are still there fighting
Carlos Sainzes who would have been a favorite to win the stage in the car section and move up the GC broke a suspension component returned to the Bivouac repaired it and finished the stage but is now only there to finish the rally.
With 19 minutes taken out of the leading truck this could go down to the wire with some spectacular driving especially in the remaining dune sections.

[MudRunnerTD]

Great reporting Pearcey, thanks for the updates. A client told me yesterday that there had been a big accident in the Dakar and a number of competitors have been Killed? Can you confirm this and fill us in please mate.

[BigRAWesty]

Great reporting Pearcey, thanks for the updates. A client told me yesterday that there had been a big accident in the Dakar and a number of competitors have been Killed? Can you confirm this and fill us in please mate.

Yea top briefing mate. I've finally remembered to set the reminder for the 530 run down..

Might hear about the crash also. Tis a tough comp..

[pearcey]

Great reporting Pearcey, thanks for the updates. A client told me yesterday that there had been a big accident in the Dakar and a number of competitors have been Killed? Can you confirm this and fill us in please mate.
Yes mate there was a death on stage 5
50year old Eric Palanta a Belgian ride who was competing in his11th Dakar was found dead by the broom truck(this truck sweeps the stage after completion to pick up any broken down vehicles and transport competitors buck to the Bivouac) It is not know how Eric died until an autopsy is done. The stage was a long stage but Eric had only done a short distance but temps were very high in the 40s.Condolences to all of Eric`s family and friends.

[Ben-e-boy]

Here is a small video of Robbie Gordon in his Hummer,


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAwpor9s2KI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[pearcey]

Here is a small video of Robbie Gordon in his Hummer,


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAwpor9s2KI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Gordon can be very quick but this year reliability has been his down fall.
By the way it`s only a Hummer by name abit like every thing else in the open class

[pearcey]

Stage 10
700Ks of fast dirt tracks with some spectacular sand dunes thrown in to sort the men out from the boys.
The battle in the bike section is warming up with just 45mins separating Coma (KTM ) and Barredabort (Honda)
Getting bogged or poor navigation can soon take away any advantage. Also time penalties IE engine change (15mins)
speeding through transport stages (15mins) can hurt real bad
In the cars it`s a bit tighter with Roma leading Peterhansal by 2mins with a hard charging Al-attiyah 45mins back. All are driving MINI`s
Quads Casal and Lafvente being only 24 mins apart both on Yamahas
Trucks well we have a top battle going on here as well with Deroy (Iveco) and Karginov (Kamaz) separated by 7 mins
All the Aussies who are still in the avent are performing strongly a should be there at the finish
Spare a thought for Aussie Chris Watman who is in the truck section as his Tatra truck is 207 hours behind the leader which means that they have been having a few problems. They probably only get 2 to3 hours sleep between stages.Hope they can make it to the finish.
Today we lost Carlos Sainz when he was injured in a big crash in a transport stage. He may have broken a front suspension component as he broke 1 a couple of stages back

[pearcey]

Stage 11
605ks of specials Despite a fall at the beginning of the stage, Marc Coma again demonstrated his status as boss of the Dakar 2014, by picking up his 3rd victory of the year on one of the longest specials of this 36th edition, further reinforcing his position at the top of the general standings. In the car race, the day was marked by the revelation of team instructions by Mini, freezing the leading positions. As a result, Peterhansel eased off the gass, just like Nani Roma and Nasser Al-Attiyah, allowing Orlando Terranova to pick up his first victory on the Dakar 2014. The eleventh stage also witnessed a turning point in the truck race. Taking advantage of terrain that was again favourable to his Kamaz, Andrey Karginov scored his 4th victory in 2014, and 9th on the Dakar, 14'18'' ahead of his team-mate Eduard Nikolaev, but more importantly 15'51'' in front of Gerard De Rooy, a gap which is sufficient to remove the Dutchman from the top of the general standings where he had been since stage 2. Now just 2 stages from Valparaiso, De Rooy trails Karginov by 7'56''.
I myself am very disappointed in the team orders as there is still a great deal of racing to go and any thing can happen
All the Aussie guys are still there and fighting hard

[BigRAWesty]

Yea again thanks. But 530 is such a pain..
Wish they did it on the net,.

[pearcey]

Yea again thanks. But 530 is such a pain..
Wish they did it on the net,.
Blxxdy hell Kallen get your boss to put in an 80inch LCD
There is quite a lot on u tube which is not bad.

[pearcey]

Stage 12
Still all the Aussies are there now all they have to do is finish, Best of luck guys. On the last major sandy special on the Dakar 2014, Cyril Despres once again dominated and picked up his second special stage victory of the year, ahead of Marc Coma. The leader of the general standings is still in full control and all the more comfortable since his closest pursuer Joan Barreda experienced serious mechanical problems. In the car race, following yesterday's team orders, the day witnessed a shift in power between Roma and Peterhansel! At the finishing line, ‘Peter' was the day's winner and took command in the general standings… by just 26 seconds!
Finally, in the truck race, though the special saw a surge of pride from Gerard De Rooy provide him with a third stage triumph in 2014, his 27th on the Dakar, it was Andrey Karginov, second to finish, 31'' behind the Dutchman, who retains the lead in the general standings, 7'25'' ahead of De Rooy. Third to finish and still third in the general standings, title holder Eduard Nikolaev now lies 1:38'38'' behind the rally leader.

[pearcey]

Stage 13 the last stage for 2014 The toughest Dakar held in South America, with just 204 vehicles (78 motorcycles, 15 quads, 61 cars and 50 trucks, or 47% of those that started) making it to the finish, was dyed in the red and yellow colours of Catalonia. With Marc Coma and Jordi Viladoms taking the top two places in the motorcycle category and Nani Roma winning in a car race ten years to the day after doing so on a motorcycle, the Catalan contingent blew the competition away in the 2014 edition. Behind the two KTM riders, Frenchman Olivier Pain rounded off the podium after fending off the late attacks of his leader, Cyril Despres. In the car category, Nani Roma topped the Mini 1-2-3 with a narrow 5′38″ margin over Peterhansel, becoming the third competitor to win in a car after triumphing on a motorcycle. 26-year-old Ignacio Casale also put his name on the prestigious list of winners, as the young quad rider took a home win that will surely earn him a thunderous ovation on the podium in Valparaíso. In the truck category, Russian Andrey Karginov held on to his lead over Gerard de Rooy by a hair's breadth
The 3 Aussie riders who completed the course were O`connor in 37th place overall, Diener 38th overall and Roberts 38th overall. Roberts finished 7th in the Marathon class.
In the trucks Watman who was in the truck entered by Kasak came 43rd overall but they came 2nd in class 3. This class is for trucks giving assistance to a team or individual in other classes
Well done to all who competed and also the organizers for putting on one of the best races on the planet.

[BigRAWesty]

Not a bad outcome.
47% finish. That is tough..

[pearcey]

Not a bad outcome.
47% finish. That is tough..
Well Kallen it`s 1400 euro to enter which does not include your traveling expenses fuel visa charges etc then if you have a service vehicle you could double or even triple your expenses. It`s not cheap but then no motor sport is
This year was a close fort battle in the cars , bikes and especially the trucks
Bring on next year