Dakar 2012 Thread

I LOVE Dakar!

Congrats on the new job btw Shenzi!

Pay attention to Latvian team that is first and only one who will try and run, compete and finish it on electric car OSCar eO.

Seriously? I guess the support truck is diesel powered and will be changing out the batteries every couple of hours?

The truck runs on empty promises and the tears of endangered species. Totally enviro friendly.

i don't get why racers love this race so much. lots of independent riders/drivers. costs them a million plus to race. this year i have two friends competing. bill conger and james embro, both whom i sold parts to compete in this race, past or present. despite what tiny part i have contributed in their racing efforts, i wish them a safe return home. we lost a great competitor and friend back in 07, Elmer Symons RIP.

If you don't get it, you never will.

yup. i like to drink. i used to like to ride. but i wouldn't want to do either all day for days straight. go ahead, call me lazy.

If I had the money, I would LOVE to race that and the Baja 1000. I'd be proud just to finish either of them.

Dakar one of my favorite events to follow each year, such a cool event, tough tough event

I tell you, Id rather race the Dakar then the Baja 1000. Them Mexicans fuggin is crazy!!

Lol, I'd still like to try something like the Dakar...if I was younger.

That ain't no shit. At least these days. The cartels are off the proverbial hook down there. No thanks.

The car itself is powered only with battery power but it does have small engine that will generate power for battery`s just in case it runs out of steam before the day ends.

Marc Coma is gonna own them again.

All the best to JCR's own Quinn Cody!!

Cycle News is already on it!!
http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/off-road/2012/01/01/dakar-day-one-lop…

Don't forget that Johnny Campbell is navigating for Robby Gordon. The were 5th in today's short special test.

And Quinn was 4th in the test. Great way to start the Dakar!

Tried to find some video of the race but came up short. Cased it bad.

https://youtu.be/ZyPu_57Avfo

Didn't this use to happen way over in Africa? I thought it was "Paris to Dakar"???? How can they race to Dakar from South America?

Looks like it would be a fun ass race IMO. I'd LOVE to have the money to do that.

I love the Dakar!!!

BullPen, they switched the race to South America because it was unsafe for the racers.

A friend of mine is wrenching for Team Rally Pan Am, Jonah Street's team!

There is a first death of this year, 38 years old Argentinian rider Jorge Martinez Boero crashed in sand an had a heart attacK right after. RIP

Damn. Tragic. RIP.

Horrible! So darn sad. RIP

Looks like Gordon/Campbell were actually second in class today, while Quinn was 6th on the bike.

RIP Jorge Martinez Boero.

I love this race but unfortunately these tragic incidents happen to offten.

Make sure you guys cheer on Washington native Jonah Street! He's a dark horse for sure!
Go Jonah!

VS soon to be NBC Sports channel will have daily updates. 10:30pm on West Coast.

Day 1 update from KTM just came in.

DAKAR 2012: AND THEY’RE RACING!

Mar Del Plata, Argentina, January 1 2012: New Year’s Day 2012 and KTM’s Dakar riders opened their bid for the eleventh consecutive Dakar Rally victory for the Austrian sports motorcycle specialists.

Starting their engines under picture book summer skies on Argentina’s eastern coast riders absolved a 57 km special just after the start followed by another 763 km hard ride liaison to Santa Rosa de la Pampa.

While the timed stage, supported by thousands of Argentinean fans was more festive than challenging, riders were very much aware that this was a mere crumb in the torturous journey that takes them for the first time from the coast of the Atlantic to the coast of the Pacific to finish in the Peruvian capital Lima after nearly 9000 km.

Dakar title-holder and KTM factory rider Marc Coma was in the best of form, finishing the special in second place just 14 seconds behind Chaleco Lopez of Chile. Cyril Despres, mainstay of the KTM Factory Team and like Coma, a three-times Dakar winner, took it easy in the warm-up and was 1:48 behind the leader in 13th place ahead of the long liaison into the interior of the country.

Coma and Despres in good spirits
Clearly in a confident spirit, Coma said after the brief dash of the timed special: “The first special was breathtaking: next to the seaside and with beautiful little dunes. It really was a fantastic warm-up. But we still have a long day ahead of us, with a lengthy liaison.” Despres was also happy to be back on the bike and communing with his road book. “I took this special quite cautiously because there were a lot of potholes, fesh-fesh, dust... and spectators, so I kept it cool at the beginning!”

The ‘Water Carriers’
The so-called ‘water carriers’, the riders whose job it is to support the two key factory riders also had a solid start. KTM’s Rubin Faria of Portugal, the support rider for Cyril Despres had a good opening session finishing 1:18 behind the leader in eighth place while Joan Pedrero, Marc Coma’s support rider was 2:24 behind in 18th place.

The KTM newcomers
KTM Enduro factory rider Johnny Aubert of France is making his first Dakar appearance riding the KTM 450 Rally bike and supported by the KTM Customer Service. With a mission to ‘learn and enjoy the Dakar experience’, Johnny finished 20th just 2:29 behind the leader. Felipe Zanol of Brazil, who finished a close second to Cyril Despres in this year’s Dos Sertoes Rally in Brazil was 26th and trails the leader by 3:15 minutes. New Zealander Chris Birch, who races in Extreme events for KTM, such as the Red Bull Romaniacs and the notorious Red Bull Hare Scramble at Erzberg, Austria is also tackling his first Dakar and was 5:51 behind the leader in 39th place. Moh Balooshi, KTM’s UAE rider and the first Arab to contest the bike category, ended the day trailing by 16 minutes 20 seconds and must now settle down to some steady riding to make up the deficit.

Serious racing begins tomorrow
With less than three minutes separating the first 20 riders it is clear that they get down to serious business in Stage Two. They leave Santa Rosa to tackle 300 km of timed special that starts on firm terrain and ends in dangerously tricky soft sand. As they get closer to their destination at San Rafael they will encounter the grey volcanic sand that slows down their bikes and requires absolute concentration and physical effort from the riders.

Stage One Results: Mar Del Plata to Santa Rosa de la Pampa: 57 km Special; 763 Liaison

1, Chaleco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia, 32 minutes 37 seconds

2, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM at 14 seconds

3, Javier Pizzolito, Argentina, Honda, at 27 seconds

4, Quinn Cody, USA, Honda, at 30 seconds

5, Jakub Przygonski, Poland, KTM, at 49 seconds

Other KTM

8, Rubin Faria, Portugal, KTM, at 1:18

11, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM, 1:41

13, Cyril Despres, France, KTM 1:48

18, Joan Pedrero, Spain, KTM 2:24

19, Jordi Villadoms, Spain, KTM 2:25

20, Johnny Aubert, France, KTM 2:29

21, Alessandro Botturi, Italy, KTM 3:03

26, Felipe Zanol, Brazil, KTM 3:15

39, Chris Birch, New Zealand, KTM 5:51

130, Moh Balooshi, UAE, KTM 16:20

It is the greatest race in the World.