Club Arnage

The Dakar starts on Saturday from Lima in Peru before winding it way into Argentina and finishing in Santiago Chile

http://www.dakar.com

Pre event coverage has already started on Eurosport with the race to recovery documentary charting the build up to the event with the injured British and US forces team:

http://www.race2recovery.com/

Very inspirational documentary.

Eurosport will be having its daily round up show, hope the snooker does not over run as in previous years ::)

Also look at these guys - http://www.missionmotorsport.org/who-are-we/

Its headed up by a chat from another forum I use and he is a fantastic chap

And so the 2013 motorsport season is underway.... ;D ;D ;D

MG Mark

Yeeee !!!

The Dakar came up in a pub quiz a few weeks back and I knew I was right when I said it was now held in South America.  Didn't get the point - which I argued vociferously - but won the quiz anyway.  :)

Dx

Doris, you were robbed unless they bowled you a googly with a year
Top girl for winning the quiz

Really??..... ;)

Well done me dear for getting the right answer, even if the philistines wouldn't give you the point.  I would have had some sympathy for them if they had specified the "Classic Dakar" (as an event of that name is still held over the original routes through Africa), but, as you know, the main event has been held in South America since 2009; it moved there after the organisers had to cancel the 2008 rally because of the security situation in Mauritania (killing of 4 french tourists).

MG Mark

Couldn't the philistines look it up on the internet.  Its a trick question

Day 4 of the Dakar seems to be easy ;)

The drivers and riders will face 720 kilometres in the next few hours in what will be the longest stage since the start of the 2013 Dakar. The difficulty goes up a notch. This stage is a beefed-up version of the one that was run in the opposite direction in 2012, wreaking pure havoc. The route will be slightly different for the cars and the motorcycles, which will have to visit the three refuelling points in their road books. One of them comes 173 km into the special. They'll also tackle a 2 km slide downhill in the first third of the special. All in all, another momentous stage in this rally. The big favourites Despres, Peterhansel, De Rooy and Patronelli (most of them winners in 2012) took the lead on Monday, but their margins are still small and there's no doubt that Tuesday will be a very eventful day.

Map on this link:

http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/stage-4/day-s-route.html

Pah - they want to try getting down the curry mile on a Friday night!

F

Nice write up on the Dakar site about on of the British organising team:

"Every day, the hundreds of vehicles in the Dakar caravan gather in a technical bivouac where the big teams and the amateurs live and work together. This coexistence is being micromanaged for the first time in the 35-year history of the rally. Predetermined sites and free areas provide a place for everyone to work according to their needs. Geoffrey Dixon is the mind behind this revolution.

This good-natured, smiling Welshman from Solva likes to hang out in Cardiff and the Millennium Stadium. Most importantly, the freshly appointed chief of site limits at the assistance bivouac is an old hand when it comes to this type of challenges: "I've been doing this all my life", says the man known as Jeff as he stands in the centre of the eight hectares reserved for the Nazca bivouac.

"I was in charge of the Moto GP paddocks for 20 years and the organisers contacted me last year to discuss and implement a system." Jeff looks around as he clutches his table in the scorching sound. The ground has been flattened and compacted. He strides along the "streets" which were traced even before he arrived. He checks the measurements of the sites before telling his small team (four people) where to set up the markers and the team tapes to mark the limits more clearly. "We started from the premise that different people have different needs and that the distribution of assistance teams couldn't continue to be a free-for-all. And sometimes, a fight-for-all... The backbone's made up of a broad central street and five perpendicular corridors. I've got to find a place for 30 teams which set out their needs before their rally. We also have to adapt constantly, because some things you don't know until the last minute, such as the compactness of the terrain. This can mean a world of difference for the semis, like in Pisco, where some of them got stuck in the sand."

Rally raids are something completely different for Jeff, and the huge Dakar even more so. "It's another world", he says with his deadpan, oh-so-British humour, as he adds: "Everything was very clinical in Moto GP..." But the likes the challenge. In the 2013 edition, he has to work with around fifty "significant" structures, as he likes to say. Almost 800 vehicles in all. It's like an initiation ritual for the Welshman, who's also in charge of solo competitors. "Finding a place for a motorcycle and a van is as easy as 1-2-3", he explains. The aim is to provide very small structures with a global fixed site where they can set up shop." The rally's logistics manager, Marc Philly, thinks the need for Jeff's work was glaringly obvious in view of the race's importance. "But also with safety in mind, because we have to make sure the bivouac can be swiftly evacuated if the need arises."

So where's good to eat these days on the curry mile Fran? Any family friendly restaurants ?

Not really my speciality subject!  But I would say most are family friendly so long as you arent going too late in the evening.

I seem to have a knack of finding a favourite and then it gets shut down shortly thereafter!

F

.... by the Environmental Health Officer ?

Back on topic, looks like Robby Gordon is out of the race having dumped the car on its roof.

in happier times at the start

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAS3qP-nZ0g

head to 2 mins to see his famous start to the Dakar

no wonder it ended up on its roof  ::)

he is still in rallly,  woohoo

Has anyone found difficulty in finding this on Eurosport.  Its IS like hitting a moving target

Last night the 10 pm slot was postponed for repeats of the Olympics, and then something live appeared so it was cancelled and the 12pm slot moved back, then it suddenly appeared at 11pm and the 12pm slot reappeared too.

I'll stick to watching Bonneville on YouTube 8)

Lorry,

My sky plus recordings are working ok so far not missed any, have a look at the eurosport website as they put the footage up there and the Dakar.com has plenty of photo's at least and the live tracker works pretty well.

It will all change once the snooker starts this coming weekend ::) >:(

And the Tennis today.

I'm not paying for Sky+

Sky + is free (you do, of course, need a Sky box with a hard drive in it).

Been watching some of the coverage here on NBC Sports Network.  Have to admit being old school, its a bit weird still using the name Dakar, but I get it. Sabine's spirit still live's on in a event like this.  And I've always been a fan of Carlos Sainz.
Readily admit to finding great delight at seeing Robby Gordon (who NBC Sports has clearly been pimping) falling on his pampered, entitled face.  This obnoxious clown personifies everything that's often wrong with American drivers.  He's the spoiled son of one of California's wealthiest industrialist, which isn't a crime, but the guy's one of the biggest cry-baby's in the history of the sport. The dude's never had to do a honest days' work in his entire fricking life, daddy's paid for every ride, or car, the jackass has ever driven, but as soon as you stick a microphone in front of him he starts whinging like a sixteen year old girl with PMS.  Wish this guy would just fall into a great hole in Argentina and never be seen from again.

So love lost then!

I know nothing about his past or present life, just like the orange hummer on full attack mode. You nearly had your wish on stage 4 when he went over on his roof!

There is some unpleasant news from the Race 2 recovery team

http://www.race2recovery.com/latest-news/blogs/382-blog-thursday-10th-jan

My thoughts are with all concerned at the moment.

Hi Jules, no love lost for Robby at all, really dislike the guy.  This is a bit off topic, but he really has always been a obnoxious turd.  Saw him in full jerk mode at the Indycar weekend at Mid-Ohio several yars ago.  During the lunch break my brother & I took a walk up through the paddock and came across this young kid, perhaps eight or nine, standing at the rope around the Toyota hospitality compound, dressed in full Robby G gear, t-shirt, hat, etc.  He's standing there waiting to get Gordon's autograph, Robby's sitting at a table not more than eight feet away, just yappiing away with some guy, laughing and carrying on, fully aware that this boy is standing there.  Its a baking hot day, and this poor kid is standing on hot asphalt, for over a half hour, every now & then Gordon would make a gesture at him like "just a minute" and then continue on with his conversation.  Finally a fairly large crowd began to notice what was going on, and people from Toyota started to get uncomfortable, Scott Pruett getting up from his table on the other side of the compound, and coming over to sign this kids program.  Still Gordon sits there joking & laughing, finally a woman from Toyota brings the kid in to Robby's table, he sign's his program and shews him away quick as that.  The lazy bastard couldn't even get out of his chair.
Some people in the sport get what its all about, but unfortunately there are plenty like this jerk too.
Fax

Fax,

Thanks for the insight, now he does sound like a to$$er. It would have cost him nothing to get off is ass and sign the program have a couple of photos etc. Similar thing happened to me and my son at the LEMS race at Silverstone at few years ago. We were waiting at the Aston pits for the autograph session and one of the Aston PR guys told the throng that there would be no more autographs, now were were close to the front and I mentioned to the PR person that my son goes to the same school as one of the drivers, PR person did not give a toss however the driver Andy Meyrick overheard me. Told the PR person to shut up and we had a nice 10 min chat with Andy, Darren Turner and one of the other driver. Fast forward a couple of weeks and Andy attended school to give a talk to the pupils. As soon as he saw Alex in the audience he called him up and then after the talk had another 10-15 mins chatting to him. As you say some people get what it's all about.

Jules

Very true Jules.
Some say, without the fans, there would be no stars. (Others are too far up themselves to see that though).

Lorry an insight into the TV coverage from behind the dakar webfeed:

For the TV production teams present on the Dakar, the production of a 26-minute programme made available to all the event's partner channels accounts for a significant part of the day. As soon as the end of the morning, the race against the clock starts to deliver the “feed” on time. The editors are under immense pressure to put this jigsaw together throughout the day. With time difference constraints to take into consideration in order to satisfy European medias, the cut-off time is set for 4.20 PM (7.20 PM in London for example).

11.12 AM. The first images of the bike race arrive, sent by the satellite from the refuelling zone, located 230 km away on the Arica to Calama stage. “With the resources we have, Thierry, who is in charge of editing the bike stage report, can already get to work,” explains Christophe Briand, the programme director.

2.03 PM. Another dispatch point is located at the special stage finishing line, where the interviews take place with the day's movers and shakers. Alex, who, with Seb, coordinates the editing of the “feed”, retrieves the interviews from the server and sorts through them so that Thierry can insert them into his report. “Today, we are going to include the interviews with Chaleco, the day's winner, and Olivier Pain, leader of the general standings. We also have an interview with Jeremias Esquerre, who has made a big impression since the start of the rally and who is in 6th position today”.

2.42 PM. Now the images of the car race arrive from the fuel point on the special stage. For this part, Manu takes charge, with a broad choice of subjects for him to pick: the misfortunes of Roma and De Villiers, Carlos Sainz dropping out… Nothing escapes the helicopters' cameras and the film crews on the ground. In the mean-time, Ben, who provides the voice-over on the feed, prepares his text whilst keeping his eye on how the race is developing.

3.37 PM. The trucks are the last to start the special stage and the images are finally available. There is no time to lose for Olivier, the editor who works on the report for the category. Meanwhile, an editor is designated to concentrate on the graphical aspect of all the different items. In addition to the purely “news” part, there are also magazine subjects that round off the programme.

3.56 PM. News is the priority and during the night before stage 6, an assistance vehicle was involved in a road traffic accident. Etienne Lavigne provides information on the circumstances surrounding the accident in an interview recorded at the finishing line of the special stage. “The images have just arrived, we're going to open the news section with this subject,” says Seb, whilst continuing to write the script. There is less than half an hour left!

4.20 PM. The broadcast of the “feed” starts from the bivouac in Calama. At the same time, the images are sent to the production teams on Japanese, Polish or American TV. However, the day is not quite yet finished for Ben, who is still there, microphone in hand, commentating on the truck race. In order to have the very latest news, this is done almost live.

Robby G Pi$$ed off

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/video/tempers-flare-inside-dakar-vehicles-233442660.html;_ylt=Amc9uItAF1M61lPe_zFS5Zb_8JF4;_ylu=X3oDMTJmYThkYnY3BG1pdAMEcGtnAzFlNGY4MDE3LTg4ZjktM2JiMC05ZmY4LWFhNWE2NDJhYTE2NgRwb3MDMwRzZWMDTWVkaWFCQ2Fyb3VzZWxNaXhlZExQQ0E-;_ylv=3


and one for the dutchies tim or tom coronel

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/video/behind-scenes-dakar-rally-234131356.html

Thanks for posting this I have worked with John Winskill for a few years and knew he was going. I am glad to say he is ok and as the report stated is correct and he is doing ok in a hospital in lima.

I will update here if I hear anything further.

I understand completely

11.12 AM. The first images of the bike race arrive....
2.03 PM. Another dispatch point is located.....
2.42 PM. Now the images of the car race arrive.....
3.37 PM. The trucks are the last....
3.56 PM. News is the priority and ....
4.20 PM. The broadcast of the “feed” starts....
4.21 PM.  Wait for the repeat of the snooker to finish
12.45 AM.  Wake up and stuff it on quickly

They even say it in the video Jules, this is Tim, is his 5th Dakar I believe. Tom drives WTCC.

They should have joined the family navigation company. TomTim!

Drrrrrrr ::)  Thanks missed that bit

Some cracking photos of the first week here:

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/13/motorsport/gallery/dakar-rally-2013/index.html?hpt=isp_t3

They are always have such great photo's of this race love the candid stuff

>Martini...LB

Martin, agreed, Some time next week Neil will pop along and post a US website address which has some cracking images of the Rally. Boston post or something like that.

Jules

Fax, commentary on eurosports coverage last night of the Dakar suggested that Robby G might head over to LM and team up with Luc Alphand in a vette, I'm sure it was in jest but you never know, you might me able to tell him in person what ya think!

yes heard that as well. Think if he does it could be fun.

I mean he has a good car and I even like the colour  ;D

Hi Jules, Robby's got enough of daddy's money to buy his way into any team, pretty much what he's done his entire career.  He's burned so many bridges with teams in the US, he probably does have to look abroad for a ride.  Funny he's never been considered for one of the factory Vette's, can't imagine why? ::)
B-Grob

As requested or predicted -

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2013/01/dakar_rally_2013.html

(http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/dakar2013/bp33.jpg)

Well done to the Race 2 Recovery team and car 445 " Joy ". She made it to the finish in Santiago in 90th and last place. Total stage time of 107:57:27 :)

1 other brit in the car section co-driver Jon Aston came home 11th in a toyota pickup (and beat Robby G) ;D

4 bike finishers made it to the end 25th Stan Watts, 26th Fourman, 46th Liam Poskitt and 83rd Craig Bounds :)

Shame its over for another year.....

... and honorary Brit, Simon Pavey  :)

Derrrrrrr finished 51st  :)

Some interesting stats coming out now:  124 motorcycle riders, 26 quad drivers, 89 car crews and 60 car crews finished the event after 14 days of racing and over 8,000 kilometres under their belts, 67% (299/449) starters finished the event. How does this compare to LM24 I wonder ???

Aside from the sheer size of the Dakar entry (about 8 times larger than Le Mans), some interesting comparative snippets:

2013 Dakar total route mileage for cars, comprising:

Link Sections between Special Stages - 4,419km
Special stages - 4,155km
Total Distance - 8,574km
Longest Day - Day 9 - Links of 259km, Special of 593km, Total 852km
Winning Car - accumulated Special Stage time - 38 hrs, 32 mins 39 secs

That equates to an average Special Stage speed of 115 kph/71mph. Pretty awesome considering the terrain compared to the Le Mans track (total distance of the Audi R15 in 2010 over 24 hrs was 5,410.7 km = 224kph/140mph average)

MG Mark
 

Heads up guys and girls

BBC 4 NOW - Madness in the Desert: Paris to Dakar Documentary telling the story of the world's craziest race, the 9,000km Paris-Dakar rally

Also available on the i player

Rather biased towards the death and destruction angle, l thought .

Hardly surprising given...

a) the title
B) the death and destruction associated with Paris - Dakar

Rather biased towards the death and destruction angle, l thought .

I think the whole programme had the subtext; "what a senseless and stupid race, isn't it terrible". Almost nothing about the race and an almost ghoulish emphasis on the death and injuries. The Dakar, almost from the outset, was an event where death was a distinct possibility, and not just for drivers. Anyone that went on the Dakar knew it, and had to accept that risk.

I just don't see the point of this "ain't it awful" approach. What were they trying to prove? They thoroughly missed the point... it is a challenge exactly BECAUSE it puts competitors in mortal danger. Setting aside the unfortunate incidents with locals being in the wrong place at the wrong time, if you remove the danger to competitors, you remove the heart of the event. You also devalue to achievement of the survivors who finished and dishonour those who didn't. 

All, for those with access to ITV4 and enjoy the Dakar Rally

Dakar Rally: Frontline to Finish Line

9:00pm - 10:00pm

Tonight, Wednesday 24/04 and part 2 will be screened on Friday 26/04

it follows the adventures of the Race 2 Recovery team.

Jules

Thanks for the heads up on that Jules, will set the recorder before I forget.

I just sold a car to them to  ;)

if you missed the first program frontline to finish line, it's available on the ITV i player via your laptop