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**Dakar 2012 Highlights**

krumgrinder

krumgrinder

Street Cruiser
Well, they're off and running, and my man Jonah Street (American privateer) is already out of the race.  :-[  There's still fellow compatriot Quinn Cody in the race, although he's had a rough start as well, but more on this in a bit.

The teams are already running the fourth stage; I've seen the SpeedTV highlights for the first two stages, and the third stage highlights were broadcast at 1:30am this morning so I'll see that when I get home.  Already it's a strange landscape this year compared to last; one rider died of cardiac arrest after crashing on the first stage and the American riders are already in trouble; in the cars, VW, which dominated last year, totally pulled out of the race so we're left with a strange assortment of vehicles and bedfellows- highlighted by Nasser Al-Attiyah now driving for Robby Gordon's Hummer team, Giniel DeVilliers in a Toyota Truck, and Stephan Peterhansel in a Mini with a BMW chassis for starters- and seen or haven't heard a peep about where Carlos Sainz or Mark Miller are.

Stage two coverage had, I kid you not, a 5 second blip about Street's unknown mechanical trouble and resignation from the race.  They did have a little more on Quinn Cody, with a short interview clip of him explaining how his team apparently does not yet know how to properly mount a rear wheel.  Luckily for him the KTM factory support truck caught him up and got him back on the road.  With the coverage being supplied by NBC Sports (somehow), it's hard to believe how there wasn't a bit more on the American riders, especially Street, on a couple levels- unless you look at it from the perspective of Gordon's former NASCAR celebrity.  Of course, we got to see multiple replays of Robby Gordon towing Nasser's broke-down Hummer down the road to the next bivouac.  :-[  Also, apparently, Toby Moody is out for play by play coverage, which is also unfortunate- the SpeedTV guy narrating just doesn't have the depth of experience to match him.  Doesn't seem they have anyone at the race either, so maybe cost-cutting is coming into play in more than one way this year.

So, a little weird this year here at the outset.  Anyone else catching the highlights or following results on the website?
 
Both American riders are now DNF'ed!  Who would've thought both Street, with several years of Dakar experience, and Cody, the multiple-year winner of the Baja 1000, would both be out before the halfway point?  Very disappointing to say the least.  :(

In the Stage 3 highlights from early Wed morning, the riders all had a rough day on a very technical stretch.  There were many crashes, but none worse than Honda rider Quinn Cody's, caught on chopper cam for the world to see.  He was overtaking another rider at an extremely high rate of speed but after getting maybe 50 yards past he hit a hole or rock so hard it stopped the bike, launched him over the bars to land vertically on his head while the bike flipped way over and above him to land front-end first about  20 feet away, totally crumpled.  The rider he passed (wish they'd named him, he deserves recognition) stopped to help and call the air ambulance, then two others stopped briefly before riding on.  Cody broke his collarbone (badly, I'd guess) and the right side of his face was gashed and bruised up.  They got him back to the bivouac hospital and were able to get a brief interview with him- you could tell he was badly shaken up still.  Hope all goes well for him in recovery and return to the US, he seems like a good sort.  As I mentioned, many other riders had similar but less severe get-offs, but were able to get back up and continue.  Race leader Marc Coma made a bad navigational error at the point where the cars and bikes were to take different routes, following the car route for nearly five miles before realizing and turning back.  He lost something like 13 minutes and the lead to the stage winner and new leader, Frenchman Cyril Depres, on a KTM I believe.

In the cars, also some drama, but the Gordon Hummer team did well, with Al-Attiyah getting the stage win and making up over 4 minutes on his overall time from his debacle yesterday.  One car crashed and burned (literally), another got stuck in a huge mud puddle, and World Rally Car champion Nani Roma officially made his presence known by placing in the top ten on this third stage.

I continue to be amazed by the trucks, how such huge, ungainly vehicles can a.) stay upright, b.) take the pounding of the terrain, c.) not constantly get stuck, and d.) not constantly puncture tires!  There actually was a clip of the new race leader passing the previous leader off-road (as if they weren't already on rough roads) at speed!  I am guessing the manufacturers of these trucks serve markets in developing countries or countries still with massive wilderness areas- you don't see Mack, Kenworth or Peterbilt fielding entries in this race- although it might be interesting if they did!  :eek:
 
I went to the Dakar.com site yesterday.  I looked over some clips there too.  I was amazed at the (dump) truck classes that is racing.  That IVECO company makes a big hauler to be customized for the rally.
 
Yep, it's just Ned now, although I wasn't even sure he was actually competing in the first place. IIRC from the ADV forum thread, his goal was just to run the race and finish this first time out; guess he's at least made it to the halfway point now, and carries the flag to boot!  I believe they said he was in something like 48th place, but GO NED!!!  :motonoises:

Depres and Coma appear to be dropping into a leapfrog type of situation, nearly an hour in front of the rest of the pack, but Despres definitely still has the upper hand at this point.  In the cars, Al-Attiyah is making a valiant attempt to get back into the race, and is looking pretty awesome doing it; it remains to be seen if the Hummer he's driving can take the beatings he is issuing it to make up all the time he lost!  I think it is premature at this point for anyone to be counted out- especially Nasser- even if he is up against the likes of Peterhansel, Roma and company.  The race is only half over, and the Dakar is famous for it's unpredictable conditions, and circumstances which regularly take experienced people to task in the later stages.  In the truck race, I do like that Nikolayev got handed his lunch for hitting that car.  Kudos to the race organizers for applying that penalty so swiftly.

Yesterday was the mid-point rest day, so they should be on again today, and have fresh news tomorrow morning!
 
Officially into the second half of the race, and a villain has emerged.  >:D

Bikes leader Cyril Despres rode his KTM directly into a mudpit and stuck it so bad he couldn't get it out himself.  Paulo Goncalves then did the same thing, a matter of feet from Despres.  After also failing to free his bike, Goncalves apparently suggested to Despres that they help each other; they successfully freed Despres, at which point Despres ditched Goncalves leaving him stuck in the mud.  Now, I know a race is a race, but that's so low, and so wrong of Despres that I can't abide it.  In a later interview, Goncalves even took the high road and refused to call out Despres in any way.  They didn't say how he eventually got out, but he lost a chunk of time, while Despres only lost a matter of ten or so minutes, iirc.  Coma, who found a way around the mud, won the stage and now has a lead of a couple minutes overall; I can only hope that he maintains it and Despres gets his comeuppance somewhere further down the trail.  No new news about Ned except that he is currently somewhere around 47th place currently.  Just stay on it Ned!  ;D

Robby Gordon and his Hummers team continues to run well, despite co-driver Nasser Al-Attiyah's antics; Robby finished second in the stage and has a good grip on second place overall.  Robby actually beat Peterhansel in his twin-turbo Mini, but several minutes- great result, and you could tell he was very pleased.  Nasser is still regaining time, although he will have to step it up now if he is to have any hope of being in contention for the podium.  There is still another American team in the hunt it was revealed, but way back in the pack.  The trucks continue to be an amazing show, as well.

Great drama and decent coverage, hope all who can watch are enjoying!
 
Nice pics Paulie, thanks for sharing that site.  :great:  The tv coverage is nice, especially in HD, but there's no way they can cover anywhere near all the amazing events, scenery and situations- especially for an event of this scale- for that we still need good old photojournalists and lots of them!

Well, we've had a few days to digest the final results of the rally and I have to say I have some very mixed feelings.  On one hand, I liked the change in route from a loop to a one-way trip, and the course certainly threw alot at the racers in the way of challenges and terrain.  On the other hand, it seemed like the race officials were on another planet at times.  They disqualify a truck driver for hitting a car, but then let a car driver hit a bike rider trying to get his bike out of the creek?  They approve Gordon's air inflation system, then change their minds 2/3 of the way through the race, apparently because he's kicking the crap out of the other cars?  The leading bike racer sticks his bike in the mud, proceeds to ditch another rider in the same situation who helps him, and then demands they give him the time back he spent stuck?  Maybe I'm a little old-fashioned, but this lack of consistency doesn't seem very balanced or fair for all.

I'm not sure I like the evolution of this event, either, in terms of the amount of support allowed, and creature comforts afforded the competitors.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't it used to be you got in with your domestique, and the parts you could carry and off you went?  Now we've got guys with semis full of parts and mobile garages following them around the countryside.  Seriously, Coma swapped his engine twice??  Seems like the event is turning into a MotoGP of off-road/rally racing, albeit not in a controlled environment to be sure.  The bivouac's looked like high-tech mobile military encampments, not stopovers in the outback!  Certainly some evolution is a good thing, but I think the original 'endurance/wilderness challenge' spirit of the race is being left in the dust, so to speak.  The TV coverage was all about the top 10's and their issues- what about the other 400 or so competitors, most of whom really were racing in that original spirit???

Hmmm.  I'm bummed that Jonah Street and Quinn Cody were out so early, but look forward to hearing more about Ned Suesse, the first timer (ADV guy) and only American to finish the rally!  I've never been a Robby Gordon fan, but I liked his perseverance and generally positive attitude through alot of bullsh*t this time around- and he didn't finish half bad, either.  Goncalves should get the Good Sportsman award for sure, and another award for his self-control in the interview after the stage.  I think Peterhansel and Despres can take their ill-gotten trophies and stroke each other off until they feel good about themselves.  And the race officials should take a long hard look at what they, and this rally, are evolving into before it's too late.  :-[

What do you think?

 
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