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?
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?