2013 Dakar Cliff Notes thread

Flood · Jan 13, 2013

Brodovitch said: ↑

Good morning everyone, so, while I catch up, Cyril's notes on yesterday:

After last nights adventures Cyril Despres (KTM Redbull) received a heros welcome from his team when he arrived in Tucuman at the end of the marathon stage. And despite the stress and fatigue of yesterdays late night, unassisted engine swap, he moves up to 2nd place overall 0926 behind the leader. His team mate Ruben Faria completes the virtual podium and going into the rest day is third overall at 1116.

Cyril Despres

It wasnt so easy last night. Already the decision to swap engines was a difficult, but once we made it we actually had to put the plan into action. You could see that the other riders were a little surprised when we started work! Some people say that the Dakar isnt the same anymore, but I tell you last night was the real spirit of the Dakar. A big thank you to Marek Dabrowski and all the Orlen Team for the extremely generous loan of their engine.

Today wasnt so easy either. At one point we were supposed to ride in a riverbed, but we couldnt because there was too much water in it. So instead we had to ride on the riverbank. The problem was that made the road book distances wrong. I was trying to recalibrate my trip all the time but when we came to a fork in the river I had a doubt. Finally I decided to ride back and check rather than take the risk. It cost me a little time but better lose a little time than potentially lose a lot of time.
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kaia · Jan 13, 2013

Dakar.com photos from stage 8, re-posted over in the Dakar 2013 Media thread. unfortunatly, not too many photos of the rain-gate / we canceled the stage because the cars were too afraid to cross the river... but pretty good photos from the stage either way. i'm sure more photos will follow once all the photogs slog their way back to the biovac.

#301 - GINIEL DE VILLIERS (ZAF) / DIRK VON ZITZEWITZ (DEU)

#146 - SJAAK MARTENS (NLD)
#171 - LORENZO NAPODANO (ITA)

#15 - FRANS VERHOEVEN (NLD)

#7 - FRANCISCO LOPEZ (CHL)

#139 - SERGIO MIGUEL PETRONE (ARG)
#126 - JUAN JOSÉ BARBERY (ARG)

#9 - OLIVIER PAIN (FRA)

i also took the time to post up the dakar.com stage 8 hidden driver candids to the Dakar 2013 Media thread... only one that really bares mention at this time is this:

Jean-Claude Olivier

dakar.com said:

The bivouac in Tucumán has been shaken by tragic news from across the ocean. Jean-Claude Olivier, a former boss of the Yamaha France team, died in a traffic accident in France this morning. He was not only an iconic figure of the brand with the tuning forks, for which he worked for 44 years before passing on the baton in 2010, but also a witness and an active player in the history of the Dakar in several ways. JCO, as he was known, was one of the pioneers who took part in the first edition in 1979. His best performance was in 1985, when he finished just behind winner Gaston Rahier. Without neglecting his own racing career, his greatest successes in the Dakar came as a team manager, when he guided Stéphane Peterhansel to victory on six different occasions between 1991 and 1998. This man in love with rally raids later worked hard towards Yamaha's return to the Dakar, which became a reality in 2004 with David Frétigné on a 450 cc motorcycle. Just today, David Casteu took over from Olivier Pain at the top of the overall classification of the rally. They both symbolise the continuity of Jean-Claude Olivier's work over several decades.

The Dakar organisers, and especially David Castera, whom Jean-Claude Olivier once took under his wing, extend their condolences to his family and friends.
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Flood · Jan 13, 2013

Not so good news from Manuel, though:

Manuel Lucchese
38 minutes ago via Mobile

The situation is quite bad, the engine lost all its compression today was a nightmare for me to manage to pass some sections of the stage. I need to get the engine rebuilt if i want to have a chance to finish, i have the parts but have no clue on how to put hands on the TM engine.

/ manuel staff / GO MAN!!.

Flood · Jan 13, 2013

From PAU FB:

Then we got the answer: there were 14 riders yesterday that did not come across the river. All these got fixed time 2h 10 m This means that PAU and the gang keeps the time that was stated yesterday. He stands now at 19 Place in the summary (one that has received a penalty). He greets from south America and use the day to rest. He promises full throttle the next few days :)

Flood · Jan 13, 2013

yardracer said: ↑

Manuel Lucchese

Aggiornamento via sms:
First problem solved, the bike wouldnt keep the mínimum because when we mounted back the carburator some days ago i mounted it wrong. We checked the valves and they are ok, the engine is not losing any oil so i need to figure out why the bike does not rev up well. Thanks to everyone that is supporting me here in the bivouac and online!!!

Ps. Big thanks to all the ADV Rider Forum guys for funding my mousse!! Without you i would of never made it through the Marathon stage!!

//manuel staff//

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Flood · Jan 13, 2013

Screamingeagle3 said: ↑

Stage 8 from Dakar site....

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Flood · Jan 13, 2013

Screamingeagle3 said: ↑

Stage 8,dakar site

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Flood · Jan 13, 2013

Brodovitch said: ↑

Pedro Bianchi Prata, 4th yesterday, on his nightmare 5th stage:

The day everything went wrong: (actually the Husqvarna is a very good bike and sturdy, made more than 90 km of the stage without water in the radiator and the electric part all melted .... and then 270 km of connection ... we reached the camp at 2 in the morning we exchange the motor and the 5:30 already we were again on the road)

Good to see the customer Husky package doing well

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EjoiYdGLK0s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Flood · Jan 13, 2013

michalCCR said: ↑

Have you guys caught some Peterhansel's mention of doing Dakar in the truck in near future? Reportedly he told that to FR TV.
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Flood · Jan 13, 2013

Resist said: ↑

From Geoff Olholm on Facebook:

Can someone explain to me how they righted it?! I'm guessing they couldn't just manually push it back over. Nobody helped them, they righted it themselves!
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Flood · Jan 13, 2013

frostyuk said: ↑

Hi all an update from Tamsin Jones about Craig Bounds, am sure she wont mind me posting it here:

"
Made it to Tucuman. Craig is here and not looking too bad. He said that the marathon stage was a hard one with lots getting altitiude sickness. Craigs injury is in his upper back which is causing him problems in his neck and shoulders and he is only taking ibruprofen so we need to sort that out. The pain is causing him not to sleep that well so that is adding to the toughness of the race. The weather is good - not too hot and I have finally ditched the thermals and waterproofs - sorry to you all in the COLD uk!!

Craig said he is trying to do his best but is feeling everysingle bump and every single bump is putting more wrinkles on his face. he will do his best to get to the end for all his sponsors, friends and family
"
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Flood · Jan 13, 2013

Resist said: ↑

They posted more pics and answered my question!
SEVEN hours of digging!

Youch!
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Flood · Jan 13, 2013

Brodovitch said: ↑

SpeedBrain update:

The Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain riders are taking a well deserved rest in their hotel :eek1 after running eight stages, and some 4000 km. Meanwhile, the mechanics and technicians have been up since seven oclock this morning working so that the four Husqvarna TE499RR by Speedbrain will be at their best for tomorrow.

from here

So the top riders not only have a motorhome, but a hotel room on the rest day...? I think there is too large a difference between the top and the bottom of the field nowadays, and not just pertaining to talent or speed

"In the second part well do what ever is necessary to try and support Alessandro whos highest in the overall standings, as well as the other riders in every stage."

Nice to hear Botturi is the #1 rider on the team though
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Flood · Jan 13, 2013

Brodovitch said: ↑

dakar.com

Rest day Summary (bikes)

139 motorcycles, 26 quads, 106 cars and 64 trucks made it through the first eight stages to the rest day in Tucumán, representing 74.61% of the vehicles which started in Lima. As expected, the Peruvian sequence was as splendid as it was tough, with its fair share of twists and turns. David Casteu, Marcos Patronelli, Stéphane Peterhansel and Gerard de Rooy lead their respective categories but, looking at the variety of challenges awaiting them over the next few days, the only thing that's certain is that nothing is certain!

Motorcycles: KTM purrs, Yamaha and Husqvarna roar, Honda whimpers!

Halfway through the motorcycle race, one thing's for sure: the 35th edition of the Dakar will be one for the books. First of all because the shadow of the KTMs still looms long, even though their captain and defending champion Cyril Despres has had a tough first week, most importantly due to a gearbox problem during the marathon stage which forced him to change his engine, with the ensuing 15-minute penalty. This means the Frenchman is only fifth in the general classification, 24′26″ down, and third among the riders of the Austrian manufacturer, which has nevertheless placed six of its motorcycles in the Top 10, with Ruben Faria and Chaleco López on the provisional podium.

But it's a Yamaha that rules the roost! The brand with the tuning forks may have won only one stage to KTM's four, but it's led the race from stage 4, first with Olivier Pain (now 4th) and then with David Casteu, who seemed almost surprised to take the overall lead in Tucumán. A leap forward for the blue band, probably thanks to its organisation in small independent structures, which fosters competition. On the other hand, the other nice surprise of the 2013 Dakar comes from the biggest team of them all: Husqvarna. Although they've still got reliability issues, the sheer speed of the machine and its leader Joan Barreda has been impressive. The Spaniard was the best performer of the first week together with Chaleco, with three specials apiece. Yet in the overall, the Swedish brand's first motorcycle lies twelfth, courtesy of highly consistent Alessandro Botturi. Long faces in the Honda camp, as their great official comeback to the Dakar flops. Although the Japanese brand has three motorcycles in the top 12, the first of them lies only seventh, thanks to the great revelation of the rally: Jeremías Esquerre, a first-time participant who's been extremely consistent so far.

The Chilean is therefore in command of the Rookie challenge, with 16′06″ on South Africa's Riaan Van Niekerk. As for motorcycles without assistance, Dutchman Hans-Jos Liefhebber holds the reins with his 35th place overall, ahead of Esteban Smith and Hugo Payen. Finally, among the ladies, Laia Sanz lies a strong 29th overall and doesn't have much to fear from Chilean Josefina Gardulski, who's in 132nd place, more than 15 h behind the Catalan.
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Flood · Jan 13, 2013

Brodovitch said: ↑

Manuel:

Update via SMS: A big thanks to Mauro Sant for taking the time to take a look at my bike!

sounds like Manny may have the TM sorted after all
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Gian said: ↑

good! After all Mauro Sant is the man that created the bike Manuel is using and a TM unfortunately they have one only rider in the race, as Fesani retired very early. It Looks at TM they have possibly the same HRC problem, fuel pump overheats and so vapor locks. They are trying to move it on a different place, where can breathe a little bit more...
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Flood · Jan 13, 2013

Brodovitch said: ↑

Cyril

After the awarding of the 15 minute penalty for changing an engine, at the rest day Cyril Despres sees himself classified in 5th place 2425 minutes behind the leader David Casteu with Cyrils team mate Ruben Faria 2nd at 1116. Chaleco Lopez is third at 1200 while Olivier Pain is fourth at 1610.

Cyril Despres

They call in rest day but it should be called stress day! Since I got up this morning Ive done non-stop interviews. I even did an interview as I was brushing my teeth! Now it is 14h00 and we have just received our road book for tomorrow, so time to shut ourselves away and prepare for the second week. So far weve done 2000 kilometres of special and we have 2300 kilometres left, so clearly there is still everything to play for. And as always on a Dakar it isnt going to be straightforward.

I dont have spies in all the other teams but radio bivouac informs me that the other riders have opted not to use the break to change their engines. It is a calculated risk that will for sure have an impact on all our strategies for the next week. Only time will tell if they have made the right choice or not but two things are for certain: one - its going to be a very interesting few days and two - Im going to be fighting for victory all the way to Santiago."

interesting
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Flood · Jan 13, 2013

redhat said: ↑

Have been catching up all day being away yesterday, seems that I have missed something.
Really loving the great pictures and stories here, and sometimes a conspiracy theory

I hope the riders are getting enough rest for tomorrows stage, as it will be a long one if it isn't shortened

First there is 176km connection, follow by refuel and start of special @ 07:40 local

WP1 probably together with CP1 @ 39km
WP2 @ 61km
WP3 @ 95km
CP2 @ 121km
WP4 together with CP2 or @ 131km
WP5 @ 172km
WP6 start neutralisation and refuel @ 226km
Refuel @ 348km
WP7 and end neutralisation @ 353km
WP8 @ 377km
WP9 @ 404km
WP10 @ 430km
WP11 @ 461km
WP12 @ 487km
CP3 @ 499km
WP13 @ 515km
Finish @ 593km

This followed by another 83km connection for a total of 852km
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PackMule · Jan 13, 2013

Dave from Rally Management Services (GSNorCal on ADV) chats with us from the rest day bivouac for the stories on Kevin Muggleton's abbreviated run, updates on crowd favorite Luis on the 150cc 2 stroke, and what it's like to participate not as a rider, but on the team side of things (a perspective that may be more realistic for many of us).

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule for us, Dave!

<iframe style="border: none" src="http://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/2183538/height/360/width/360/theme/legacy/direction/no/autoplay/no/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/preload/no/no_addthis/no/" height="360" width="360" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/rallyraidio/13D11.mp3

PackMule · Jan 13, 2013

Pyndon said: ↑

Everyone, I am limited for time but just wanted to how great it was to have a quick catch up with this thread last night on the I-phone. I just wanted to say a huge thank you for keeping this alive and for all your words of encouragement and support. It's really appreciated and made me realise just how many great people I have behind me.

Right now it's bed time, longest day of the rally tomorrow.

Thanks again, Pyn
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Interview with Lyndon on the rest day, including answers to some of your questions.

<iframe style="border: none" src="http://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/2183579/height/360/width/360/theme/legacy/direction/no/autoplay/no/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/preload/no/no_addthis/no/" height="360" width="360" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Direct download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/rallyraidio/13D12.mp3

PackMule · Jan 13, 2013

XSpearsX said: ↑

UPdates coming from the Freedom Rally Crew:

Thursday 10th,
Today I was surprised that a gas station we stopped at had Wi-Fi, so I took the opportunity to upload all the photos I had hope you liked them. I did not have time to describe them, but I will at a later date. I have many more to upload that show the terrain we are traveling through. I also had the opportunity to see what other people had posted on Freedom Rally Racing and realized... you know more about the race than I do!! I have no idea who is first, second, or what went on during the race, only what I hear through the grapevine. So I hope the day to day of setting up camp and what we the support team go through is interesting enough. I dont even get feedback on that!
This morning the riders set out at the crack of dawn, while it was still dark outside. Scott, Jaime and Dave managed to get an extra hour of sleep as packing up camp was done by the time they woke up. Most times they are packing also, although this time much of it was done the night before as usual. Our camp today at Calama, Chile is sandy, dusty and windy, not fun at all! Dust is everywhere, it would be fruitless to try and clean anything! Spectators still manage to line the streets and highways, even in the most desolate places. When we stop for gas we are usually barraged by people wanting to take photographs with us by the camper. I have held many kids for their parents, girlfriends and wives for their family, standing in front of the RV! We also have a lot of stickers of every kind to hand out, which people love! The mini bike Mike has loaded onto the front of the RV always gets a lot of attention (usually laughs!) as we go through the crowds.
Today we had a flat tire on the RV and had to change it in the middle of nowhere. We also got some assistance from another team (Friends of Luiss of course!) who stopped to lend a hand. They had a few wrenches we didnt and made life much easier than it would have otherwise been. The outside rubber tread had come off the inside left rear tire Changing it in the heat, the wind and in a dust bowl was no fun.
As I write this, Luis has not arrived yet (must be about 8:30pm no my computer clock is not right. The things we take for granted!!) the mechanics are eating now, and Im waiting to give King Luis a hand when he gets here. Any minute now! I guess everyone had a good ride today Marco passed Mateo today, which got a nice big chuckle from Liliana. I heard there is Wi-Fi at the Host Country Tent so I may be able to post this AND send emails! Wish me luck!
Sunday 13th,
Today is a day of rest in Tucuman. This means simply we all get to sleep in. Thats it. Work goes on. When the bikes are ready, then the trucks get some attention. Mateos bike will get a new motor today, the other two are OK, although we are all worried about Luiss. If something happens to his engine, we dont have a spare. This has been a race with miracles being performed for him and by him, so stay tuned for more! Speaking of the trucks, let me elaborate. The RV has had two blown tires now and yesterday we were stranded by the side of the road about 50 km out of Salta, with no power. We had enough to reverse back onto the side of the road, but not to go forward. We were rescued by a bunch of very friendly and boisterous Dutchmen, who towed us in their Dakar support truck for 155km into Tucuman! That was quite the ride, as we were doing about 77 mph and still managed to pass another truck with the RV in tow. Mikes comment: Well, thats a first!. Jaime fixed the problem when we got into camp. A loose magnet in the carburetor.
The camp today is inside a horse race track in Tucuman. Mike, Jenny, Mateo, Marcos , Liliana and Luis all got some much needed rest in a Tucuman hotel . Onwards we go now, to Cordoba tomorrow! More then!

https://www.facebook.com/#!/FreedomRallyRacing
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