Dakar 2013 - Official Event Coverage - thank you ALL TeamF5, lurkers and posters!

The GPS is normally "off", only displaying speed over ground. When you get close to a waypoint via roadbook navigation, the GPS "unlocks" and displays an arrow guiding you the last meters to the WP. The WP is then logged and you can continue navigation.

nope.

But "Us vs Them", "Kiss my ass", "Minis are for girls" and "Nasser designed that buggy so it's crap" are...

2) Between 2 WPM or WPS, the GPS will only show the compass heading and the speed. Once the
Competitor has entered a 800 m radius around a WPM or a 3 km radius around a WPS, the GPS will
display all the usual functions of a GPS: COG (Cap over Ground), SOG (Speed over Ground), CTW
(Cap to Way Point), DTW (Distance to Way Point), etc.
All this information will also be displayed on the screen of the GPS towards a WPE, once the
preceeding Way Point has been passed. In the case where the Competitor has not validated the
preceeding Way Point, the information will be displayed on the screen, once the radius of 3km
around the WPE has been penetrated.
3) Competitors must respect the chronological order of the Way Points of the Stage concerned. If

from pg 23 official rule book

Also, as I understand it, if you determine you are completely lost you have a code you can enter and it will point you toward the next waypoint. Doing this means you incur a time penalty and you can only do it a certain # of times through the rally.

Sure, and might as well make it for all whose ponies are not yet in the corral.

I noticed that Mario Patrao, the rider with the only Suzuki in the event, has a 15 min penalty. Anybody knows why?

What is the difference between a WPM and a WPS?

Nasser was complaining that he was within 3km of a WPS but the gps didn't turn on and give him a heading to head towards?

We shall see. He has certainly mastered hovering.

Try it yourself:
http://www.ertf.com/uk/quizz3_gps.asp?Num=1&Rep=Q

You try to figure mentally what you've done, and wait for the next landmark that you can relate with the roadbook to recalibrate your distance on the odometer. That's how I do it with variable results anyway

roadracer, Doyle has an excellent Dakar nav and scoring tutorial over here.

For safety reasons, the Competitors have the possibility of unblocking the GPS by inputting a specific code:
‘WPM’ Code
This code, given by the PCO at the request of the Rider via the Iritrack, activates the usual functions of a GPS and makes all the next Way Points visible.
All use of this code will result in the following penalties:
 from the 1st to the 3rd utilisation: 6 hours penalties per utilisation for the first 10 in the general classification or A.S.O. Elite Riders, 3 hours for other Competitors.
 the 4th utilisation will result in Disqualification for all Competitors.
21P SPEED CONTROL ZONES - DEFINITIONS

Here's what PAU says after todays special; (free translation by myself)

"Yet another fine day on my part - all in all a good start on the Dakar 2013.
But Barreda Bort (stage winner) drove past me in an amazing speed, and I thought there were little I could do about that today.
I drove alone all day, wich i normally do not enjoy. It is often best to ride with a few, to ensure you're on pace and on track regarding navigation, but I think it went well today choosing my own pace and route.
And the terrain is suiting me right now. The best thing I know is to drive in the sand, and there's plenty of it right now!"

May we see some climbing up the order tomorrow?

Here's the links for PAU's sites;

Facebook

Ullevalseter Homepage

Laffi

It seems like almost everyone in this race has that "never give up attittude." Well, except one particular person from last year......

Didn't everyone, Peterhansel included, have some issues with those dunes last year. Something to the effect of; it's not if you get stuck but, how long you spend being stuck?

Messy and heavy dashboard
Pipe in front of the oil filter ? Need to remove to change the filter ?
Front tire is still new - sand ?

Thanks, was thinking it was something like this. Fairly heafty penalty but for a privateer who is in it to finish it I can imagine could be worthwhile when things go bad and you are lost.

http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/docs/reglement-moto-quad-dakar-2013-VUS.pdf

Bike-Quad Rule Book explains alot