Robby Gordon 2013

[Michelangelo]

Did anyone figure out what the tantrum was about when he was yelling at co driver Kellon and tossed his helmet at him? Seemed Robbie was yelling something about their Dakar being over with and intimating it was Kellon's fault.

[HogWild]

Originally Posted by Michelangelo

Did anyone figure out what the tantrum was about when he was yelling at co driver Kellon and tossed his helmet at him? Seemed Robbie was yelling something about their Dakar being over with and intimating it was Kellon's fault.

I didn't see it that way at all. He was clearly upset, but mostly with himself. Some of that frustration went Kellon's way, but I didn't see it as being disrespectful to Kellon. Just blowing off some steam. And I didn't see him toss the helmet AT Kellon, but rather TO Kellon.

[Michelangelo]

Did you see the video today where there was actually some audio to go with it? I just watched it earlier this evening and can't figure out where it was I watched it. (Sorry, watched too many clips today). He was clearly yelling towards/at and berating him.

[Michelangelo]

Found it. Here is the video with audio I found on facecrook. Thanks to Adventure Riders of Northern Utah and Breauxman LIVE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bYXt...ature=youtu.be

[Country Doc]

I've seen that clip a few times and agree entirely with Scott. It doesn't seem that Robby was out of line, rather just super frustrated about being stuck and broken down on a short opening stage, which is totally understandable. I didn't see any issue with the helmet thing either. It fell into his lap when he was ranting about their rally being over (what I heard was something like "can you believe it? Now we are fucked for the entire rally!"), and in frustration he tossed it aside into Kellon's lap.

I must say, the more I watch of Robby, the more I like him. He's honest, heart on his sleeve, competitive, appears to admit his mistakes, and so forth. Here's hoping 2014 is better for him.

dc

[roadracer]

My take was that he was reacting to the 3x stage time thing on the first stage and his 31 minute deficit after only 13km of racing. This clip was after the first stage and the only one who made a mistake was Robby.

Te fact that the french and british announcers so obviously dislike him really adds to the us vs them aspect of the whole thing.

Im a fan.

[Closet Doctor]

I had heard that Robbie was yelling at Kellon and threw his helmet at him before I saw the video. When I finally saw it I thought I had the wrong one. The helmet falls off the dash and into the steering wheel and he practically hands it to him! Yeah he was yelling and pissed but not at Kellon, just the fact that they screwed themselves in the first 5 miles of a 14 day, 3500 mile race that he had prepared for a year for.

I find it interesting how much the European commentator dislike and mock him. The truth is, tens of thousands of people know who Peterhansel is only because of Robby Gordon. His brash, outspoken showmanship brings eyeballs to the race that otherwise wouldn't even know it existed without him.

[MsLizVt]

Originally Posted by Closet Doctor

I had heard that Robbie was yelling at Kellon and threw his helmet at him before I saw the video. When I finally saw it I thought I had the wrong one. The helmet falls off the dash and into the steering wheel and he practically hands it to him! Yeah he was yelling and pissed but not at Kellon, just the fact that they screwed themselves in the first 5 miles of a 14 day, 3500 mile race that he had prepared for a year for.

I find it interesting how much the European commentator dislike and mock him. The truth is, tens of thousands of people know who Peterhansel is only because of Robby Gordon. His brash, outspoken showmanship brings eyeballs to the race that otherwise wouldn't even know it existed without him.

Just my thoughts.

For what it's worth, my take on it was that just before the helmet coming off the dash and such, he blew his reverse. Getting stuck is one thing, that happens quite a lot, and they usually can get out, but losing reverse is totally frustrating. I didn't see it as being upset with Kellon.

Before seeing the in car video of the helmet thing, there was an interview where Robby says something like " ... Kellon told me to take it easy on this dune ... and we got stuck .. " At first, with the announcers saying Robby was yelling at his co-driver, it sounded pretty bad. After watching the video and hearing Robby talk about about his race, most of what he says sounds more matter of fact to me, than laying blame.

Listen to this interview below and you'll note that Robby says they missed the start of the specials by getting lost on the transits, twice, losing 5 minutes or more. That translates into a late start, which means penalty times, usually. I heard that as, this is the reason why we are down on time.

Maybe I'm mishearing it and they got lost on the specials, but even so, that's as much navigator error as anything, and I don't hear Robby saying "... yeah Kellon got us lost AGAIN! "

Even when Robby is chiding the Bugglies or taking aim at Peterhansal, I think he's very calculating and careful what he says and how he says it.

For what it's worth, there were times when my co-driver was a chocolate mess and got us lost in rallies. There's a point where you just can't be upset with them and just drive your best and deal with the situation.

[With all due respect to co-drivers/navigators, it's not easy to keep all the mileages and instructions straight.]

I'm smiling because a memory just came back when my codriver had made a 4/10ths of a mile error in a triple caution. That means they were thinking the triple caution was 4/10ths further up the road. At about 90mph on a tight off camber right turn, over a crest, with a steep drop off on the outside, I clawed full throttle on while sliding on the outside edge of that turn trying to keep the car on the road. All was good until we hit a rock the size of a Lazy-boy, and then we just started flipping sideways through the tree tops.

Finally we hit one tree that wasn't moving, with the roof, hence we promptly slid down and then rolled back on four wheels. We were okay, except we were way below the road level and still caught between the trees and the banking. When the codriver got out, the last thing I saw was the helmet disappearing. The first step was a big one.

My point of this story is I knew what happened with the missed instruction. A half hour after the crash, while I was quietly sitting on a giant rock reading a book and watching the rest of the field go by at speed, ten feet away, my co-driver came over, apologized and said it was their fault. To this day, never have I discussed with anyone I know, what the real story was behind that crash.

Bottom line, it's my rally car, it's me driving it, if I can't save it that's my fault. I think Robby, after all these years of driving, may have a bit of that attitude and humility too.





Liz


Here's Robby's interview at the end of Stage 6. There's a bit of a summary before it.

http://www.planetrobby.com/video/vid...Video%3A634223

[Closet Doctor]

Pretty good hint in the stage 6 interview that he is probably not pushing hard to win stages this year and that he will be back next year.

[MsLizVt]

Originally Posted by Closet Doctor

Pretty good hint in the stage 6 interview that he is probably not pushing hard to win stages this year and that he will be back next year.

Closet Doctor, hi!

Is this the interview you meant?


Liz



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[640 Armageddon]

Originally Posted by crankshaft

Probably HDPE plastic sheet, pretty common in the rally world.....

+1 . It usually pretty thick PolyE . They change it when it gets damaged, and it is strong enough for this kind of terrain. Metal shileds help wherever they need to withstand stronger blows from rocks.

[oregoncoast]

Originally Posted by MsLizVt

Closet Doctor, hi!

Is this the interview you meant?


Liz



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Lots of interesting things said there. His crew seems to be kicking ass keeping the car together for the next day of racing...yet, Robby keeps saying what a disappointment it is to be in 35th place even though he is on the podium for the specials. Those are victories that are being denied to his crew because he can only think of winning overall. However, even he says if he just started the race the way he is racing now, they would be in the running for winning the thing. Which I believe is true. The car is the bomb and can win this, if it is raced like a 15 day endurance/navigation rally and not a 1 day Baja 1000.

Kudos to team SPEED for putting that car back together after Robby rolled it and keeping it going through all of this. They are the real heros What an amazing crew!

I only hope Robby keeps it going and wins as many stages as possible and not just throw in the towel because he might not win overall.

[MsLizVt]

Kellon and Robby have been together for quite a while.



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Some interesting information from the PlanetRobby.com forum.

Reply by Mike Kenyon yesterday

Robby has only had three co-dogs
Andy Grider
Kellon
Johnny
you may remember Kellon from 2011 becouse they where out after the 4th stage

Reply by Josh Fisher yesterday

His bio from RDC




Name: Kellon Walch


Gender: Male


Location: Alamo, NV


Interests:
Off-road racing- motorcycles and trucks
Family
Football
Camping and hunting


Occupation: Wide Open Nevada, Robby Gordon Motorsports


Class I race in: Class 7300 for BITD, Trophy Truck with Robby Gordon


Favorite Race: DAKAR


Favorite Race Driver: Anyone who is humble and morking hard to become faster.


Biography:
COO at Wide Open Nevada
Navigator/co-driver for Robby Gordon Motorsports
2009 and 2010 BITD class 7300 series champion
1st Amercian to win a motorcycle stage in the Dakar Rally.
5 time national motorcycle champion
3 time MRAN motorcycle champion
1 time nv/ut desert racing champion
Raced motorcycles for most of my life. Everything from Dakar and Endurocross to motocross. After the last few years of bad injuries I've decided its finally time to move on to a roll cage.

[Cord]

Originally Posted by roadracer

The fact that the french and british announcers so obviously dislike him really adds to the us vs them aspect of the whole thing.

Im a fan.

I don't know about the Frenchies, but you got the British bit all wrong. He is extremely well liked over here.

[izom]

...there are french who like him... ;-)

-and i think this ones more important then just some frustrated car drivers...





-and other europeans- like me...- and my wife, and our children.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=7Y3-FsPi6pU

greetz peter