Just another day in the Robby Gordon office: http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/v1/y2/r/5l8_EVv_jyW.swf?v=195527170589162&ev=0
YouTube also: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1wkKDNmsxRg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Last year Johnny Campbell was RGs copilot and after the dakar he said it was the most harrowing ride he has ever had . <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/--BnRdRx2Xg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Wow, all of that and he still can't keep up with what he calls a girl's car......WTF? No one has ever said he doesn't put on a good show........
That's why the ASO let's him play, fantastic show!!! That and he keeps the pedal to the metal that the fans love!!! And then there's us 'Muricans that LOVE that V8 Song.
Support team response to the hummer flipping over: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Exy3h9kG_wE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Ah yes, the prang where he was 'barely moving', and the car 'balanced on it's nose for a minute' ...........................got to love "racers" under, and over exaggerations. Seems we All do it, no matter what level we are at. Something I've thought for quite a while : Aren't 4 + wheel racers allowed to take a winch / winches with them????????????????? OK, I know you just can't keep loading more and more gear into a vehicle, but with the way so many turn turtle, get stuck, I'd have thought a winch set up (and I don't mean just the classic front mounted winch - I mean a multi mount winche / winches), together with a telescopic strut / A arm(s), to provide a fulcrum, would be an absolutely invaluable thing to have. I honestly can only think that a winch must be banned. Could anyone shed some light on this for me, please? And no, you don't need a tree / immovable boulder to have as an anchor - Very effective 'sand anchors' are made. I can scoot across the river here, and go to a FWD specialist, and buy a hand actuated, or powered winch that would easily pull back a Truggy, a Buggly (I think they look trick!) or Geoff Ohlholm's Toyota. Probably even one of those Berserko Truckasaurus's. Any number of fitment points could be set up on the cages / chassis's. RG squished his rads - and I can appreciate a 'sacrificial' section in front of the main chassis - but as light looking and as exposed that the 'sacrificial' section' seemed, that the rads were in, and as exposed as the rads were - nearly right at the top of the chassis cage, I think a valuable lesson may have been learned for future tilts at Dakar.
There is no rule against carrying a portable winch (or even having a fitted on car version fot that matter)... only the (percieved) weight penalty of having one (and a dual battery system to power it... if in the situation (often) that the engine is not running to provide the current. but often it is deemed quicker/easier to use tow straps/snatch strap to right a vehicle via assistance from another competitor (one of advantages to running in a multi car team). I've often seen "roofed" cars righted in the sand (not unlike RG's stack) using a combination of belly wrapping the car with a tow strap, and burying the spare wheels as a block/ground anchor point - this prevents th car from just sliding along the sand on the roof). With a bit of muscle (get it on the side) and a gentle tug from another car/or two... often you can have the car back on all four without too much drama (it requires someone to stop and assist for four/five minutes though... provided you have everythiing ready to go... not sitting on the satellite phone relating you predicament to someone who could give a f5%&! ) Or you can alwways wait for the T4 trucks toa rrive on the scene... they're used to righting all kinds of f5ยค% ups in the dunes!
...he dont take the whole thing too serious- thats why i love him too........ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ca7_C_vZyw&feature=player_embedded#! ...did i say yesterday he was the fastest buggy...again! AND yes im a little bit happy nassers out again because last year he was talking sh.t bout robbys car!!! http://api.ning.com/files/mzLbifxKb...JRVWfvDl4DoI84ex77EDykxqCflvFZE/stage10gg.jpg
Whoever is putting these videos together (don't know if it's NBC Sports or Speed Energy), but they're doing a fantastic job this year. (At the risk of seeming insufferably self-important, I want to take credit for their choice to use spectator video extensively. If you have evidence to the contrary, don't burst my bubble, I can't handle the truth.) There's no ASO footage in this, just on-board video, bivouac video, and spectator video, and that's what makes it so fun to watch. <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/57494547" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/57494547">2013 Team SPEED Dakar Stage 9</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user15665540">PlanetRobby</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
I don't understand your statement "the ASO let's him play". He paid his entry fee just like everyone else, and was actually excluded last year before the end of the rally. Nasser and Carlos along with Chicherit and the SMG buggies have "Murcian" V-8s powering them.
Wong Way Wobby! <iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4yB6vVP3B9s" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>