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

Craig is an Ironman. An utterly well-deserved finish.

Cool!

Luis: You've pulled off something that, by all accounts, is damn near impossible both from a mechanical and a physical standpoint. Huge respect - well done.

Questions:

1. Being the last one in virtually every day seems like it would take a real toll on the mind and body. With long days in the stage, lack of sleep and a host of other issues to deal with... how do you deal with these challenges, mentally and physically?

2. You've pulled off a pretty amazing feat - So what's next for you? Will you enter again? Same bike or new challenge perhaps?

SWEET!!! I love Bend!!

Amazing pictures by Marian Chytka, 30 more added here. Thought this would be a fitting pic as the thread dies down....

Every day,we are one day closer to the next Dakar....right? :huh

excellent link....thnx for sharing

How many of us have photos like that in our cockpit? I know I do! :family

Wow. Had to press F5 one more time...

I go back to the no technology zone of home (dial up land. Bad dial up at that. ) after the race is over...

and it still takes me an hour to go though what I've missed... :huh

Wah ! That's what I had planned for Monday but the whiteout kept me grounded..

I guess I need to go make Pisco's or something to get over it.


F5 has definitely been fantastic this year. Thanks to everyone.

I just added a filter: it won't allow me to view anything that says **********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************


Ah see there it goes..

Great pic, his face tells the story of his Dakar.

Well done Craig.

Does anyone know what kind of gear he is wearing (jacket an brace?)?

I've been paying way too much attention to this stuff over the last couple of years since I'm a bit of a Yamaha freak... The real issue for Yamaha is that a few years ago (2009 I think) they pulled the plug on most of their factory teams due to budget issues. I think even the Moto GP team was on the chopping block. In the end what they've done is created a factory 'support' program for all the racers that are out there, but don't directly fund the teams. This works for Yamaha for exposure and being able to offload some development to teams. The teams themselves have more of a burden, but still get the parts they need and some direct development through Yamaha. Before then I think you could consider Yamaha France as the Factory Yamaha team/support. As I think Jenny mentioned, this is Yamaha's version of what BMW has done. Exposure and development without negative feedback. (not that it wasn't negative at the time.)

The other issue for now is that Yamaha has changed their bike platforms so many times in the 450 class since the Dakar move to South America. Several riders this year were still on steel framed WR 450 kits from pre 2007. Others were on the Aluminum WR, the 2010 WR, some using the YZ and now the new 2012 WR which is a YZ frame. So it really does come down to rider preference and perhaps ability. Now that Yamaha has made a more performance oriented WR, who knows? Perhaps another sponsor will show up and do an effort like Redbull/KTM?

Monster/Yamaha? http://www.yamaha-racing.com/Racing...to the Future with Monster Energy Partnership

Who else has a global presence that would dive in the ring?

Yamaha is definitely more consumer oriented, but they like to make forays when they want to...

Not sure how to where to share...but we finally got the video of Luis on the podium posted:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/FreedomRallyRacing

Lots more to come in the next couple days if you like the page

Nate -

I'd love to hear from Luis. Questions could include:

1. Average sleep per night. How did you stay awake on the stage?
2. What happened that night in the dunes... what was it, Stage 12 maybe? 60kms from the end... we all thought you were pushing... etc.
3. How much did the bike weigh?
4. Did you have enough HP to attack the dunes or did you have to chose your lines carefully?
5. What kind of speed could you hold on the tarmac?

Justin

Dag nab Facebook...

liked

Thanks much for getting up there. Yeah Luis!
(subtitles or CC?)

General Ditto here. I'd love to hear the tech and his personal account of the adventure.

Than again is two days enough to sleep it off...

Then again, no translation is really needed...

(And he was still pushing the bike! )

This seems to be the strategy of many of the former big rallye teams, including the autos (eg. BMW, VW, Mitsubishi) that previously had monster budgets to play with. At the moment, it seems to be the energy drink companies with the most to spend. If they pull out or cut back, who knows where the top end funding for a lot of motorsport will be sourced?

Hee hee - sure enough, I've been revamping my new website all day today with all the latest developments - it should be live before the end of this week... and of course there will be a whole new thread here all about the bike development, the team behind it, and a fantastic opportunity...

Hang on in there!

Jx

same here!!