My self and 3 friends are doing a tour chasing the Dakar as best we can In January. We will be riding XR650's I have heard that it is possible to buy bivouac access passes, but don't know where to purchase them from. Ideally we would like to gain access on the night prior to the rest day, then spend the rest day wandering around checking it all out and getting some pics. While trying to stay out of everyone's way. I have sent off several emails to the Dakar organisers with no reply. Anyone have any idea who to talk to. I have heard that t can cost Upton 4 or 5 hundred dollars and initially I thought it was too expensive, but after some consideration that thisnistheonlytime I will ever get a chance to see it up close so blow the money. Any info much appreciated.
usually the ASO gets back to you I know they have with any questions I have had. http://www.aso.fr/us/homepage.html
The best way to get access to Dakar bivouacs is as a guest of a team. Contact Dave through the www.rallymanagementservices.com website. He'll be down there running an assistance team. fun fun Charlie
Ned won't be there this year. You need to talk to someone on an assistance team for the Dakar 2013, and try to get in free. The ASO will allow a small number of day passes for team sponsors, family, etc.. Or, pay the ASO for their special tourist pass. Trust me on this, I've been on 5 Dakars as either a racer or team manager and got plenty of people into the bivouacs. (Including that very pretty girl in Chile in 2010.)
Ahh so thats the secret. Need to find a pretty girl and bring her in with me. Shouldnt be too hard with my oustanding looks and bright personality. Do Chilean girls like short fat bald aussie blokes????
As mentioned, you can buy a pass from the ASO. $500 for a day pass (I think) or get someone on the inside to ask at the Org tent to get a pass for you as you are "one of the teams sponsors". This may or maynot work depending on who is asking and who they are asking... If you do a buy a pass buy it for the night before rest day. They wont let you bring a back pack in or anything...nor will you have access to food or water...but you could likely spend 2 nights and the entire rest day bumming around the bivouac. As you mentioned, after spending the expense of getting there and whatnot the extra bit of $ to get access in is well wroth with it IMHO
Nope. A pass has to be purchased in advance from ASO and from what I understand its a bit of PITA to get. A well formed email representing yourself as "media" may help Maybe ask Bluebull (Neil), he bought a pass or two last year if memory serves
As Charlie said the easiest way is to get a hold of passes from a team Many teams get passes and do not have anyone to give them too, because they do not know anyone in Lima It is not my case, but it is for most people in my team. Seek us out and we can pass some along Freedom Rally Racing. Regards Luis We will be in this hotel http://www.inkariaparthotel.com.pe/index.php Suerte Luis
Louis That is a very generous offer. I have managed to secure some passes to the bivouac on the rest day in Tucuman, but if you have any spare passes for Lima I would love to grab them off you. If its still ok I will try and track you down in Lima. Thanks Guy
It's all been said here... but I'd add something regarding the non-Bivouac access to the race. The ASO will try to steer you to a few "spectator" points that are generally quite accessible, and quite boring. However, the course generally has lots of locals at interesting spots, so clearly people know where it's going through... if I were doing it, I'd check things out in Lima, get a day ahead and get some local intel on where to check the race out. It'd be worth a day in the sun to watch everyone from Cyril all the way back to the Camion pass through. Have fun!
Thanks for the tip Neduro. We have secured our passes to the bivouac on the rest day in Tucoman. The rest we will just play by ear and work it out on the day before. Only 19 days to go.m
Long story, my girlfriend and I have just caught up with the rally in Tucuman and will be following it the rest of the way on a rented f650gs. We have been backpacking for the last few months without much access to the internet and this part of the trip was a complete surprise for me (21st birthday present from her and a heap of friends). We weren't organised enough to research bivouac entry and I only found this thread today... is there likely to be any way we can enter this or any future bivouacs to have a bit of a look? Last night we had a chat to some of the Australian riders through the fence (we are from Australia and got their attention with an "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie") and they seemed to think it was next to impossible. I know it's probably too late but though it was worth asking. Also, if mcguyver or anyone else following would like to catch up while on the road, we are Pete and Suzie and would love to meet you! Cheers!
Peter & Suzie We were in the Tucaman bivvy today. Tomorrow we will be at el rodeo spectator point till about 2pm. We had trouble securing our bikes. Look for a silver Nissan twin cab filled with noisy Aussies and 1 xr650l. Cheers Guy Ps very difficult to get into bobby unless you know someone. We paid 400 us to get into club Dakar but it was worth every cent. I will update my blog with pics later tonight.
Yesterday we (by we I mean Suzie, everything was in Spanish and I had no idea what was going on) had a bit of a chat with an Argentinian selling merchandise. When we turned again up this evening he had us a pair of wristbands. Wouldn't take one peso more than the 20 they cost him (about 4 USD between us). It was brilliant. It did mean we spent the evening there instead of sleeping though so we might not catch you up tomorrow. We'll still keep an eye out and maybe see you later on. I'll check out the blog another time. Did you mean Recreo for the spectator point? Cheerio!
+1, great photos. Looks like you met all the right people - we only got in in the evening so while we caught the vehicles, a lot of the competitors weren't around. My only disappointment was that we didn't manage to find Simon Pavey or his bike, where was he? One of the Race 2 Recovery team mistook me for a mate of his so once we finished being confused we ended up having a good chat with a whole bunch of them. Good one guys, hope you've seen some good racing today.
