Dakar 2014 - Official Event Coverage - thank you all, lurkers and posters!!!

yes, he's Very good at it!

Seriously.. raw pace.

That was at the Dos Sertoes wasn't it? I remember that. Quite the effort Neil!

You got 2015 Malle Moto in the bag.

The F5irehose will be off the hook next year!!!!!

I shall also say goodnight - big day tomorrow! - and leave you with this...

In case you've not seen them yet - a great selection of photos (as ever) from the Boston Globe site:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2014/01/dakar_rally_2014.html

Looks like they even caught our Pointy Man(ny) in the act... and it turns out there were two of them!* - no wonder there was so much confusion!



*disclaimer. according to the caption this photo is actually from stage 11, and that is Etienne Lavigne and Dr. David Delgado... but when has that stopped stoking a good conspiracy theory eh?!

Night all.

Jx

Poor Barreda. I can't even imagine how gutted and one would feel after o many days. So much speculation about him riding aggressively, but look what they are riding through! I know I'd crash plenty. I'm gracious enough to give him a break, and I think Honda should be proud and thankful for his efforts. It's not all lost, the motorsport loving world has been watching him, and saw what Honda and the team were capable of accomplishing. HRC is a big machine, but you'd never know it from the giddy enthusiasm everyone in the team seems to ooze. I've enjoyed watching their 'behind the scenes' videos, and everyone is eager and excited. For them it's business, for us it's entertainment (sadly). Nice work Joan

Another great and constant ride for Jordi and Pain. Quietly going about their work, and with great results. I hope Yamaha allows him (Olivier) the finish he deserves.

Well it would be hard to sell the places but...easy sell for their bikes. Tested tough by bambam. Ran hard and rough, crashed and bashed, beaten and smashed....and it's still going. Ride honda tough in any terain and it won't let you down.

Sorry for the late reply still catching up lol.

How could he transform this
http://cl.ly/image/1k1H3R041x1I/Photos%20galery%20%3ADakar-8.jpg

into this

http://www.dakar.com/PHOTOS/DAK/2014/1200/47.jpg

only duct tape or with a help from a HRC parts dept ?

The first pic is from yesterday I believe

It's not anymore. He is getting towed from another racer. Guess which bike is he attached to? I give you a hint: it has three letters on its fairings but those are not HRC...

I forgot to mention that I use an ad-blocker addon to get rid of all that sh*te. Sorry...

Says who ?

I am somewhat surprised by this.

Yesterday, Dakar posted those NSF photos of Ana Polina standing in the Bivy and on the side of the road.

Today they they post this.

(Now, I am certainly not complaining. I rather like it. Just surprised. :eek1
--------------------------------------

Dakar - The Ultimate Rally Race


Today, the number 69, Hugo Payen #69, has a great support along the track from his best fan: Anna Polina!

Hoy, el número 69, Hugo Payen, tiene un gran apoyo en la pista, de su mejor fan: Anna Polina!

‪#‎dakar2014

I think she needs some help with that shirt?

Chavo Salvatierra


Ya estoy en La Serena, después de terminar la penúltima etapa. Hoy al km 9 de carrera golpee muy violentamente una piedra escondida dentro del polvo, y fui expulsado de la moto. Gracias a Dios no me paso nada, la moto se arruino el roadbook, asi que fui toda la carrera atras de Paolo Ceci . Falta poco!

This:

Isn't it ironic?

I think you are seeing a pic from just after the initial crash in the first one.

In the second, he has stopped to fix things multiple times and then ultimately pushed the bike in. It wasn't being ridden, which would have moved things around again after he 'fixed' them. You can see a broken corner of the screen in the second pic too if you look closely.

He probably stopped pushing just 100m before and cleaned everything up so it looked nice for the finish line and all the photographers that would be there.

I had intended to write NSFW earlier. No editing that post allowed apparently.

More Anna pics here: NSFW

At the end of the day, that's not a bad result for Joan. He crashed hard, he is uninjured, he made a new friend.