f5irehose OFFICIAL Dakar 2015 COVERAGE - THANKYOU ALL posters & lurkers

Okay... so the f5 DAKAR mods had a kind'a sort'a meeting in the basement... and this is pretty much what we came up with...



Here at ADVRider.com the collective DAKAR cyber consciousness that is the Off5icial 2015 DAKAR COVERAGE f5irehouse is thank's in no small measure to the enthusiasm, participation and CONTRIBUTIONS of you... the inmates.

Because of YOU the f5 consciousness of the DAKAR has taken on a life f5orce of it's own, and spread the "f5eeling" (almost virally ) around the globe... and while nothing can ever compare to "being there" what the ADVRider Racing forums Dakar coverage DOES achieve, is give you... the diehard internet cross country rally f5ans of the world the absolute best in real time information, coverage and banter on this the WORLDS single most all consuming annual motorsports happening!

There'll be live timing links, mischa's excellent spreadsheets and statistics, there'll be photo's, videos, tweeties, facies and even selfies... from people on site, colour commentary, insights, links, conjecture, theory, educated guesses and even rampant speculation all jumbled up in one relentless f5irehose torrent of information...

You WILL be tired, you WILL get lost, you WILL get passed by the virtual sweeper truck and you WILL be there in the end for the thrill of victory... all from the comfort of your keyboard at home. Virtual DAKAR - f5 style... THAT's how we roll here at ADVRider...

Dakar following 101...Timing and Scoring...



<HR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #575757; COLOR: #575757" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->...or how to drink from the fire hose and enjoy the taste.

The important things to know up front are the basics or Dakar rule applications. There are two sets of rules, French and English and the two may or may not be the same depending on the section.

It's also important to know that this is the ASO and the ASO may or may not apply those rules in any sort of logical or consistent manner. The good part is that the inconsistency tends to even itself out as the rally grinds on from stage to stage. That is to say in most general cases, what is considered by the fans to be an unfair ruling against a rider on day 2 may be repaid in the form of a ruling against his main rival in a later stage.

In the end of the rally, things tend to even themselves out and no real preferential treatment is afforded to anyone, even the French.

The stage:
Liaison:
Each stage can be broken up into several pieces, 'Liaison', 'connection', 'road section', 'transit section' are all the same thing. They all refer to a section of the total stage that is not timed, but is basically how the riders get from the bivouac to the start of the timed section. Liaison distances can be anywhere from zero to several hundred kilometers and can be before, after, or at both ends of the timed stage.

Depending loosely on finish placings the day before, riders are assessed a start time. Riders starting 1 through 10 are sent off in two minute intervals, starters 11 through 20 in one minute intervals, 20 on back in 30" intervals. Every now and then they'll stage mass starts of 10 or 20 riders at a time, but is may only happen a stage or two each year if at all.

Timed section:
This is where you get your boogie on. If you are in the top 30, you are dropping the hammer for a good placement. If you are farther back, you are most likely looking to survive to ride the next stage. It's important to know the motivations for participating. For the top 5 or 6, they are in for a win, nothing less is acceptable. For the rest of the top 30, they are hoping for a good placement in order to attract sponsors to have a go next year, maybe to gain some exposure or get noticed by a factory or top team, or they simply want a good showing to kick off a career in rallying.

The rest of the field consists of riders for which the finish is the win they desire. Whether it be a dream fulfilled, an adventure undertaken, or simply someone with more dollars than sense, these riders will never battle with the likes of Despres or Coma, but they will battle even more fierce opponents like sand, dunes, time, darkness, and their own will and stamina to carry on.

There are a few anomolies to these unwritten rules. Riders like Simon Pavey, Annie Seel, Mick Extance, Tina Mieir, Silvia Ginnetti, and Kemal Merkit. Riders who come back year after year, hover in the 50's to 60's as far as time and placement and gradually move up towards the end more out of attrition than outright speed. They have flashes of brilliance now and then, but they know they will not win a stage or even end up on the podium. For them and riders like them, the motivation is intensely personal and seldom discussed.

Every now and then a timed stage will include a neutralisation. A neutralization is usually an untimed section in the middle of a timed stage where riders need to get from one area to another. Usually this is when there is no feasible racing route through a particularly long distance. If it's a short go like through a village in Africa, the ASO will impose and closely monitor a speed limit. If it's long, they'll simply throw in a neutralisation section.

What we end up with is two timed sections and the total time of the stage becomes an aggregate of the two sections. Think of it like two stages in a single day with the times added together.

The end of a timed section may be right at the bivouac or there may be another liaison from the end of the timed stage to the bivouac.

Timed sections are broken into many segments denoted by waypoints. As a rider approaches a waypoint, once they get within a defined perimeter, the GPS comes to life, and an arrow points the way to the waypoint. When the rider gets to within a closer set distance from the waypoint, it registers, his time is recorded and he or she takes off in search of the next waypoint (WP). Interspersed through the stage are also Checkpoints. These are spots where (as far as I know) time is manually recorded by an ASO official and the riders card is marked. CP's may or may not match up with a WP, but they usually do.

I won't get too deep into the rules about delays, late starters, etc... as all that exists in the rules pdf here, but suffice to say, the ASO has penalties for everything and as I said above, the assessment of those penalties may or may not make sense and may or may not show on the timing lists.

Typically stage maps from the Dakar.com main page showing CP's.
These are often representative only... and NOT acurate as to the actual route as such...



A typical stage map from Dakar.com showing WP's.


From the same page, this is the stage profile of the WP's. I actually like this better than the stage map as it shows the km's. One note of caution, the ASO is seemingly intentionally vague on their km markings and whether they actually line up with WP's or just denote the end of a particular type of surface, ie. the transition from gravel to dunes, etc...


The iPhone App map is actually the best and more like the old Dakar.com it clearlt shows the CP's and a nice dashed line to the km marking. Notice for instance, CP4. Had the line not been there, it would look like CP4 lines up with km609 when in fact it is listed at km593 a full 14km's earlier. When expecting a rider to come in, 14km's in the dunes can be quite a lot of time.



Hope fully that explains the basic mechanics of the stage and the movement of riders from bivouac to bivouac each day.

Timing:
First of all, if you want to track times like the best of them, yuou have to know your lists inside and out. Don't underestimate the difficulty of trying to figure out time splits while the pressure builds about posting it first as to not repeat, or 205, already posted information. PackMule has this down pat and is faster than anyone. Sure the time sheets give the split times form the stage leader, but what if you want to see how much time 5th place Ze Helio gained on 3rd place Chaleco from waypoint 4 to waypoint 5? This is where list knowledge comes in.

Waypoint times show up in the live tracking "follow your favorites" section of the dakar.com site and checkpoint times show up in the live tracking for the day here.

As you learn to use both of these, you'll understand how they can compliment each other.

For 2011, the ASO has drastically revamped their site and really took the wind out of the timing sails. One crucial element now gone is the physical time of day that a rider posted a WP or a CP. This was immensely helpful in tracking riders that have been lost, broke down, crashed, or simply slowed down. Now we only get the physical time of day for the start of each rider.

The four most important things to remember are this:
1) ASO timing is notoriously spotty. Not the times themselves per se, but when and if they show up. Because a rider has not posted a WP time does not mean the worst. The iritrack may not be working, the ASO official may have gone for coffee, the rider may have missed the waypoint.

2) Always keep in mind the start intervals of the riders. Cyril Despres may be leading Marc Coma by 10" from WP to WP, but when Cyril posts his time at a WP and Marc's time doesn't show up 10" later, many people panic that Coma fell or slowed up, or whatever. Keep in mind that Coma may have started physically on the stage 10 minutes after Despres. Understand that Coma's time may not show up until the 10'10" have passed. Once you get that, you'll learn when to expect a rider through a WP or a CP. Packmule and Flood are the masters of this and can usually pinpoint to a few seconds when a rider's time should be.

The live WP to WP timing is usually referred to as the iritrack. The CP to CP timing is usually referred to as the Posis list after the French name for it. When you really get skilled, you can start venturing into the French version of dakar.com because for the most part, the times are updated a little faster there. I'm speaking out of class here and giving up secrets bourne out of years of mad following, comparing notes/posts, and even sometimes having our own little races as to who can mine the times and post the results first. Many times followers get stunned when Packmule posts that Coma bested Despres in the last section to pull the stage win when no one else can even see the final times displayed. Packmule's French site list skilz are strong.

3) Lastly and I suppose equally important is to know that the ASO seemingly gets lazier and lazier about updating times as the day goes on. The fast guys have their times refreshed up to the lists pretty quickly, but if you are following a guy who is languishing in 134th place and is still out on the stage 6 hours after the first guys are in, good luck on keeping track. A perfect example was Luis Belaustegui and Mike Stanfield from Stage 5. Neither one showed on the final finish times, but when I checked the start list for Stage 6 late the night of Stage 5, low and behold, there they were. What this means is that the ASO crew packed it up. The times will ultimately get recorded within the ASO, but they may never show on the list. If they are on the next days start list, they made it in.

4) Withdrawals and the withdrawal list. Every other list is secondary to the withdrawal list and subject to change. In my experience, one that never does is the withdrawal list. If your rider ends up there but it's still a mystery where they are, they are out. I have never seen a rider make the list but still somehow continue on. I am not sure why the ASO is so spot on with withdrawals and spotty on everything else, but that's how it is.

It probably is used as their catering list from bivouac to bivouac to prove to the catering crew how much food they should prepare

DSS, WP, CP, ASS, etc...
DSS - Starting point of the timed stage (French abbreviation of Departe Special Stage)
WP - Waypoint (electronically recorded time stamp)
CP - Checkpoint (manually recorded time stamp)
ASS - Not the nice Chilean girl screaming "Chaleco, Chaleco, Chaleco", but the finish of the timed stage. (French abbreviation for Arrive Special Stage)

As I mentioned, the various lists will give you just about all you need to track the riders. Don't be afraid to open up some tabs or some separate browser windows and have your various time lists up on each ready to toggle and refresh at a moments notice. The ASO's fancy new auto refresh will have you spitting nails by the fifth time you are copying a time from 14th place at WP5 and it refreshes back to the start times of the cars before you can select copy but it is what it is.

What is "F5" - many are unsure of this and what it means. For us geeks that have been hovering over time sheets for the past few years, F5 became a joke about how often we are refreshing the browsers. For most PC based computers, the F5 key refreshes the browser just like the refresh icon does, but since many are typing it saves time to hit F5 over grabbing the mouse and clicking refresh. Nothing more complicated than that.

Dakar.com website index: http://www.dakar.com/index_DAKus.html

2015 moto/quad & auto/truck regulations: http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2015/us/regulation.html

F5 ADV - Dakar 2015 - THE DAY'S ROUTE - BIKE / QUAD - collection


A = all vehicles map M/Q = special bike/quad map


THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 1 - Bike/Quad -
*********************************************
....M/Q

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 2 - Bike/Quad -
*********************************************
....M/Q

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 3 - Bike/Quad -
*********************************************
....M/Q

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 4 - Bike/Quad -
*********************************************
....M/Q

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 5 - Bike/Quad -
*********************************************
....A

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 6 - Bike/Quad -
*********************************************
....M/Q

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 7 - Bike/Quad -
*********************************************
....M/Q

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 8 - Bike/Quad -
*********************************************
....M/Q

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 9 - Bike/Quad -
*********************************************
....A

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 10 - Bike/Quad -
*********************************************
....M/Q

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 11 - Bike/Quad -
*********************************************
....M/Q

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 12 - Bike/Quad -
*********************************************
....A

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 13 - Bike/Quad -
*********************************************


F5 ADV - Dakar 2015 - THE DAY'S ROUTE - CAR - collection


A = all vehicles map C = special car map C/T = special car/truck map


THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 1 - Car -
*********************************************
....C

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 2 - Car -
*********************************************
....C

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 3 - Car -
*********************************************
....C/T

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 4 - Car -
*********************************************
....C

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 5 - Car -
*********************************************
....A

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 6 - Car -
*********************************************
....C

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 7 - Car -
*********************************************
....C

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 8 - Car -
*********************************************
....C

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 9 - Car -
*********************************************
....A

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 10 - Car -
*********************************************
....C/T

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 11 - Car -
*********************************************
....C/T

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 12 - Car -
*********************************************
....A

THE DAY'S ROUTE - Stage 13 - Car -
*********************************************
....A

Tomorrow morning, Dakar begins. For those who are there, Dakar is more than a 2 week event. It is a way of life- of going farther, faster, of never saying die, of pushing through. We live in a world that is too often reasonable, too often denatured and dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. Dakar is none of those things. It makes no apologies for drowning the dreams of half her suitors. But that's why we love it, because the feedback is honest.

For those who will start in the morning, the moment they go off the line is the culmination of a year (or more) of work. For months, there have been so many details to sweat, so much work to be done both on the race, and on paying for the race. All that ends tomorrow morning- whatever flaws you've come with, they are yours to the end. It's all over but the doing, and that's where the joy lives.

It's not just the individual experience, either. Being a part of Dakar means that for two weeks, you are surrounded by people who are just as committed as you. People who have rejected what is reasonable descend from all corners of the globe, and the atmosphere that results is charged with magic...

All of us at home get a little bit of that magic too. We get the chance to transcend ourselves for a short time, and that's what makes all the sacrifices of the race worthwhile. The world is watching, and we feed off the strength of those in the ring. We hope for the best for everyone, we wish everyone could finish, we respect their commitment, and we sit back and enjoy the show.

Thanks for getting this started!

From a mental standpoint, this is the best of times, and the worst of times, for the competitors. One moment, ecstatic highs, the next, despondent lows as you wonder what you've gotten yourself into.

Send good vibes to Antonio, Carl, and the rest tonight. It's a tough night to sleep.

D1- Pre-Start Podium & f5oto f5estival in central Beunos Aires
<HR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #575757; COLOR: #575757" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Saturday D-1:
</CUFONCANVAS><CUFONTEXT></CUFONTEXT></CUFON><CUFON style="WIDTH: 74px; HEIGHT: 15px" class="cufon cufon-vml" alt="January: "><CUFONCANVAS style="HEIGHT: 17px; TOP: -2px; LEFT: -1px"></CUFONCANVAS><CUFONTEXT></CUFONTEXT></CUFON><CUFON style="WIDTH: 40px; HEIGHT: 15px" class="cufon cufon-vml" alt="Casa "><CUFONCANVAS style="HEIGHT: 17px; TOP: -2px; LEFT: -1px"></CUFONCANVAS><CUFONTEXT></CUFONTEXT></CUFON><CUFON style="WIDTH: 65px; HEIGHT: 15px" class="cufon cufon-vml" alt="Rosada, "><CUFONCANVAS style="HEIGHT: 17px; TOP: -2px; LEFT: -1px"></CUFONCANVAS><CUFONTEXT></CUFONTEXT></CUFON><CUFON style="WIDTH: 59px; HEIGHT: 15px" class="cufon cufon-vml" alt="Buenos "><CUFONCANVAS style="HEIGHT: 17px; TOP: -2px; LEFT: -1px"></CUFONCANVAS><CUFONTEXT></CUFONTEXT></CUFON><CUFON style="WIDTH: 41px; HEIGHT: 15px" class="cufon cufon-vml" alt="Aires"><CUFONCANVAS style="HEIGHT: 17px; TOP: -2px; LEFT: -1px"></CUFONCANVAS><CUFONTEXT></CUFONTEXT></CUFON>
A huge crowd is expected outside “La Casa Rosada”, the presidential palace, to cheer on the competitors on the start podium, between 3 pm and 10.30 pm.

Local time in Chile and Argentina <IFRAME height=18 src="http://free.timeanddate.com/clock/i3fyrrzo/n51" frameBorder=0 width=82></IFRAME>






That means f5'er's... get ready for the f5renzy and f5anfaire of the grand podium ceremony! Every competitor get their moment in the sunshine as the cross the pre-start podium! Be sure and check out Myways' fantastic TV Coverage thread (stickied below this thread) and the Dakar.com site for info on where to tune in to the "LIVE" action (TV Argentina usually have an exceptional live to air coverage), and play "spot your favourites" on the live feed.
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TOMORROW, SUNDAY January 4th 2015 is the START... of the f5irehose.

SS1 is scheduled to start for the FIRST MOTO at 07:50 am Local time in Chile and Argentina <IFRAME height=18 src="http://free.timeanddate.com/clock/i3fyrrzo/n51" frameBorder=0 width=82></IFRAME>


So sit back, strap yourselves in folks, it's gonna be a wild ride here for the next two weeks... some of us will make it... some of us won't... but just like the carbon based DAKAR, f5 virtual DAKAR is something special... all who are touched by it will be richer for the experience in some way (or maybe just certifiable like the rest of us? :huh)

Yes inmates, here it is... comin' at you live by fibre, uncorked and flowing in real time at a 1000 posts per hour... it's the one, the only ADVRider - F5 VIRTUAL DAKAR 2015...

it's the f5irehose...!!!

7:50 AM is the start for the SS1 (selective stage).

<TABLE><THEAD><TR id=nb-a><TH id=s-name>Special</TH><TH id=cat-a>Cars</TH><TH id=cat-m>Bikes</TH><TH id=cat-q>Quads</TH><TH id=cat-c>Trucks</TH></TR></THEAD><TBODY><TR class=itl><TH id=s-start class=itl>Start</TH><TD headers="s-start cat-a">07:42</TD><TD headers="s-start cat-m">05:15</TD><TD headers="s-start cat-q">05:15</TD><TD headers="s-start cat-c">10:29</TD></TR><TR class=itd><TH id=s-start>Connection</TH><TD headers="s-start cat-a">144km</TD><TD headers="s-start cat-m">144km</TD><TD headers="s-start cat-q">144km</TD><TD headers="s-start cat-c">144km</TD></TR><TR class=itl><TH id=s-start>Special stage</TH><TD headers="s-start cat-a">170km</TD><TD headers="s-start cat-m">175km</TD><TD headers="s-start cat-q">175km</TD><TD headers="s-start cat-c">175km</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

local time in Beunos Aires is now;

Argentina <IFRAME height=18 src="http://free.timeanddate.com/clock/i3fyrrzo/n51" frameBorder=0 width=82></IFRAME>




the f5irehose goes live at 07:50 AM local argentine time....

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F5ire in the hole !!!

I'm in.

Martina

Can I get a whoop whoop!!

And the F5 begins

Stage one is a shorty but every year holds some drama

GOOOOO!!!!

donkey!

I'm in, never been out

pheww...let's go again... that was a tricky start gate mr doyle



edit..ooops mr bluebull