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

[PeterW]

Originally Posted by El Ponkin

Question for previous participants: Ref Upper body clothing do most guys wear seperate body armour over the motorcross shirts and then no jacket armour, just noticed David Casteau getting dressed that way in one of the clips.I take it you also use compression clothing underneath or does it all get too hot.

Those guys have far bigger budgets than I do, but I've found that the most effective gear to deal with heat here in Oz - under much less trying conditions - pootling around dirt roads on a DL ;). With the armour *slightly* too large it sucks air around as you move so it's cooler than you'd expect.

Pete (Who admits he could be 100% wrong here when it comes to Dakar)

[ferals5]

Stage7 Calama-Salta hitting the heights

There will be two separate bivouacs in Salta for the car/truck and bike/quad categories. However, all the categories will tackle the same 218 kilometre special stage. The climb up the Andes Mountain range will take place early in the morning as the link stage takes a convoy of the riders and crews up to a record altitude of 4,975 m, reached at the highest pass in the whole of Argentina. On the special stage, the altimeter will be reading between 3,400 m and 4,462 m. Another important figure is the one indicated by the thermometer: in this season and at the highest altitude there will be an average temperature of 15 degrees. The biggest difficulty will reside in how to manage effort as well as tiredness, whose effects are accentuated day after day. The suspense is still total two days away from the rest day, because the car, bike and truck general standings are still only made up of small gaps and mechanical problems, driving errors and bad luck still could throw a spanner in the works for the leaders between Chile and Argentina.

[K_N_Fodder]

You guys managed to break Mischa's tracker while everybody is sleeping??

I'll try to track down the Malle Moto list for him.

edit: ha... Google takes me to http://trackingdakar.com/malle-moto/ but I don't think the list is quite up yet ;)

[Wyvern]

^^^
Where did you find the stage info ?

[kaia]

Originally Posted by ferals5

Stage7 Calama-Salta hitting the heights

There will be two separate bivouacs in Salta for the car/truck and bike/quad categories. However, all the categories will tackle the same 218 kilometre special stage. The climb up the Andes Mountain range will take place early in the morning as the link stage takes a convoy of the riders and crews up to a record altitude of 4,975 m, reached at the highest pass in the whole of Argentina. On the special stage, the altimeter will be reading between 3,400 m and 4,462 m. Another important figure is the one indicated by the thermometer: in this season and at the highest altitude there will be an average temperature of 15 degrees. The biggest difficulty will reside in how to manage effort as well as tiredness, whose effects are accentuated day after day. The suspense is still total two days away from the rest day, because the car, bike and truck general standings are still only made up of small gaps and mechanical problems, driving errors and bad luck still could throw a spanner in the works for the leaders between Chile and Argentina.

oh look! a normal north-up map!

Originally Posted by Wyvern

^^^*
Where did you find the stage info ?

http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/s...y-s-route.html

[ferals5]

Originally Posted by Wyvern

^^^
Where did you find the stage info ?

http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/s...ge-course.html

[ferals5]

Good of Barreda to stop to check on Laia when she bogged.... I'd have stopped too

[K_N_Fodder]

A short article from earlier on with some video of the biv with Malle Moto guys... apologies if it's a repost in the last few hundred pages :)

Anthony Clavane's Dakar Diary

His other posts here.

[kaia]

Originally Posted by cyborg

Neduro can fill-in here, but he wore just the Klim jacket with armor in it and no pressure suit, which from my desert and hot technical offroad riding experiences, gets really hot in slow and tough riding especially if it's a hot day. Ned could just remove his jacket and be down to a t-shirt, very handy. I think Pyndon has the same setup (?).

pyndon is wearing the same setup, except he's wearing the 2013 version of the adventure rally jacket. his blog post about the jacket adv thread regarding same jacket

[Nitro]

Hi guys
Im so far behind now, i will need a marathon night to catch up.
Went to Burry Standers funeral yestersday.
He was our grestest mountain biker and was killed on a training ride.

If you look at the in car pics from Giniel De Viliers he has a pic of Burry on the firewall behind his head.

Anyway here is the email from Ingo's wife

Hi everyone

I have to say before I start this update... I haven’t, in the 3 Dakar’s EVER heard Ingo so down during his call... it’s amazing how it automatically effects me- very emotional and i have drawn a blank on what to actually tell you guys...let see.

After a long connection stage early this morning, ( 04h30 their time) .. they were all off- Ingo in 57^th ( yesterday’s finishing position) with the time changing yesterday for them.. they all only had about 3 hours sleep.

@ the start there was 28 bikes out
29 cars
7 quads
7 trucks
As i write this.. there is already 34 bikes
38 cars
9 quads
8 trucks out of the rally right now... totalling in 89 that have fallen out of the rally-not even half way into it.

Ingo called.. and I expected my chirpy happy dude.. instead I had a frustrated...irritated unhappy one.
His exact words were “ fu*k it.. what a Sh*t stage.. from start to finish- what a F*ck up- not my kind of racing at all- it was flat out tracks.. guys could do 160km.
He got stuck behind a quad and just couldn’t pass.. it was so dusty- that he felt it was too dangerous to even attempt it. He says there were stones all over the stage- once hitting one and almost going over the handle bars
Talking a bit more.. i could hear he was in to much of a “temper “ to talk.. so we ended the call.
He called 5min later- apologizing.. i could feel his emotions over the phone.. he is bursting with frustration.
He finished 62^nd today... making his overall 52^nd. Its not bad AT ALL.. but can understand his frustration- if you know you didn’t finish for the day, where you would have liked to.

Tomorrow night is the marathon stage... where all the competitors, do not meet up with their service crew at tomorrows biviac...taking with them, only what they have on them for the night.
they will all sleep in one big tent (with apparently no mattress’s or sleeping bags) they will be given – a towel..soap...poncho...beanie ( its coooold there)
Therefore –a lot of bike prepping and once over’s need to be done tonight to make sure the bikes can ride for two days –“service free” For instance... new tyres.. new chain.. new fuel filters... oil filters.. ( you bikers reading this- know the drill )

Tomorrows stage takes them from Calama to Salta.. over the Andes mountains... with 586km being the connection and 220km actual racing. The special stage will start at an altitude of 4975 metres on top of Argentina’s highest mountain pass. During the actual race- they will deal with the altitude ranging from 3400 metres to 4000metres. I remember the guys talking about this, when they were here training... guys feel sick... loose energy...
Ingo is prepped with warm snow gloves... and a balaclava for the ride. If you remember – last time he rode with plastic bags over his hands ( he is moving up in the world)

[K_N_Fodder]

Check this guy out. Wow! (Amazed if this isn't a repost....sorry in advance.)

19 years old, doing it Trunk Bike style.
Robert Van Pelt

54th place after Stage 6!

51

147 - VAN PELT Robert (NLD)

HONDA

19h22m35s

+03:47:12

+00:10:00

[MacMan]

Originally Posted by Bluebull2007

It'll be a crying shame if that true.

On a nother note the South African riders were saying the Calama bivouac (today) was by far the worst so far. It was described as "bivouac in the middle of a field of fesh fesh". Dust everywhere, a lot of wind. Everyone wearing goggles, and no one able to eat because the food was full of sand.

Positively delightful. Still want to do the Dakar?

I had a call reflecting the same thing "a knee-deep dust bowl, just like the last one but filled with lovely people"

[Screamingeagle3]

Morning all, a new day, new etape......

[Vicks]

just conjured up a name for Manuel...

Manuel .. the Mousse Hunter.

If only some one could photoshop a mousse running away from a rally bike riding, crouched over, gun toting Manny !!!

[kaia]

Originally Posted by Screamingeagle3

Morning all, a new day, new etape......

speaking of... here's the etape video from stage 6


Stage 6 - Car/ Bike - Stage Summary (Arica Calama)