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

[Hayduke]

Originally Posted by PackMule

Driffy


This is where the support group meets, right?

[Drif10]

Originally Posted by PackMule

Driffy


This is where the support group meets, right?

Uhh... that smacks of some touchy-feely 'we're gonna help each other break the habit' kinda thing.

Whereas, this is where we come to get our fix, with our own kind.

[Brimstone]

Howdy all!

Nice to see all the familiar faces... 50 pages already... sheesh. I'm still stuck in scrutineering... something about my CTI not being legal...

I probably won't be drinking from the firehose much this year, more of a firehose lurker. Still working behind the scenes though to provide some value to the "other" media thread.

Go Helder!

[Bluebull2007]

Originally Posted by troy safari carpente

SS 2 Tactix...?

While the x5 (prologue) time coefficient for the stage results in SS1 for the MOTOS seems to have thrown a spanner in the works of some riders minds as to how to lay up tactically for the start of the rally (off piste/dune navigation stage) for tomorrows SS 2 (PISCO - PISCO)... the tactics in the AUTO field are somewhat more along the traditional lines of the scared hares and the carnivourous tortoises.

In the MOTO's some of the experienced punters (like Chaleco and verhoven) went full attack and will lead off the front... while Dakar supemo despres slots in at a conservatively fast pos #5... still mebbe a bit further ahead than he had anticipated?

In contrast, Helder had a bit of a nap and is off in 29th tomorrow... but that just could translate to a top three time for him tomorrow, if dust or fog is not a problem and passing can be doone quickly/easily?

In the AUTO field, there seems to be some pretty clear battle lines drawn...

All of the top five (except alvarez in the Overdrive Hilux) are in 2WD's... arguably very fast on the offroad terrain... BUT with only 2WD one has to drive forcefully and with good line selection and commitment - if to avoid getting stuck bogged - if there are big dunes...

In contrast positions 6 to 10 are occupied (by what I consider) to be the favourites amongst the Auto podium contenders... ALL of them in 4WD vehicles (four of them are from the formidable MINI skirt girl car team ).

in this respect I can see that the 4WD carnivore tortoises will shadow the faster "2WD hares" into the dunes... and if any of the buggies flounder... they will be devoured...

Look to see three MINI's in the top five and two Toyotas... maybe a frenzied Qatar Bugly in there as well, if the fan don't pop, or a front wheel part company... one of them will have drama's I think.

And meanwhile SPEED Gordon...? Well he will be back in the cheap seats, passing T4 trucks and high number auto's by the fistfull in an attempt to "go for the win".

g'night f5'ers!

Originally Posted by Deadly99

Tomorrow forecasted to be dusty ?

One thing is for sure, so long as there are dunes the dust will not be a problem. I things half the day will be dusty and half dunes.

So for the guys hanging back today: they will have much better times.

Originally Posted by Brodovitch

Memo to Eurosport: Enough with the ski guy already

Originally Posted by Brodovitch

and after ski dude, Jacky Ickx?

double

that's it, I'm tweeting Carlton

My thoughts exactly, who the fark is he anyway? Least it was only 30 seconds this time round. And please, we have the old stories of the Dakar, we want to see more of this one! Come on!

Flood: You have the secret way with Carlton, please get them to complain to the freaking ASO about the crap, limited footage.

Anyone who can contact Carlton please do so!

Originally Posted by JR_FX

At least now Robby has to go full speed to regain some dignity, after the stuff he said about the Mini and the buggys... He has to put his car were the mouth was!!

Its going to be hilarious if he gets stuck again tomorrow.

Originally Posted by 8340SU

don't look back tomorrow, Hélder



more here

You have Produced some real gem links 8340SU, thanks

Originally Posted by tehdutchie

Not just show but some go too this year;

Yes I love Frans, but he is a poser of note. Did you see that video of him a couple of months ago when he slipped on surface while riding off a 1.5m high stage and crashed down off the side? He was fine, but jumped up quickly, left his bike lying there for his assistants to to pick up, leapt back up onto the stage and gave the roaring crowd a little wave to tell them he was okay before slipping away.

Last year we had lunch with him in the bivouac in Nazca and he was all undressed to keep cool (as you do on a hot day after a hard day of riding). A camera crew appeared and asked for an interview. He responded by asking if they would only film him from the waist up. They agreed so he donned all his gear but only from the waist up, but stood there in his underrods and socks giving the interview in front of the rest of us. It was hilarious.

Originally Posted by 8340SU

tweet

What's really funny about this picture that most of you probably don't know is that theyre pissing against the wall of this new super-exclusive, newly constructed golf club for the rich and famous in Peru down at Asia.

Originally Posted by johnBOYhenson

so, cars are faster than bikes, no surprise there. trucks are slower than cars and bikes, but quads are slowest of all. i've never ridden one, what explains this? i thought that generally a 4wheel vehicle is going to be faster in these kinds of conditions....obviously i'm not making reference to hp, torque or weight, but still i would expect the quads to be faster than the big lumbering trucks....

thoughts from the f5 pros?

Not that Im a pro by any means but I would say the quads are more sluggish on 2 track because of the widths of their tyres. In sand, its a power to weight ratio that makes the bikes faster. Thats my guess anyway.

[Bluebull2007]

Originally Posted by Brimstone

Howdy all!

Nice to see all the familiar faces... 50 pages already... sheesh. I'm still stuck in scrutineering... something about my CTI not being legal...

I probably won't be drinking from the firehose much this year, more of a firehose lurker. Still working behind the scenes though to provide some value to the "other" media thread.

Go Helder!

Brimstone!

We have been waiting for you!

[too old]

G’day Ozzy – bit of a lie in for you guys after the late night, but a tough week to come, your boys times a bit surprising in SS1 though , a long week, but though they would have been a bit better placed?
Europe still asleep and the Americas in various stages of thinking about bed.
First day of the week here in Dubai and a quick look in before the days work and an earlyish finish ahead of SS2.
Well, were HRC happy – they will say they were – Javier certainly .

After his big smash last year he has ridden conservatively all year, plus if he was riding no. 2 to Philipe then that’s where he stayed – not any more though, a good rider, spent months getting his confidence back, heading up the HRC/Honda South America attack – is he back? Certainly hope so – 8^th start, good position, but within the 3 minute spacing’s.

Johnny – 49^th 6.30 down x 5 = 32.30! – a long way back even from day 1, but hey, he is only 25 secs (x5) behind Fishy!
Ok JC is not there to win, riding team support (won’t be disrespectful to use the WC word) he is supporting Helder and Now Javier also, he is probably a little further back than wished, but he is there for the whole 2 weeks, so that’ll work!

Helder – a slight misjudgment? – maybe, but the best time of the week to have one.
4 mins 25 down x 5 = 22 .10 down – not great but a couple of years ago in his first rally and after blowing an engine on day 3 and starting from the back, Sam (yes, had to get him in, bit like football and England in the 1966 world cup ) took the stage and 28 mins of Coma in the process who eventually won – some other serious riders too.

So maybe Helder was considering that – I doubt it though and even though he will be in the 30 sec starts and with the top 10 having to do some hard navigation with the 3 minute intervals (Helder will be navigating of course) he should pull time back – expect a stage win or very close. But he will pull plenty of time back today.

Early days, but SS2 will be interesting and will start to sort the men from the boys – mostly dunes, expect James West #24 to show good on the day and Seb Husseini in the quads – both sand boys and Dubai "locals"!
Now to work


Oh and about 50% of the pre event posting on the ramp and prologue - would say F5 is in the top 10 at the moment


PS - Its ok for the most of the boys to be more than 1/2 hour down being relatively happy - but they are now only there to finish and secure a reasonable position - tough to be podium from there, but not impossible if you are Alien calibre

Ok bollocks'd that one the ASO already account for the 5x - comment still stands, but Helder didn't miscalculate - got it about right - what would really make me think otherwise

[kaia]

full re-posting of the dakar.com photos over in the Dakar 2013 Media Thread.

my favorites:


dusting the fans:



robby stuck:



hover toyota:



qatar almost-drift:



helicopter tracking a moto (CDP?):



the fans are out in force!



dunes and a buggy's dust cloud:


check the Dakar 2013 Media Thread for all of them.

[EKIN]

Thanks for the nightcap Nate!

[kaia]

as stage 2 discussions and expectation start up... let's take a peek at the stage itself.










thieved from the official Dakar mobile app, re-hosted for your pleasure.

[batardsalamano]

Originally Posted by Bluebull2007

What's really funny about this picture that most of you probably don't know is that theyre pissing against the wall of this new super-exclusive, newly constructed golf club for the rich and famous in Peru down at Asia.

Hilarious!

[nry]

Report from the GHR boys.


D-Day for GHR! The 2013 Dakar Rally has started.

Two years after their debut GHR Honda's second Dakar Rally campaign is finally under way in South America. Following 5 days of preparation and build up in Peru's capital, Lima, the four Honda CRF450X motorcycles and one Honda TRX700XX quad entered by GHR were waved off the start line with 444 other competitors and their machines. Embarking south on a scenic coastal liaison leg, they traced the coastline for 250km to arrive in Pisco where the racing began. The prologue stage of the 2013 event was a warm-up sprint loop through sand dunes merely 13km in length, so brief that most riders finished in under an hour before returning to the Pisco bivouac.

Lead GHR rider #156 Todd Smith from Condobolin finished in 34th place from 183 starters.

"Well, day 1 is done and dusted... I'm pretty happy with how it went, and just cruised through to come in 34th - a great place to start Day 2. I've done my map and the track looks good for tomorrow - some dunes and some road sections. It should be a good stage to learn the roadbooks and GPS. The bike is great, everything worked well."

Second time Dakar entrant, #131 Warren Strange from Western Australia was the next GHR bike to clear the stage and stands in 59th place. A veteran desert racer, he's aware that the race can't be won on the opening stage but it can certainly be lost. Tomorrow his start in the top third of the field will allow him to start chipping away at his objective of a top 20 finish.

GHR have within their ranks two South African riders, both of whom raced the 2012 Australasian Safari with the Australian GHR team. #89 rider Brett Cummings from Witbank - winner of the 2012 Dakar Challenge division at Safari - crossed the line in 103rd place today. The 29 year old engineer has been training hard in preparation for this year's Dakar with fellow South African competitor #91 Glen Grundy, 48, who ended the day in 168th on the time sheet. While Cummings is aiming for a top 50 outright placing in the event, Grundy's sole objective is to finish the race.

Victorian quad rider #274 Paul Smith started today as the first ever Australian to enter the quad class at Dakar. The 34 year old farmer is a seasoned competitor on 4 wheels and concluded the prologue 13th in the field of 38. He has his sights set on a podium spot this year.

Today's results have determined the start order Stage 2, consisting of an 85km liaison and 242km special over mixed terrain in the table lands to the west of the Andes. 3 sections of dunes will test the riders' navigation skills and endurance before they return to Pisco for the second night.

For photos and up to date news on the team members, visit

http://ghrhonda.dirtbike.com.au/blog/

[Wyvern]

for today / the great info here on ADV
&
for "to old"

[Dread Pendragon]

Originally Posted by Bluebull2007

Flood: You have the secret way with Carlton, please get them to complain to the freaking ASO about the crap, limited footage.

Anyone who can contact Carlton please do so!

Listening to him on Eurosport, I start suspecting that he spends more than a little time here. Maybe that isn't true, but since advrider is the Rome that all roads lead to in the English speaking world, it seems like an ideal resource for anyone working to stay up-to-date and in-the-know.

It's information overkill, but if you simply wanted the best information you'd just need to follow a handful of inmates here and skim past the rest.

Ahem . . . I meant, in theory, were I to somehow, legally, find a way to watch Eurosport here in the states, I would probably hold the aforementioned views.

[kaia]

webventure stage 1 pics up, posted over in the media thread.


my favorites:

Javier Pizzolito from HRC:



pyndon, cool as ice:



robby stuck on the dune.



#505 - MARDEEV AYRAT / BELYAEV AYDAR / MIRNIY ANTON



to not flood the conversation with pics, everything is over in: 2013 Dakar Media Thread

[Uller]

Seems like trackingdakar.nl is missing Caselli

Here is the Dakar site:

31	013	FARRES GUELL (ESP)	HONDA	000:08:51	00:01:00	00:00:00

32	029	CASELLI (USA)	KTM	000:08:51	00:01:00	00:00:00
33	082	GUINDANI (FRA)	YAMAHA	000:08:54	00:01:03	00:00:00

on trackingdakar.nl:

31	(167)	013 - FARRES GUELL Gerard (ESP)	HONDA	+00:00:27	(30)	+00:01:00
	32	(103)	082 - GUINDANI Vincent (FRA)	YAMAHA	+00:00:27	(28)	+00:01:03

Is it just me??