Jan 11th, 2013 Dakar Rally Stage 7 Race Info & Discussion

Join in and discuss all the action from Stage 7 of the 2013 Dakar Rally. Robby Gordon recorded his 2nd straight 3rd place finish in Stage 6, moving up to 23rd overall. Gordon is still down over 5 hours in the overall, but will get yet another good starting spot in an attempt to win his first stage of the rally. The cars are slated to begin the special section of stage 7 at 10:51am/et and Robby Gordon will begin his special section around 10:56am/et. Raceday chat will be available throughout the entire 2013 Dakar Rally. Raceday chat now works on the Ipad & Iphone.

2013 Photos

STAGE 7 TRACKING

STAGE 7: CALAMA > SALTA

Connection 534km | Special Stage 220km | Total 754km

COURSE OVERVIEW

The ascent of the Andes Cordillera will be in the small hours, taking all the drivers and teams in convoy for a liaison stage finishing at a record altitude of 4,975 metres, at the top of Argentina’s highest mountain pass. During the special stage, the needle of the altimeter will fluctuate between 3,400 m and 4,000 m, but the speedometer will rarely go below 100 km/h, despite the lack of power which will affect all the vehicles. Still on the subject of figures, at this time of the year and at the highest altitude, the thermometer will display an average temperature of 15 degrees. When all is said and done, the biggest difficulty will be for motorcyclists to maintain their stamina. They will be welcomed in a bivouac which has been relocated for the first part of their marathon stage.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by roy on January 11, 2013 at 12:22pm

is Sainz out of the race?

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Permalink Reply by J.R Ramirez on January 11, 2013 at 12:24pm

Yes, broken engine.

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Permalink Reply by geothermaljones on January 11, 2013 at 12:28pm

@wp3

Pos. N° Name Make Time Variation Penalty
1 300 AL-ATTIYAH (QAT), CRUZ (ESP) BUGGY 000:56:45 00:00:00
2 302 PETERHANSEL (CHE), COTTRET (FRA) MINI 000:57:23 00:00:38 00:00:00
3 315 GORDON (USA), WALCH (USA) HUMMER 000:57:28 00:00:43 00:00:00

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Permalink Reply by Ray Therat on January 11, 2013 at 12:34pm

Looks like RG's lost 5 more seconds and fallen behind Peterhansel at WP3 into 3rd place. Think the Mini's twin turbos are giving a little more of an edge to the "bad guy"?

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Permalink Reply by geothermaljones on January 11, 2013 at 12:50pm

Pos. N° Name Make Time Variation Penalty
1 300 AL-ATTIYAH (QAT), CRUZ (ESP) BUGGY 000:56:45 00:00:00
2 309 CHICHERIT (FRA), GARCIN (FRA) SMG 000:57:08 00:00:23 00:00:00
3 302 PETERHANSEL (CHE), COTTRET (FRA) MINI 000:57:23 00:00:38 00:00:00
4 315 GORDON (USA), WALCH (USA) HUMMER 000:57:28 00:00:43 00:00:00
5 301 DE VILLIERS (ZAF), VON ZITZEWITZ (DEU) TOYOTA 000:58:20 00:01:35 00:00:00
6 313 TERRANOVA (ARG), FIUZA (PRT) BMW 000:58:36 00:01:51 00:00:00
7 307 NOVITSKIY (RUS), ZHILTSOV (RUS) MINI 000:59:30 00:02:45 00:00:00
8 316 CHABOT (FRA), PILLOT (FRA) SMG 000:59:55 00:03:10 00:00:00
9 306 ALVAREZ (ARG), GRAUE (ARG) TOYOTA 001:01:12 00:04:27 00:00:00

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Permalink Reply by SlyFoxx on January 11, 2013 at 12:41pm

Good run so far. Hope the really high altitude section goes smoothly.

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Permalink Reply by Rob Hoban on January 11, 2013 at 12:55pm

Robby mentioned on yesterday's broadcast that the Hummer was down on power in the higher altitudes. Is this an advantage to the minis?

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Permalink Reply by redlinetech on January 11, 2013 at 1:04pm

Yep, The minis have Turbos. Theyll keep compressing, maintainong power instead of losing due to thinner air

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Permalink Reply by mark roye on January 11, 2013 at 2:10pm

Not quite correct. The turbo diesels also will be down on power, just not to the same degree. Although the turbo is still compressing air, it also has lower density air to compress.The math works out like this: For every 2,000 feet of altitude there is a 1 psi drop in ambient air pressure. So at 10,000 feet ambient pressure is 9.7 psi. Sea level is 14.7 psi. A naturally aspirated engine will make power at the rate of the pressure at altitude divided by that at sea level. So at 10,000 ft, Hummer power will be 9.7 psi/14.7 psi or 66%. A turbocharged engine will also loose power, but at a lesser rate. It is a function of turbo boost pressure. Let's assume they are running a 20 psi turbo boost. The math for 10,000 feet then becomes (9.7 psi+20 psi boost)/(14.7psi+20psi boost), or 85%. So the Hummer at 10,000 feet is at 66% of full rated power, the turbo engined Mini at 85% power.

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Permalink Reply by alan4s on January 11, 2013 at 3:16pm

+1
I love facts and details. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by mark roye on January 11, 2013 at 4:53pm

Well if you love details, consider that even my analysis above is not 100% completely true either. Temperature also is important. Cold air is of course denser. So the 15 degree F air at altitude compared to 85F at sea level offsets the power loss to a small extent. The math gets much more complex with that one though! Never thought we'd ever use Boyle's Law from chem class ever again!!