Jan 4th 2010 Dakar Rally Stage 3 Race Info & Discussion

Join in and discuss all the action from Stage 3 of the 2010 Dakar Rally. Raceday chat will also be available throughout the entire 2010 Dakar Rally.

STAGE 3: La Rioja > Fiambala

Connection 259km | Special Stage 182km | Connection 0km | Total 441km

Course Overview

It'll be on the third real day of racing that the competitors will have to deal with a first test. The change of context will be radical: with a switch from earth to sand and especially a dune portion of close to 30 kilometres. Other than their dimension that suits perfectly a first part of rally, these dunes are noticeable thanks to their white colour. In this new landscape, the crews will enjoy off-piste. They will also have to adapt to a change of climate and especially sand storms that are frequent in the area.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kevin Meyer on January 4, 2010 at 1:35pm

What is erg?? Is that french for dunes??

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Permalink Reply by Saint Yukon on January 4, 2010 at 1:57pm

Erg (landform)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Erg (disambiguation).

Issaouane Erg, Algeria. (31.18°N 7.93°E)
An erg (also sand sea or dune sea) is a large, relatively flat area of desert covered with wind-swept sand with little or no vegetative cover.[1] The term takes its name from the Arabic word erg (عرق), meaning "dune field".[2] Strictly speaking, an erg is defined as a desert area that contains more than 125 square kilometers of aeolian or wind-blown sand[3] and where sand covers more than 20% of the surface.[2] Smaller areas are known as dune fields. The largest hot desert in the world, the Sahara, is 9,000,000 km² and contains several ergs, such as the Chech Erg (24.57°N 2.59°W) and the Issaouane Erg (31.18°N 7.93°E) in Algeria.[4] Approximately 85% of all the Earth's mobile sand is found in ergs that are larger than 32,000 km².[3] Ergs are also found on other celestial bodies, such as Venus, Mars and Saturn's moon Titan.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Meyer on January 4, 2010 at 2:27pm

Thanks, I thought so but wasn't sure.

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Permalink Reply by Amar on January 4, 2010 at 1:32pm

In reality, Robby has potential to be in 5th place overall after a couple of stages, but it will be hard to catch up Miller. Do you agree?

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Permalink Reply by zoomsss on January 4, 2010 at 1:40pm

So long as he keeps the truck under him, I'd think so too.
If I recall correctly, lots of the teams had troubles with overheating in the dunes last year, also having to 'cut' the dunes as they are so gianormace (spelling, actual word? LOL aka HUGE). Somehow I'm thinking the total entries for this rally is about 200 less this year, and lots of attrition left.

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Permalink Reply by R. ALDRIDGE on January 4, 2010 at 1:45pm

Agree. Regaining 5th on time is very possible. Any higher gains will require attrition.

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Permalink Reply by 1splat on January 4, 2010 at 1:46pm

I agree to one thing, it is not over until it is over! Anything can happen and it will. If you look around at some of the other top drivers, everyone will have issues at some point in time, whether is be sooner or later.

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Permalink Reply by R. ALDRIDGE on January 4, 2010 at 1:58pm

Yep. Attrition will be high. Last year Robby finished 3rd with a 6 or 7 place car. Just have to keep at it and gain spots every day.

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Permalink Reply by bighead on January 4, 2010 at 2:21pm

I agree I can't see the Nissan's and Mitsu's holding up and if one of the top 3 fumbles a little Robby will be looking at another podium finish...The top 2 really went hard today and if they continue that pace 1 of them if not both will break..Robby really neads to take advantage of his 2 wheel drive and hammer the dunes hard..........

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Permalink Reply by WJM on January 4, 2010 at 1:48pm

Over half the bikes (the last one left the start 1 hour ahead of the cars) have yet to reach the end of the special. Sounds like carnage.

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Permalink Reply by ORG01 on January 4, 2010 at 1:52pm

Wonder if weather came in to play on some of the later starters.

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Permalink Reply by zoomsss on January 4, 2010 at 1:51pm

Everyone have a good day of what is left of it... looks like the rest is up to #528 to clean up. Thank you for the updates when Dakar site was being unkind to me!