Jan 6th, 2015 Dakar Rally Stage 3 Race Info & Discussion

Join in and discuss all the action from Stage 3 of the 2015 Dakar Rally. After issues with the brakes and a stalled car, Robby Gordon finished 50th in stage 2, and is over 4hrs behind in the overall standings. The special section of Stage 3 is 284km long. Robby Gordon start time: 6:22am/et. Raceday chat will be available throughout the entire 2015 Dakar Rally. Raceday chat now works on the Ipad & Iphone.

2015 Stage 1 Photos

STAGE 3 TRACKING

STAGE 3: SAN JUAN > CHILECITO

Connection 258km | Special Stage 284km | Total 542km

COURSE OVERVIEW

The pressure which competitors faced the day before (and late into the night for some of them), will partly ease off on the road to Chilecito. The shorter and less intense stage will allow them to enjoy their majestic surroundings. The red earth tracks, overlooking steep peaks and plunging down into canyons, will take the Dakar through one of the most beautiful regions of Argentina. But no-one should be tempted to sit back and enjoy the view, particularly on the motorcycle and quad bike routes which include some gruelling sections. With thousands of stones to be avoided, it will only take one to ruin this magnificent day!

The GREEN section of the route is the connection , the RED is the Special Section of the stage.

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Permalink Reply by zoomsss on January 6, 2015 at 11:51am

Don't ya just love those middle of the night wake ups. I miss mine.

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Permalink Reply by zoomsss on January 6, 2015 at 11:50am

via @LtLepori no idea which day, no tag/label

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Permalink Reply by TOG on January 6, 2015 at 11:55am

I believe that was the bridge from stage 1?

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Permalink Reply by John Walsh on January 6, 2015 at 11:59am

Super pic thanks for posting, can't wait for Stage 4 ......Gas on Robby !

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Permalink Reply by ivanspeed on January 6, 2015 at 12:04pm

http://www.apracing.com/product_details/race_car/brake_calipers/ral... we need these next yeaar

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Permalink Reply by Carl Abrams on January 6, 2015 at 12:10pm

I always thought about something like this cooled brake method and now I see their is one.
This indeed would help a ton thanks for sharing Ivan.

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Permalink Reply by ivanspeed on January 6, 2015 at 12:46pm

yeah along with circuit testing in 110 deg weather while having the ac on untill they cannot kill those brakes or cooling system those rear calipers take alot of strees with rear brake steering wich is a must with a spooled rear but man does it hook good

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Permalink Reply by zoomsss on January 6, 2015 at 12:52pm

I was thinking about the sensors going off, Robby's not the only one having that happen.
Too much electronics for my liking, too much to go wrong.... but it's the age we are stuck with.

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Permalink Reply by ivanspeed on January 6, 2015 at 1:14pm

that was stage 1 stage 2 killed the brake system in rear needs better cooling on calipers we forget that its Summer time down there they should take off from camp to race day with Frozen Gallons of water and they can melt and maintain cool thru out the race to avoid dehydration

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Permalink Reply by zoomsss on January 6, 2015 at 1:33pm

Or he could lay off the hand brake some... haha!
I don't know, adding another component to keep cool, just adds more cost wouldn't it, plumbing, wiring, etc.
I think it was on the stage 1 highlight show that another driver said he had sensor alarms going off, not really a sensor issue on it's own.

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Permalink Reply by mark roye on January 6, 2015 at 2:14pm

The same brakes on essentially the same car last year, with the same rear-end and similar ambient temperatures gave no problem. This failure was not likely due to lack of test time in high ambient temperatures, or even over use to rotate the car in the corner---RG's been down that road many times before. 30 degrees or more difference in ambient temperature in Argentina compared to Arizona would have little effect on rotor temperatures of 1,000--1,500 degrees (these things glow red in the dark under race conditions!) This was most likely the result of something like a stuck caliper due to debris or damage, not inadequate test time, driver error, selection of calipers or ducting, as all of those things had been pretty well proven out on this car at last year's event, several years on the Hummer which was much heavier, and similar events such as Baja. Any brake system can fail under certain circumstances.