Jan 13th Dakar Rally Stage 10 Race Chat

Join us for the Dakar Rally on Jan 13, 2009,right here and chat about the action during the 10th stage

Stage 10 - Tuesday, January 13

Copiapo > Copiapo

Connection: 20 km | Special: 666 km | Connection: 0 km | Total: 686 km
The day’s special is simply the longest and most difficult of the rally. As on the previous day, the competitors will face a series of dunes at the end of the day that stretch over a hundred kilometers. And in this area, even the leading specialists will be faced with something new. The Chilean dunes are veritable mountains of sand, and pilots must learn to climb and descend their sides over more than one kilometer. Another unknown: due to the extreme heat of the region, no one knows exactly how the sand will behave. In any case, remaining clear-headed will be imperative all the way to the end.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mike Andersen on January 13, 2009 at 5:03pm

Robby Gordon (USA - Hummer) - 309

"We had a good day. We managed to have a problem-free stage that will have no consequence. We caught up with Miller around CP2. I remained pretty careful on the bumps on the way back. We are just loosing about 20 seconds, so it’s meaningless. As soon as we are on faster trails, they (the Volkswagen) shake us off. They have so much more power than we do!"
dakar.com

Permalink Reply by Rob Harris on January 13, 2009 at 6:13pm

It's not that they have more power...they are just smaller and lighter and having 4WD does not hurt either. Robby needs to seriously reconsider the 2WD vs the 4WD concept. I spoke with the engineer who build the Nissan trucks that are running right behind RG. {those trucks were build for 2005 and are running without factory support and still hanging tough} He said they did very extensive testing and concluded that 4WD was the way to go...and that RG will never win with 2WD. I argued with him but I'm starting to think he was right!

Permalink Reply by wilks7 on January 13, 2009 at 5:42pm

that is great....good find

Permalink Reply by Racingwench on January 13, 2009 at 6:08pm

awesome!! that was great. I wish I was in that hummer.

Permalink Reply by gorobbygo7 on January 13, 2009 at 6:13pm

Stage 11 cancelled
As the weather forcast for tomorrow announces heavy fog on the whole route of stage 11 and as the timing of the stage cannot be altered due to the crossing of the Andes and the crossing of the border between Chile and Argentina, the organizers of the Dakar have decided to cancel the portion of stage 11 between Copiapo and Fiambala that should have been against the clock. The participants will be getting to the Fiambala bivouac in liaison.

Permalink Reply by Charlie on January 13, 2009 at 7:23pm

robby not winning today is just heart breaking, but this fucking sucks, does this mean that they are going to totally get rid of stage 11 or will they still run it, but just another day! i hope the hell they do not just completely throw it out!

Permalink Reply by Ron Downs on January 13, 2009 at 7:29pm

Hard to catch the rabbits if you can't hunt.

Permalink Reply by Capt. Allen"Pez Loco" on January 13, 2009 at 8:36pm

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa hhhhhhhhhhh, I'm lost just got home from work and all of this is pure chaos. We almost when a stage then we can't run tomorrow, how is the rabbit going to die if it doesnt keep running, and we had almost a 1000 comments" pure excitement" "on the edge of your seats" I saw one video , we need pony's to run hard , what the hell, holy pageeburrs , what the ::::::::, thats how I feel.

Permalink Reply by zoomsss on January 14, 2009 at 12:58am

I swear those taking photos for motorsport.com are ignoring Robby??? Not sure why, but they did manage a nice pic along with this article today.

Photo here

Tough day for Dakar field, tomorrow's stage canceled
Date 2009-01-13
By David C. Schilke - Motorsport.com

Morning fog caused delays in getting stage ten under way. The challenging loop intended around Copiapo was shortened because of the late start and unfavorable sand conditions between check points three and five. The Truck category route was reduced even more, the officials deciding to get the teams home before night fell on the arid Atacama Desert. The region is so dry that a few weather stations have never reported a drop of rain for years. Only the persistent fog is any kind of moisture to be found, and its covering blanket can keep the chase helicopters grounded until visibility returns to normal. Because of the risk of more fog, tomorrow's stage eleven was cancelled; there will be no competition as the Dakar field crosses over the Andes back into Argentina.

For the sixth time this event Carlos Sainz set the fastest time in the Car class. His Volkswagen was able to hold of the charge from Open class leader Robby Gordon. Sainz has now stretched his out his lead over teammate Mark Miller and Giniel De Villiers by close to half an hour.

"Lots of off-roading, high camel grass, soft sand, stones galore -- this special stage really pushed us to the limits," explained Sainz. "Particularly on the last section, the organiser had some tough tasks in store for us. So, today I'm really bushed. Of course it's great to have won another stage and to have increased our overall lead that way. But today, reaching the finish without any major problems was really the main thing."

Team Dakar USA's star, Gordon, wasn't able to stay ahead of Sainz but did manage to set the second fastest time. His Hummer worked perfectly over the dunes and other obstacles that got in his way. Clearly leading Open class, Gordon now seeks to pressure the overall leaders, hoping to score in at least the top three. His next target, fourth placed Joan "Nani" Roma, is only twenty minutes ahead. One flat tire for Roma and the American will slip right behind the leading three VW Touaregs.

"We had a good day," smiled Gordon. "We managed to have a problem-free stage that will have no consequence. We caught up with Miller around CP2. I remained pretty careful on the bumps on the way back. We are just loosing about 20 seconds, so it's meaningless. As soon as we are on faster trails, they (the Volkswagen) shake us off. They have so much more power than we do!" ...

Permalink Reply by zoomsss on January 14, 2009 at 2:24am

As many other pics as are out there of Robby, they are really lagging behind... so sucked not to have opening ceremony pics of Robby from them.
As much as I love photos, I think my hard drive is going to breath a sigh of relief in '09, I noticed a lot of sites have been cutting back for a while now... so they better take good ones when they do!!! :p

Permalink Reply by RGordonNo#1 on January 14, 2009 at 6:02pm

Check Point Wins Stage # 10

2 – 309 Gordon CP 3, CP 4
2 – 308 Miller CP 5, CP 6
1 – 315 Terranova CP 1
1 – 305 De Villes CP 2

CP 1 KM 87 or 53.91 Miles
1 – 315 Terranova 49:20 65.78 mph
2 – 305 Gortdon 50:06 +0:46 64.67 mph
3 – 301 Sainz 50:26 +1:06 64.44 mph
5 – 308 Miller 51:17 +1:57 63.24 mph
11 – 324 Eric 1:02:54 +13:34 51.76 mph

CP 2 KM 91 or 56.42 Miles
1 – 305 De Villes 56:38 60.08 mph
2 – 301 Sainz 57:21 +0:43 59.20 mph
3 – 315 Terranova 57:58 +1:30 58.83 mph
4 – 308 Miller 58:21 +1:43 58:16 mph
5 – 309 Gordon 58:37 +1:59 58.04 mph
11 – 324 Eric 1:03:46 +7:06 53.37 mph

CP 3 KM 17 or 10.54 Miles
1 – 309 Gordon 13:34 47.47 mph
2 – 316 Novosity 14:14 +0:40 44.85 mph
3 – 301 Sainz 14:26 +0:52 44.47 mph
4 – 306 Chircherit 15:19 +1:45 41.66 mph
5 – 308 Miller 15:28 +1:54 41.33 mph
7 – 324 Eric 16:03 +2:29 39.47 mph

CP 4 KM 84 or 52.08 Miles
1 – 309 Gordon 52:44 59.59 mph
2 – 316 Novosity 53:26 +0:42 58.71 mph
3 – 305 De Villes 53:55 +1:11 58.38 mph
4 – 306 Chicherit 54:34 +1:50 57.48 mph
5 – 304 Roma 55:13 +2:29 56.73 mph
6 – 301 Sainz 55:54 +3:10 56.30 mph
10 – 308 Miller 1:02:43 +9:59 50.07 mph
11 – 324 Eric 1:03:10 +10:26 49.55 mph

CP 5 89.28 Miles
1 – 308 Miller 1:36:56 55.48 mph
2 – 301 Sainz 1:38:13 +1:17 54.60 mph
5 – 309 Gordon 1:40:29 +2:33 53.39 mph
8 – 324 Eric 1:52:13 +15:17 47.79 mph

CP 6 Finish 32.86 est. Miles
1 – 308 Miller 55:49 35.56 mph
2 – 301 Sainz 56:35 +0:46 34.99 mph
4 – 309 Gordon 57:46 +1:57 34.33 mph
12 – 324 Eric 1:27:00 +31:11 22.66 mph