Jan 1st, 2012 Dakar Rally Stage 1 Race Info & Discussion

Join in and discuss all the action from Stage 1 of the 2012 Dakar Rally. Robby Gordon will drive the #303 Speed Energy Hummer & Nasser Al Attiyah will drive the #300 Qatar Hummer. Raceday chat will be available throughout the entire 2012 Dakar Rally. Raceday chat now works on the Ipad & Iphone.

STAGE 1 TRACKING

STAGE 1: Mar Del Plata > De La Pampa

Connection 763km | Special Stage 57km | Total 823km

COURSE OVERVIEW

The seaside resort of Mar del Plata brings to mind lazing around, especially after the competitors have mingled with the crowd during the public presentation ceremony on 31st December. For the short warm-up special stage, they will nevertheless be allowed to pass by the seafront, where the small dunes to be crossed will represent the first hurdle. In this simple exercise, the fastest time will establish a first winner and determine each competitor's position in the rankings. After this challenge, there will be a long liaison section to be covered to Santa Rosa de la Pampa.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mike Kenyon on December 29, 2011 at 11:17pm

As a general reminder, Argentina is two hours ahead of EST - 5 for the left coasters

Permalink Reply by joseph on December 30, 2011 at 8:38am

thanks upstate ny for me

Permalink Reply by lightweight on December 31, 2011 at 1:29pm

SBS has daily video highlight schedule posted. What time zone do they operate in? Most are at 5:30 pm but what time is that for us on the right and left coasts? Tnx in advance.

Permalink Reply by J.R. Sands on December 29, 2011 at 11:24pm

5 hours...got it

Permalink Reply by TOG on December 30, 2011 at 1:24am

with such a short special, I think we will get some incredible footage.

Permalink Reply by ROBERT SAVAGE on December 30, 2011 at 1:35am

Will they be using the same tracking format as last year ( which sucked ) 2 years ago was much better ?

Permalink Reply by TOG on December 30, 2011 at 1:43am

I know the tracking at dakar.com had some challenges last year, but I like to keep an open, positive, mind heading into the 2012 rally. I think tracking will be fine.

Permalink Reply by ROBERT SAVAGE on December 30, 2011 at 1:45am

Bueno !!

Permalink Reply by TOG on December 30, 2011 at 8:49am

pretty sure scrutineering is today. Parade tomorrow. Stage 1 on Jan 1st....2-4 hours of sleep per night begins very soon...

Permalink Reply by Bruce Smith on December 30, 2011 at 12:00pm

16 km, not 11 of sand. And it looks like there are some steep dunes thrown in too. The Hummers can hold their own on the dirt. Where the 4X4 race cars have an edge is in the wet and muddy sections. There is ZERO percent chance of rain that day in Bahia Blanca, but the forcast calls for it to be 101 Sunday

Permalink Reply by TOG on December 30, 2011 at 12:02pm

Going to be an interesting stage

Permalink Reply by will on December 30, 2011 at 12:06pm

With one day to approve it's time to take a look ahead to the first special of short Sunday. The start of the 60km long stage is just past the village of Necochea. Then it's a lot of gravel paths through the pampas.

Bit by bit, the participants closer to the coast. Between kilometer 30 and 40 dives the only real obstacle of the day, the Medano Blanco. This dune has some parts a height of 110 meters and extends over a length of several kilometers. The area is very popular with 4x4 drivers.
Experts from the area say it is not very difficult to drive. Between the dunes is often water, so it's careful. After the dunes, the party route northward. Finish at the village Energia.
Because the exact road book is not yet known, it is still a guessing which route to take exactly the participants. The Dakar organization dune Knowing this certainly is not avoided. Favorites? Note the Argentine participants from this area, the dunes and they know only too happy to book a good result for the "home crowd".