2012 Dakar Stage 2 Quotes

Quotes from Robby Gordon & Nasser Al-Attiyah during stage 2 of the 2012 Dakar Rally

Robby Gordon - Finished 3rd - "Last night we were given the road book for the bikes, not the cars, so we got lost trying to find a couple of the checkpoints," said Gordon after the special.

"And then later on we were in the dust of De Villiers, and I clobbered a rock, so we got a puncture that we had to change and lost some time."

UPDATE- "It was a good day for us, everything about the car was good, but we hit a big rock and got a puncture and I reckon that, without that, we could have won the stage. But, you know, the important thing is that we drove perfectly today and kept the car on the tracks, without any major problems and with a fairly easy ride all the way."

Nasser Al- Attiyah - Finished 1st "We began 38th place this morning and we had to overtake a lot of other cars on the tracks, which cost us some time because there was a lot of dust, especially since we broke a window – that really didn't help with the visibility. But I wanted to show that with a good strategy we were still there and that the race is still open for us! I don't know how much time we got back on the leaders, but we will be better positioned for the next stage. To get a good time, we'll have to have our wits about us."

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Permalink Reply by kurt kern on January 2, 2012 at 8:46pm

It does not pass the sniff test....IMO
Did anyone else get the the bike route "by accident?"

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Permalink Reply by Michael Lieber on January 2, 2012 at 9:07pm

I read on another post that some of the bikes were given car books. Maybe even Cody, sponsered by Speed Energy.

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Permalink Reply by kurt kern on January 2, 2012 at 9:15pm

Hmmmm....... another American gets the wrong book.
I don't want to whine, but just seems a little odd.

I doubt RG or NA will get fooled again.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Fisher on January 3, 2012 at 5:23am

I seem to recall hearing about people getting the wrong road-books every year over the past few years. You would think by now it'd be something like Bikes/Quads = Neon Pink cover, Cars/Trucks = Neon Yellow cover & then instead of walking around handing them out you have to go up to a table and sign it out. That way if the wrong one is gotten it's the fault of the driver/co-driver/teammember who signed for it.

That's probaly too simple for a big fancy international event though.... haha

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Permalink Reply by Dave Shaw on January 2, 2012 at 4:55pm

The title holder also made his rivals sit up and take notice in the car category, and from a long way back too! Following a day when he came close to catastrophe, Nasser Al Attiyah began in 38th position on the starting line. It would appear that the mishaps and tiredness of the day before did not diminish the appetite or health of last year's rally winner. On the route to San Rafael, he overtook no less than 17 cars within the space of 290 kilometres! At the half-way point, he already boasted the 12th best time, but his festival was far from finished.

Ahead of him, the situation appeared to be pointing in favour of Stephane Peterhansel, even though Robby Gordon made an excellent account of himself, showing at CP1 that his Hummer could dominate the Minis. After 140 km of racing, he had a lead of approximately forty seconds over Holowczyc. However, in the dunes the situation changed, handing the advantage to “Peter”, who grabbed the fastest time to take hold of the lead in the general standings as well. But Nasser was hurtling towards the finishing line, with the dunes as an ally at the end of the day's route. On the line, he beat the time of Stephane Peterhansel by 54 seconds. The Hummer clan had little to smile about yesterday. With two cars on the podium today, there is plenty to smile about now.

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Permalink Reply by J.R. Sands on January 2, 2012 at 5:45pm

Could have been either Hummer for the Win today......that's a good day.

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Permalink Reply by Al Robinson on January 2, 2012 at 8:39pm

Besides bragging righta and exposure that comes with winning Dakar is there any real bucks for the winners??
Just curious thats all

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Permalink Reply by R. ALDRIDGE on January 2, 2012 at 8:45pm

Nope. Maybe 10 grand. Like the Tour de France, also owned/run by ASO, lots of sponsor/endorsement value rather than actual prize money.

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Permalink Reply by Al Robinson on January 2, 2012 at 8:53pm

So we're looking at European markets?? = more sales got ya

Plus Robby loves doing this

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Permalink Reply by FlyHiFlyLo on January 2, 2012 at 9:00pm

QATAR...

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Permalink Reply by joseph on January 3, 2012 at 7:49am

i looked it up years ago and i think there is small prizes for the lesser classes but for the factory drivers and owners the prize is a trophy . don't forget robby is actually in the two wheel open class and has won that class almost every year and that class isent meant to be a threat for the overall . i believe theres a small cash prize for the open class but its not much + robbys running for the trophy any way. gas on all. +

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Permalink Reply by Mark R on January 2, 2012 at 10:08pm

I wish the hummers exhaust sounded as good as that toyota truck. Ive never really cared for the exhaust on the hummers but the engineering is amazing.