2019 Robby Gordon Headquarters
Team SPEED Stage 5 Recap
Gordon on podium once again, Nasser finds trouble late in stage
Fiambala, Argentina (January 5, 2012) - Robby Gordon and his SPEED Energy/Toyo Tires HUMMER did exactly what needed to be done in the 5th stage of the Dakar Rally to gain time and position in the overall standings. The same can't be said for his teammate, Qatarian driver, Nasser Al-Attiyah, as a costly mistake could diminish his hopes for another Dakar Rally overall victory.
Gordon started off the line in 14th place quickly setting a pace as one of the fastest cars in the dunes today. This stage, taking the competitors from Chilecito to Fiambala, had to be shortened due to large amounts of rain in the area.
Nasser Al-Attiyah jumped out to an early lead with Robby Gordon right on his tail. Gordon talked about his solid run, "we ran together for a good part of the stage. He ran his car pretty hard so I figured if that's what he wants to do then that's okay. I just didn't want him to get too far out front from me. For us it was good, just what we wanted. If it wasn't for stopping to aid Nasser when he had problems, I'm sure we could have won yet another stage. Today showed what our cars are capable of in the sand and I look forward to progressing further into the rally on the days to come."
After leading nearly the entire special, Al-Attiyah would encounter problems towards the end and found himself losing even more minutes to the overall leader. Pushing his HUMMER to the limit would cause him to bottom out and bend the frame near the rear of the race vehicle that surrounds the motor; therefore resulting in spare wheel rubbing against the water lines causing slight damage but not enough to hurt the motor since Nasser stopped just in time and fixed the problem.
"Even though he may be down in time again, the positive side of it is that he is capable of winning stages. He must keep his head up and keep digging. Racers don't run the Dakar to come here and quit." Gordon said about Al-Attiyah being nearly an hour down now to the leader.
With Gordon gaining 3 minutes and now sitting in 4th place overall, he knows consistency is a must for him and his SPEED Energy/Toyo Tires team. Tomorrow is a long stage for everyone as the teams cross the Andes into Chile. Gordon looks to post another top 5 finish, which would be his 5th out of 6 stages. Al-Attiyah will look for redemption as he will try for his second stage victory in the 2012 Dakar Rally.
*Editors note: STAGE 6 CANCELED Due to the bad weather continuing over the Andes Cordillera (rain and snow), the Chilean authorities were forced to close, for the night, the border at Paso de San Francisco, situated at 4700m.
For the 7th time, the Dakar is about to cross over the Andes, and because of very unfavourable conditions, added to the fact that the course has been hit by rain and snow, in order to guarantee the security of the competitors and those following the rally, the organisers have decided to organise a convoy for all vehicles tomorrow. The itinerary has been changed after the border (follow the main road on the right which goes to Diego de Almagro).
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael Martinez on
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That is covered by the word tether my man
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Permalink Reply by mark roye on
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Note the Speed Energy statement that clarified this. The spare tire didn't simply come loose from failure of a fastener or oversight in prep in tightening a nut. The tube-frame chassis was BENT, changing the geometry of that section of the chassis, which in turn lead to movement of the tire, resulting in the damage to the coolant pipe. Design of these machines is always a compromise, the first of which is weight vs. strength. You can keep building it stronger until it gets so heavy it needs more horsepower to move it---which in turn requires more fuel---which in turn adds more weight---which in turn causes the chassis to fail, the brakes to overheat, etc., etc., etc. RG says in earlier interview that they are already carrying 700 pounds of fuel!!!. It then demands that the driver understand a little bit of the engineering and keep the vehicle well within its design limits, or a DNF is the result. RG understands this better than most, as he is integrally involved in designing, building, and maintaining them. To go fast they gotta be as light as possible. To go the distance requires tightening the nut behind the wheel
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Permalink Reply by 7gason7 on
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Spot on Mark. Look at the following pictures..
"Evolution of a Hummer Spare tire carrier"
in 2006 the Hummer had a very stout spare carrier (Looks like a lot of weight, over engineered:
by The 2008 CER The tire carrier had been reduced quite a bit: Note it doubles as a mud flap mount:
by 2011 (the current design. More weight was trimmed and the mud flaps are now hatch mounted:
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Nice detail photography of the evolution and refinement of the design. That's always the key to these things. I've no experience in off-road, having raced one-design open wheel formula cars instead, but having experienced the sorts of loads generated by open wheel cars even on the track---as well as when taking the occasional off course excursion---it's pretty clear that the loads generated on these machines must be enormous. Finding the balance between strength and weight is a delicate thing.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin on
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Dunes looked a little damp by some of the tire lines through them and should of helped the hummers out today.
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Permalink Reply by pdxracefan on
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Plus I seriously doubt that anyone at Team RGM forgot to check that the two spare of both rigs were secured before they started today's stage. Judging from the video of Nasser having the H-Buggy up on the two left wheels in the dunes might have caused the incident.
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Permalink Reply by Kirk G on
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S..T happens. I do not recall that this strap issue has ever happened to the hummers before..... and we are talking about at least 20,000 RACE miles now. I know that Nassar is a quality person/racer... His translation to english is cool but sometimes comes across as negative to RGM.... I believe there is no way that he means to be negative to RGM... it is just the translation. He chose the best car to rent.... I doubt he could have won a stage with any other team.
What is cool is that I'm going to figure out what shooting is all about for the summer games.... I look forward to rooting for Nassar this summer.....
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Permalink Reply by bighead on
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Yes, I agree the translation is what people are not getting, if you listen Nassar says the tire came off and the he started reffering to the tire as "HE" . He hit the pipe and he caused the failure, refering to the tire the whole time.
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You're right. The chassis was bent, damaged from action during the stage. See my reply prior page.
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Not surprising..... Just when we need the miles to make up time the miles are yanked away. I thought the DAKAR was made for real men!!!! I am just venting, i'm sure the ASO and Chile are doing the right thing but this sucks, why not do the rest stop/day off now and keep the race miles the same......errrrrrrr,
maybe the ASO felt sorry about the f2 and are letting it catch top to the speed team :)
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Permalink Reply by Ben Cartwright on
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there's plenty of stages left to make up time, no worries
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Exactly. Not to worry.
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