Dakar 2012

[haven]

The 2012 edition of the Dakar Rally starts in four weeks, on January 1. This year's race starts at Mar del Plata, a popular resort town on the Atlantic coast south of Buenos Aires. January is mid-summer in Argentina. It's certain that there will be big crowds along the race route.

This year's Rally has 14 days of racing: 5 stages in Argentina, 5 stages in Chile and 4 stages in Peru. The route is more than 9000 km / 5600 mi. The terrain is mostly open country, with lots of sand and rocks. Each day is divided into a liaison section and a special section. The liaison part is long hours of driving along a prepared route. The special section presents a unique challenge. Read about the course for each day here
http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2012/us/route.html

The Rally has good coverage on their web site. Here's one for daily news and articles about the competitors in this year's race
http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2012/us/out-of-race/news-page-1.html

 

[haven]

Motorcycles have long been a part of the Dakar Rally. For 2012, the race organizers have set a limit of 450cc for all classes of racers. The rules allow the entrants to change engines up to three times during the 15 day event.

The factory KTM motorcycle team, riding Rally 450 bikes, is once again expected to dominate the motorcycle class. KTM hires the best riders, and has a very experienced support organization to take care of them during the 15 days of the event. BMW and Aprilla will be well represented, and a couple of privateers will ride Hondas.

KTM has a web page about Dakar 2012 here
http://www.ktm.com/at/news-events/n...detail/News/ktm-ready-to-race-dakar-2012.html

KTM has made a short promotional video for the 2012 race. Too much talking by the riders, not enough riding in this one


Much more riding in this video about preparing for the 2011 race.

 

[NothingClever]

Thanks for posting, Haven...I almost forgot Ned Suesse is competing this year. For those that don't know, Ned is an accomplished rider from Colorado who has produced several dual sport / off road riding videos and some aftermarket bits for off road riding. He's always struck me as a class act. For the American riders on here, it'll be fun to follow him and Jonah Street to see how they fare.

 

[flywgn]

Yep. I'll be following Jonah (#19. Yamaha), Cody (#9, Honda), Suesse (#81, KTM) on the bikes. In the cars I'll have a special interest in Overdrive Toyota's #308. I also see that Bill Conger, also a USA entrant, will be on a Husqvarna #188, but I don't think he'll be a contender.

Allen R

 

[SSF556]

I posted this in the Jeep forum...but their is an American team running a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee......

Facebook page here....

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dakar-Jeep-Team/226909360703978

 

[1leglance]

My wife has family in Arequipa, Peru where the race passes through a few days before finishing in Lima, Peru.
We are seriously thinking of going down for the end of the race. My wife would hang with family while I followed/camped along with the race & meet up in Lima.
I hope to make this happen, I have been in love with the big trucks in the Dakar forever.

 

[haven]

Robby Gordon will field a team of two highly modified Hummers for the 2012 Dakar. (Gordon's vehicle has as much in common with a production Hummer as a Nascar Chevrolet has in common with an Impala.) Gordon will drive one race car, and Nasser Al Attiyah will be principal driver of the second car. Al Attiyah was the winner of the car division at last year's Dakar, driving a VW Touareg. Al Attiyah drove for VW at the Dakar rally from 2009 through 2011.

Gordon is known for his hyper-aggressive driving style, which gets him into trouble as often as it helps him. For example, while driving at night in the 2011 Baja 1000, Gordon hit a berm at a speed in excess of 130 mph, which caused his truck to barrel roll across the desert. Fortunately, no one was injured, and Gordon was able to limp to the next pit stop, driving without lights. Repairs were made, and Gordon continued in the race. He was in contention until his drive shaft broke a few miles from the finish.

 

[flywgn]

...Gordon is known for his hyper-aggressive driving style, which gets him into trouble as often as it helps him. For example, while driving at night in the 2011 Baja 1000, Gordon hit a berm at a speed in excess of 130 mph, which caused his truck to barrel roll across the desert. ...

Not all the blame for this incident needs to put at the feet of RG. Yes, he's a "balls to the wall" racer, but I've read from an RG team-member that his co-driver at the B1K failed to call out the turn ahead to him. Uncharacteristically of RG he didn't get on his co-dog's case...but that may have been because his co-D is a GM exec and probably pulls many purse strings.

Allen R

 

[haven]

VW has won the overall title for several years in a row, so the company decided not to enter the 2012 Dakar race. If you want to see the rompin' stompin' Touareg racers and support teams again, here's a large selection of photos of VW in the 2010 race. Photos are VW promotional material.
http://www.insideline.com/volkswagen/2010-vw-dakar-rally-pictures.html

 

[flywgn]

Here's a LINK to a video of the Overdrive Toyota Hilux (photo below) that Orly and Andy will be in.

Just got word from Andy that he arrived in Buenos Aires but not w/o a couple of flight delays.

Allen R

 

[flywgn]

And just to get the adrenalin rushing again (vicariously, naturally) here's a PROMO video from the ASO. It's a good 4½ minutes...especially at about the 3:08 part showing a Nissan slingshoting out of an "ant trap".

Allen R

 

[Rallyroo]

Mitsubishi with the Pajero won 7 consecutive times with many other wins throughout the Dakar Rally history before pulling out of the Dakar.

Without Mitsubishi to contend with, VW with the Toureg won 3 consecutive times and are now pulling out of the Dakar.

So what's left for factory teams? BMW in the X3 as default winner in the car class?

Maybe I should cheer on in the stock class a Toyota Land Cruiser or maybe cheer on a privateer in a Bowler Wildcat. I for sure am rooting for the Kamaz in the truck class.

 

[flywgn]

.... I for sure am rooting for the Kamaz in the truck class.

You like the long-shots, eh?

I love Franz Echter's quote last year after finishing 5th in first MAN across the line, “If it wasn't for Kamaz, I would have won!" Kamaz filled the first four spots.

Allen R

 

[SSF556]

Mitsubishi with the Pajero won 7 consecutive times with many other wins throughout the Dakar Rally history before pulling out of the Dakar.

Without Mitsubishi to contend with, VW with the Toureg won 3 consecutive times and are now pulling out of the Dakar.

So what's left for factory teams? BMW in the X3 as default winner in the car class?

Maybe I should cheer on in the stock class a Toyota Land Cruiser or maybe cheer on a privateer in a Bowler Wildcat. I for sure am rooting for the Kamaz in the truck class.

You could pull for the Jeep Grand Cherokee team....

also anywhere to watch live on the internet?

 

[flywgn]

...also anywhere to watch live on the internet?

It's not "watching" it per se, but I'll be using THIS SITE for live up-dates. I'll have three computers, each with split screens following a couple of forums (not this one), and a few news sites such as EUROSPORT, Australian TV, and Marathon Rally. In addition, one of my phones will be dedicated to a TWEET account.

If I can't be there and see things first-hand, I'll just have to settle for those.

Also, NBCSPORTS (changing from VERSUS Jan 2) will have 30 min updates nightly, although they will be a day late. Until the RALLY gets a bigger audience in the U.S. that's about it. Awkward, but it works.

Allen R