Posts Tagged ‘Dakar’

Mead said, “I was turning 60 and really wanted to do something big. I’d navigated for Darren in the 2000 Dakar in Africa, an incredible experience. He knows what he is doing and I knew he had the know-how required to manage the team. As we completed each stage, as brutal as they were, we just rolled into the next. Before I knew it, we ... Full story

The bikers on the Dakar experienced an unusual day in the region of Copiapo, which began with an atypical grouped start and involved climbing of dunes separated by large valleys. However, even in this type of landscape, the best of riders can still lose their bearings and leave themselves open to setbacks. The first wave of ten riders got the stage going assuredly, but after ... Full story

Everyone is aware of the historical reputation of Portugal's sturdy navigators of yore, who contributed to discovering the Americas some 500 years ago. Their distant descendents, Ruben Faria and Helder Rodrigues reacquainted themselves with this conquering attitude on the approach to Arica, the day after the stage won by Paulo Gonçalves. However, it was not patriotic feeling that drove Faria to triumph today, but his ... Full story

Behind them, “Chaleco” Lopez would surely have liked to enter Chile as a winner, just like he did the first time the Dakar visited his country. However, his starting position (11th) made it a difficult task. In total, he still managed to grab the 3rd best time of the day on his Aprilia, trailing Coma by 2’05”. An increasingly regular performer at this level, Olivier ... Full story

Coma was not the only beneficiary of the day’s battles. Paulo Gonçalves, third-placed 3’36” behind the stage winner, moves up a rank with his fine performance. The Portuguese rider is now 4th in the general standings. The progress of Olivier Pain is even more noteworthy. Full story

the competition is pretty close as their “best enemy” Marc Coma – in charge of opening the road this morning – is only 1’15’’ behind Faria, and 46’’ behind Despres. The Catalan can also be proud of his new wingman and ally, as Juan Pedrero – promoted this year to the position of single support to Coma – finishes 4th of the day’s special stage. ... Full story

In the road-book that is their daily bible, both driver and co-driver must try to follow in minute detail the indications in the notes in order to find all the (WPM) passage points along the stage, under threat of penalty. When nearing a WPM point, the competitors have up until now been guided by their navigation systems to pass within three kilometres of a point. ... Full story

"This is an exciting sponsorship for General Tire," said Travis Roffler, director of marketing, General Tire. "We've made a major come-back in motorsports in the past few years, and sponsoring Team USA at the Dakar Rally is just another step in the plan. With the reported 4.1 million spectators and 2.2 billion television viewers the event had last year, this is the ultimate ... Full story

The 2011 buggy is a complete departure from its predecessor: new shocks, new clutch, a new auto-blocking differential for the dunes and new engine mapping for the 140 brake horsepower three-cylinder engine taken from a snowmobile. With the changes made the buggy is now lighter, has a better center of gravity and has drastically improved fuel consumption at 6-litres per 100kms! Full story

While he ventured to Italy to seek out help, the two-time Dakar champion also respected tradition and turned to the ever improving valour in Catalonia. Coma signed Juan Pedrero to a three-year contract, who will begin in the role of rapid assistance. 49th in his maiden Dakar in 2009, then 10th last year, Pedrero clearly has the necessary talent to follow his leader and lend ... Full story