The Dakar Rally

[Don K]

Originally posted by R
It's his first Dakar as a driver, and I think it probably was his inexperience showing there.

Dangerous dunes are marked with a flag.
Apparently, on this particular dune the flag had been blown down.

But even if this hadn't happened, I guess Tchaguine would have overtaken him during the rest of the week.

[R]

Originally posted by Don K
Apparently, on this particular dune the flag had been blown down.

OK, thanks for the info. I wasn't aware of that.

[Liz]

I'm glad they didn't have a microphone on either the bike guy or Peterhansel when they went off those dunes! I'm sure it would have been !

[Speedworx]

Stephane Peterhansel is in trouble!

13:21 - Before CP3 (km306), Peterhansel (Mitsubishi - n.206) has again stopped. It appears he destroyed the front left wheel of his car on a rock.

Looks like he will loose lots of time. So no Dakar win for him.

Great shame

[Liz]

Too soon to say he can't win yet -- he's got a substantial lead hasn't he?

But I'm glad I bet on Matsuoka.

[Asp]

My, this is tense, changing so much this late in the rally. He's in, out, in, out and trully shaking it all about!
Eurosport live updates:
09:40 : URGENT: At km 66, overall leader Stephane Peterhansel is stopped with mechanical worries. It appears his radiator is leaking. He has dropped at least 20 minutes.
10:30 : AUTO CP1: Nissan's Giniel De Villiers has the best time, 1min 41sec ahead of team-mate Ari Vatanen. Mitsubishi's Miki Biasion is third at 3min 45sec, with Fontenay fourth at 7min 10sec. Masuoka is at 7min 32sec, with Peterhansel at 26min55. Masuoka has gained 19min 23sec on Peterhansel wich means that Peter has a 6min 17sec lead overall on the Japanese.
11:10 : AUTO CP2: The cars have now gone through the second checkpoint and the two Nissan's remain in front, with De Villiers 3min 19sec ahead of Ari Vatanen. Miki Biaison is third (+5min 14sec), with Fontenay fourth (+9min 51sec), Alphand fifth (+10min 31sec), Masuoka sixth (+13min 02sec), and Peterhansel seventh (+21min 16sec)... As a results, Peterhansel is now only 8 minutes adrift of Masuoka.
11:20 : AUTO: It seems that Mitsubishi have given the drivers some team orders as Masuoka did not attack following Peterhansel's problems.
12:00 : AUTO: Just after CP2, Peterthansel stopped for three minutes to check his car before continuing.
13:00 : AUTO: Peterhansel has again stopped before CP3 - It appears he has destroyed the front left wheel of his car.
13:05 : AUTO CP3: Biasion has the best time at the 325km mark, 4min 28sec ahead of Fontenay. Giniel De Villiers, who was the pace-setter this morning, is third at 6min 45sec, with Masuoka at 9min 40sec, and Ari Vatanen at 11min15.
14:00 : AUTO: Peterhansel is still stopped and is reported to have hit a rock that he didn't see whilst in the dust of Kleinschmidt... He is awaiting assistance.

Given 2 stops, the actual news on the site is unclear - the latest news is that he is OK: but it says he "Made up time following a radiator problem" - which looks as if it's not been updated following this news about the suspension.

[Speedworx]

He only had a 27 mins lead. He is likely to loose 6-8 hrs waiting for assistance.

[Asp]

BREAKING NEWS

Here's the latest:
16:00 : PETERHANSEL: The Frenchman has now repaired his Mitsubishi thanks to his assistance truck, and has just passed CP3 with a deficit of 2h 49min on the leaders, and 2h 39 on Masuoka... It was in fact the dust of Henrard that caused him to hit the rock.

It really will take a miracle for him to win the rally now. Masuoka has finished the stage (Miki Biason the winner) - so all he needs to do is keep it going. Which is pretty much what Stephan had to do, but failed. Bad luck to him - try again next year!

[Marcel ten Caat]

according to pitstop.tv (which is doing extensive coverage) Miki Biasion's car came to a halt in the neutral zone after the time control. Instead of pushing it out of the zone they started working on the car. As that was illegal Miki has been given a 10 hours penalty and has dropped down to 15th overall.

[Asp]

Last update for today (in theory) - he finised the stage 2 hours 55 down on winner Biason, demoting him to 4th overall - 25 minutes behind Biason in 3rd - or at least provisionally!!

Other news from today (less important today, but big news if it had happened yesterday)- Luc Alphand had problems during the stage, although updates on what it stopped when news of 'Peter' came in. Lost half-an-hour or so, whatever the problem was

[R]

I must say I feel sorry for Peterhansel, though at the end of the day - based on the report on Eurosport - it seems to have been a mistake by the driver (driving too close to Henrard, thus not seeing the rock).

Masuoka will most definitely win unless his car breaks down. The trucks category looks also pretty settled, barring mechanical problems. It's a lot closer in the bikes, but most probably Sainct must also have mechanical problems for Depres to catch him.

[Liz]

I couldn't believe that bike stage yesterday, climbing through that rock pile! Wouldn't you love to be a spectator in that area and get to help pick up bikes and push them through? And how on earth did that doctor allow that poor confused French biker to continue driving! The guy didn't know who he was or where he was or what happened to him or what day it was or anything except that he was driving in the Dakar! And when they got to the next checkpoint he couldn't even remember the accident he'd had 10 minutes before! I hope they took him out of the race after that checkpoint. Enough is enough.

Sainct, just keep moving. You can do it! Allez au victoire!

[Asp]

Actually, 'victoire' is feminine, and therefore it's Allez Ã* la victoire . Just for the future

Just to confirm the inevitable now that all is over, the top 5 in each category:
Bikes
1 003 SAINCT
2 007 DESPRES
3 001 MEONI
4 009 BRUCY
5 025 DE AZEVEDO
Cars
1 200 MASUOKA
2 202 FONTENAY
3 206 PETERHANSEL
4 211 SOUSA
5 217 DE VILLIERS
Trucks
1 407 TCHAGUINE
2 410 DE AZEVEDO
3 412 KABIROV
4 409 DE ROOY
5 400 SUGAWARA

That's it for the Dakar - when's the next rally raid in the championship - anyone know?

[SJ Spode]

Originally posted by Asp
That's it for the Dakar - when's the next rally raid in the championship - anyone know?

From http://raid.racing-live.com/en/

13-16/03
ITALIA ITALIAN BAJA
04-13/04
TUNISIA RALLYE INTERNATIONAL DE TUNISIE
08-12/05
PORTUGAL BAJA VODAFONE 1000
03-08/06
FRANCE RALLYE ORPI MAROC
17-20/07
SPAIN BAJA ESPANA ARAGON
11-18/08
FRANCE MASTER RALLYE
15-20/09
ARGENTINA POR LAS PAMPAS RALLY
27/09-05/10
EGYPT RALLY OF EGYPT (to be confirmed)
19-24/10
UAE UAE DESERT CHALLENGE

[Liz]

Oops, sorry M. Sainct! Anyway I'm glad he won because even though I didn't win anything at the casino yesterday I made out nicely betting on the Dakar.