Dakar and Rally-Raid discussion...

[E.B]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Currently Petrucci has bigger problems. This morning he tested positive for covid. If the 2nd test is also positive he's not allowed to start.

He has reportedly been re-tested today (Friday) and has turned in a negative result..... as such he has been cleared to ride according to reports.

https://www.speedcafe.com/2021/12/31...s-dakar-debut/

Other reports say they suspect the initial test (on Thursday) was a false positive.

[S griffin]

Yes, it seems that the positive result was false. Anyway best of luck to Danilo

Shame about Rebellion though, have always been a big fan of them

[E.B]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Shame about Rebellion though, have always been a big fan of them

Dumas has stood aside to allow the Rebellion President (who was to be driving the burnt out car) to run in the Dakar.

But, in a game of musical chairs, Dumas will not be spectating.... he will now be driving an ex Al-Attiyah Toyota Hilux.

Al-Attiyah is apparently a Rebellion Ambassador and has pulled a few strings within Toyota to have his FIA Cross-Country Rallies World Cup winning Hilux prepared and made available for Dumas to drive. All 4 of the works Hilux entries, of which Al-Attiyah is one, have all had new cars built for the Dakar, thus the Hilux Al-Attiya used up until a month ago was sitting in a corner somewhere....

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by E.B

Dumas has stood aside to allow the Rebellion President (who was to be driving the burnt out car) to run in the Dakar.

But, in a game of musical chairs, Dumas will not be spectating.... he will now be driving an ex Al-Attiyah Toyota Hilux.

Al-Attiyah is apparently a Rebellion Ambassador and has pulled a few strings within Toyota to have his FIA Cross-Country Rallies World Cup winning Hilux prepared and made available for Dumas to drive. All 4 of the works Hilux entries, of which Al-Attiyah is one, have all had new cars built for the Dakar, thus the Hilux Al-Attiya used up until a month ago was sitting in a corner somewhere....

Nice Good to see this sort of thing happens even at the top level of the sport.

[Adam43]

That’s ace.

[Alex Langheck]

Yeah, one good deed is rewarded by another one. Well done to both Dumas & Al-Attiyah.

[S griffin]

It's nice to see competitors help each other out. This has been a great event so far. Looks like Al-Attiyah will be hard to catch, but there's still a long way to go. And great to see names like Dumas, Petrucci and Sainz taking part. Shows the competitive spirit and love of competition too

[justracing]

As usual the tv coverage is pretty minimal, Eurosport's daily evening programme covers the bare minimum of the main categories. It's such a shame that the viewing is so restricted particularly given the magnificent scenery, I believe it's possible to ferret out some bits on YouTube from individual teams but so far it's very restrictive. If anyone has some links particularly of the participating classic category. I'd be grateful.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by justracing

As usual the tv coverage is pretty minimal, Eurosport's daily evening programme covers the bare minimum of the main categories. It's such a shame that the viewing is so restricted particularly given the magnificent scenery, I believe it's possible to ferret out some bits on YouTube from individual teams but so far it's very restrictive. If anyone has some links particularly of the participating classic category. I'd be grateful.

Red Bull TV have a daily show.
https://www.redbull.com/int-en/shows/dakar-rally

edit: just noticed you asked for the classic category an I think the Red Bull might not be that.
Downunder we get an hour highlights show each day but have not noticed much about the Classics in that.

The Dakar website have the short 2-3 minute daily highlights of the classics I just noticed.
https://www.dakar.com/en/gallery/vid...-1b-classic-en

[justracing]

Thanks EB. Not exactly classic but the Coronel brothers YT videos are pretty entertaining as you might expect from Tim and Tom! https://www.youtube.com/c/tomcoronelracing/videos
Many fingers make light work!

[E.B]

Originally Posted by justracing

I believe it's possible to ferret out some bits on YouTube from individual teams but so far it's very restrictive. If anyone has some links.....

I have found a few....
Martin Prokop Official (Orlen Team) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCef...Qc9s3Gy3_6j3QA
Loprais Praga Team
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWT...2AAGRQVnUeO7jw
KTM
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMx..._1QE8rqBSThK2A

[kurski]

I even find it amazing, they now have world championship status, but there are no live streams.

[justracing]

The Coronel brothers are doing a short video daily in English, the onboards really gives a better feel for the conditions.

[S griffin]

The Coronels are usually quite good at that sort of thing. They have certainly done a lot for the sport and we should all be grateful for that

[justracing]

At the end of Stage 4, Petrucci(no.90) has made significant progress finishing 15th on stage and 130th overall but continuing to improve whilst gaining experience on his maiden run. Carlos Checa(no.239) ex Superbike champion also on his first Dakar, had a major excursion in his buggy dropping him way to the back in 78th place although he leads both Nani Roma who had lost a wheel and Peterhansel who had a second suspension failure. The Coronels continue to make good progress finishing 27th on stage and 19th overall.
Whilst Sam Sunderland(No.3) leads the bikes at present, 3 other Brits are still competing on 2 wheels the leader of which is McBride(131) lying 52nd overall but for me the real heroes are the plucky Mal Moto guys totally unsupported and doing their own service work as well as trying to find a few hours sleep in between stages, as yet they are all still running. In the classics Richard Worts(777) appears to be going well in his Pajero lying 101st out of nearly 250 starters.
All the competitors and stage information can be found here: https://www.dakar.com/en/rankings/stage-4/bike

[justracing]

DANILO PETRUCCI wins stage 5!! Ok he's still a lot way off the leaderboard but that's quite an achievement for a newbie.

[BertMk2]

That's an impressive showing for someone new to the event.

Not so impressive is Giniel de Villiers this time out - he's managed to hit 2 motorcyclists He's was given a 5 minute penalty for the first one (hitting a bike and not stopping to help), then a 5 hour penalty for the second (he avoided the rider but destroyed the bike).

The only saving grace is that De Villiers has agreed to replace the bike and pay for the riders entry for next years event (he did that without prompting by the FIA).

https://www.autosport.com/dakar/news...ident/7089201/

[justracing]

It's amazing that nobody is injured in some of these incidents, happens every year. Sound like the Sentinel system didn't alert them in time, shame for de Villiers as he was making up places and heartbreaking for the bikers involved who are so vulnerable in many ways.

[FIRE]

Wow impressive from Petrucci!

[S griffin]

Danilo has really taken to the sand like a duck to water. Shows he's very adaptive and could go well in a lot of categories

[justracing]

Heartbreaking to see the Coronels having to withdraw after stage 8, Tim's back injury proved too much in the end, great competitors. GINIEL DE VILLIERS rightfully had the time penalties rescinded putting him back in the top runners. Petrucci continues to make good progress on 2 wheels as does Carlos Checa after his major off last week in the buggy, impressive performance from the first timers. Seb Loeb is certainly giving the Toyotas a challenge at the top, it would only take one incident to change the order with 4 days to go and Seb is bound to be quick on the extended dune stage on the last day. The top runners on the bikes are frighteningly fast to watch on YT, fingers crossed for Sam Sunderland this year.

[GORDON STREETER]

We are lucky that we get a good look at the days events on TDP in Spain every night, mind you they do tend to show a lot of the Spanish entrants in the different classes !

[justracing]

There is always a good entry from Spain, unfortunately not so from the UK. David Richards has always ben a strong supporter for this mammoth event which he describes as being the Everest of motor sport. Every year I look forward to watching and following with total amazement of the courage, stamina and perseverance of the competitors not the least of which has to be the self supported bike class now named 'original by Motul' formally 'mal moto', Arunas Gelazninkas(no.36) currently placed overall 30th which is an amazing achievement.

[S griffin]

This is a very specialist event. You need the stamina to survive it. Fair play to the likes of Prodrive and Rebellion for taking it on, not for the faint hearted. A great way to start the racing year. The fact there are so many categories adds to it. For me it doesn't matter so much who wins, but who is still standing at the end

[Alex Langheck]

Originally Posted by justracing

There is always a good entry from Spain, unfortunately not so from the UK. David Richards has always ben a strong supporter for this mammoth event which he describes as being the Everest of motor sport.

Considering how much it costs, it's not a surprise very few from the UK do the event. How do you raise sponsorship for an event which is 'niche' in the UK. And is Eurosport's coverage adequate for a sponsor to consider backing someone?

Off road motorsport in the UK is a hard sell to sponsors.....