Dakar 2007

chewymonster · 27 Dec 2006, 00:31 (Ref:1799643)

The 2007 Dakar race starts on January 6th.

Cryos · 27 Dec 2006, 02:54 (Ref:1799691)

:P have my VW Motorsport Media Pack

**BertMk2** · 27 Dec 2006, 11:04 (Ref:1799833)

Two stages have already been cancelled/amended due to safety concerns:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ly/6206525.stm

cptkablamo · 27 Dec 2006, 11:33 (Ref:1799850)

Anyone know why its being started a week later this year than normal??

ozrevhead · 5 Jan 2007, 12:46 (Ref:1807400)

dunno sorry

gosh its been a year already - fark where does the time go?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/moto...ly/6233985.stm has some general info including the number of entrants

participating are...
187 cars
250 bikes
88 trucks
and the race is 4,918 miles long in 15 stages over 16 days (one rest day)

There is the aura about the rally, cant really describe it - it wont be the same again for us Aussies though cptkablamo

RIP Andy

**BertMk2** · 5 Jan 2007, 12:59 (Ref:1807408)

It should be a great one this year - the entry list is looking very healthy. The usual smattering of bigs names including Alphand, Peterhansel, Sainz, Vatanen, Loix, Yvan Muller and Robby Gordon. Not sure about the strength of the bike field?

**Asp** · 5 Jan 2007, 14:20 (Ref:1807522)

New version of the Pajero should be very interesting to see, being Mitsu though I'm not expecting reliability issues (over and above the standard number of cars falling apart!). That said, I'm looking for a good showing from VW. Third year now, finished 2nd last year - could we see the first ever Diesel victory?

In the bikes, the usual strong names: Marc Coma, Cyril Despres, Esteve Pujol / Isidre Esteve (as he appeared to be captioned in "Destination Dakar", no idea what happened there...). Reckon any of the Yamaha's (such as David Fretigne) will be able to take the challenge to the KTMs?

sihorton · 5 Jan 2007, 14:41 (Ref:1807535)

Wonder how high a bowler wildcat can finish against some of the bigger teams?

Can't wait for it to start.

si

**Asp** · 6 Jan 2007, 12:48 (Ref:1808143)

You can never read too much into the first stage, but...
Good start for the Portuguese, 1-2 on the bikes whilst they're still in the country.
What is a bit surprising though is that the lead names you'd expect to be up there (David Casteau in third and Esteve Pujol in fourth) are already five minutes off the lead, which is more than I'd expect at this stage.

WJM · 6 Jan 2007, 14:30 (Ref:1808206)

Volkswagen 1-5 with Carlos Sousa winning. Schlesser and Alphand already 7 minutes behind De Villiers... Kleinschmidt already far behind on 45th...

cptkablamo · 6 Jan 2007, 15:38 (Ref:1808240)

Yeah, it will have something different - something missing for the Aussies this year...

I wouldn't worry about gaps yet...when people start losing hours in Africa - thats when we start to worry

**Asp** · 6 Jan 2007, 16:51 (Ref:1808278)

Sousa in a privateer VW too. Still, we always say you can only really tell what's going to happen when we get to Africa, privateers winning the first stages is far from being unheard of.

Whilst I'm at it - let me direct you all the the Dakar Live Chat thread

Cryos · 6 Jan 2007, 17:08 (Ref:1808290)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asp

Sousa in a privateer VW too. Still, we always say you can only really tell what's going to happen when we get to Africa, privateers winning the first stages is far from being unheard of.

Whilst I'm at it - let me direct you all the the Dakar Live Chat thread

Where you can have Tea and talk with ASP

nickyf1 · 6 Jan 2007, 17:17 (Ref:1808294)

that rhymes!

Have some tea with ASP and me in the chatroom we be....

**FIRE** · 6 Jan 2007, 18:32 (Ref:1808337)

Why has Kleinschmidt lost almost 30 minutes?

Not a good day for de Rooy Sr (GINAF) and Bekx (DAF) in the truck class. Both lost more than 2 hours.

WJM · 6 Jan 2007, 19:21 (Ref:1808372)

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIRE

Why has Kleinschmidt lost almost 30 minutes?

Not a good day for de Rooy Sr (GINAF) and Bekx (DAF) in the truck class. Both lost more than 2 hours.

Electrical problems for Kleinschmidt.
De Rooy Sr and another Ginaf apparently got stuck in the first(!) corner. Hans Becx crashed on Y Sugowara and has a lot of damage. De Azevedo lost time because of a puncture.

Dakar.com also reports that 31 competitors have not (yet?) made it through the stage.

**FIRE** · 6 Jan 2007, 19:31 (Ref:1808380)

According their website De Rooy Sr had gearbox problems.

cptkablamo · 7 Jan 2007, 12:52 (Ref:1808795)

Random question to which I should know the answer but do not...
Why is Kleinschmidt in a BMW and where is the money coming from for that operation???
That first corner looked pretty bad for the trucks...almost comical...

**FIRE** · 7 Jan 2007, 13:03 (Ref:1808803)

Quote:

Originally Posted by cptkablamo

Random question to which I should know the answer but do not...
Why is Kleinschmidt in a BMW

Because it's a good team? She was out of contract at VW so probably there weren't many other competative seats. X-raid is one of the best private teams.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cptkablamo

and where is the money coming from for that operation???

Sponsors? Besides that team owner Sven Quandt is related to the family Quandt who are a major BMW share holder. So I think he's not a poor man and has probably good connections. In the past Sven Quandt was leading the Mitsubishi rally team.

Today Vatanen lost more than 90 minutes.

**Asp** · 9 Jan 2007, 13:57 (Ref:1810404)

Bad news for Vatanen, but at least he's admitted its his own fault. Doubt if he'll be doing more than a supporting role for a while.

Is anyone else worried about Alphand? Twice on the trot now we've seen him having an argument with co-driver Gilles Picard (and I don't think it's an after effect of being hit by the hammer last year!). Carlton Kirby is referring to him being stressed, and I think I agree - and it's probably affecting his performance.

WJM · 9 Jan 2007, 14:08 (Ref:1810414)

Dakar.com records another death. It's Elmer Symons, debutant from South Africa on the motor.
I don't understand why these last few years have been so accident prone. In the past you'd think it was much more dangerous without GPS and less safety measures. Yet the last few years have seen lots of serious bike accidents.

silver bullet · 9 Jan 2007, 20:40 (Ref:1810703)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asp

Is anyone else worried about Alphand? Twice on the trot now we've seen him having an argument with co-driver Gilles Picard (and I don't think it's an after effect of being hit by the hammer last year!). Carlton Kirby is referring to him being stressed, and I think I agree - and it's probably affecting his performance.

The first time it was maybe excuseable (sp). There was not sign of spectators or other competitors, but yesterday there was clearly tracks from other vehicles. If it happens again I think his co-driver will smack him.

Unfortunately I'll miss tonights coverage as my dish was blown down in last nights gales.

**BertMk2** · 15 Jan 2007, 10:28 (Ref:1815596)

De Villiers now leads from Peterhansel and Alphand, Sainz has dropped down to 4th after losing an hour with power steering trouble.

**FIRE** · 15 Jan 2007, 18:16 (Ref:1815866)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BertMk2

De Villiers now leads from Peterhansel and Alphand, Sainz has dropped down to 4th after losing an hour with power steering trouble.

Problems for De Villiers:

Quote:

De Villiers’ hopes up in flames…Nr 301, DE VILLIERS/VON ZITZEWITZ - VOLKSWAGEN, SUPER PRODUCTION After a malfunction of the turbo set the engine of his car on fire at km 129, the leader in the overall rankings Giniel de Villiers is now stranded at the foot of the Elephants’ Rock and waiting for his assistance team.

So (probably) Mitsubishi will win Dakar again.

First VW is 6th (Miller) on 2h14. Is this the end of the VW rally raid project?

cmifsud · 16 Jan 2007, 01:14 (Ref:1816153)

Yes, the Volksy's have fallen. They didn't really think they could beat Mitsubishi at their own game did they? (I'm a Mitsu fan if you hadn't noticed). But there is still a week to go. Where is Masuoka by the way?

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