aeronca65t
aeronca65t Dork
1/3/11 7:02 a.m.

South American Dakar Rally in Chile and Argentina is running right now (until Jan 16).

~CLICK HERE~ for live official website.

~Typical Dakar Crashes~

~This Short Video~ will give you an idea of the many neat cars that have run in Dakar over the years (you'll see some neat Euro-trash classic cars including a Jag XJ6 at the end)

And everyone likes Dakar Trucks (below).

triumph5
triumph5 Dork
1/3/11 10:14 a.m.

Same day coverage on Versus, tonight/tomorrow at 1 am. Their web site is not very computer friendly at all...

Watched the coverage last night--found out Roseann Roseanna Roseannna dana is now in south america doing sports....

Limiting the bikes to 450cc is a bit interesting, as the organizers wanted to stop KTM's dominance. While other manufacturers have stepped up to the plate, KTM has all that experience, and seems to be the one to beat...

Still, nothing like it anywhere. The surprise is Robby Gordon's Hummer is 2wd! Class rules, I suppose. Although it did seem a bit large and out of its element without benefit of 4wd.

Wally
Wally SuperDork
1/3/11 10:18 a.m.

One of my supervisors went last year at said it was incredible. He was visiting family in Argentina and they took a few days to go and watch and camp out. I'm saving my pennies for a trip like that.

HiTempguy
HiTempguy HalfDork
1/3/11 11:05 a.m.
triumph5 wrote: Still, nothing like it anywhere. The surprise is Robby Gordon's Hummer is 2wd! Class rules, I suppose. Although it did seem a bit large and out of its element without benefit of 4wd.

There are different rules if you run 2wd vs 4wd in Dakar. One big thing is Robby gets on the fly pressure adjustment of tires, as well as wider more floaty tires for the dunes.

Hurray for torrents!

triumph5
triumph5 Dork
1/3/11 11:10 a.m.

In reply to HiTempguy: From the coming attractions of the BIG dunes they'll hit, on-the-fly tire adj looks like a big benefit. Yes, the rain made itself well known...

pigeon
pigeon Dork
1/3/11 12:14 p.m.

DVR now set - thanks!

aeronca65t
aeronca65t Dork
1/3/11 2:51 p.m.

Just go this info from a friend----

If you'd like to follow it on Australian TV web site, the link is:

http://www.sbs.com.au/dakar/

It not be easy to watch the reports. I do not know if this is due to crappy web site design, to routing from Oz-land or to DRM issues.

Here is how I do it: I was not able to view it reliably in Firefox, but had success with Explorer instead. Launching the player outright by clicking on video thumbnail does not work; instead, click on the VIDEOS selection in the gray menu bar. That will start the player in a separate window and it will run through all available movie clips in sequence.

FYI, the 1st stage of the bike race was won by Cyril Despres on a KTM.

"Matador" Sainz won in the Volkswagen in cars.

Vladimir Chagin got the truck stage win in a Kamaz.

Woody
Woody SuperDork
1/3/11 4:07 p.m.
Wally wrote: One of my supervisors went last year at said it was incredible. He was visiting family in Argentina and they took a few days to go and watch and camp out. I'm saving my pennies for a trip like that.

You never told us that your boss was German.

bradyzq
bradyzq Dork
1/3/11 4:22 p.m.
Woody wrote:
Wally wrote: One of my supervisors went last year at said it was incredible. He was visiting family in Argentina and they took a few days to go and watch and camp out. I'm saving my pennies for a trip like that.
You never told us that your boss was German.

Ouch, I think.

Lesley
Lesley SuperDork
1/3/11 4:35 p.m.

I just finished "To Dakar and Back" this week. I can't recommend it enough! It's by Lawrence Hacking, the first Canadian to finish the Dakar rally – on a bike. I couldn't put it down, it's about much more than the rally - full of his observations of the various cultures they pass through and his reflections on how his experience changed how he sees things. We invited him to come and speak at our motorsports club meeting a couple of years ago, a truly compelling and fascinating speaker.

Wally
Wally SuperDork
1/3/11 5:49 p.m.
Woody wrote:
Wally wrote: One of my supervisors went last year at said it was incredible. He was visiting family in Argentina and they took a few days to go and watch and camp out. I'm saving my pennies for a trip like that.
You never told us that your boss was German.

Damnit, i have a noodle caught in my nose. Now that you mention it, neither he nor his name look South American.

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
ExhZksi6uhd9kYU0ihunkHzlsT2Ehcy2ZWJNYqlJq1HKoLlwZrTm2YIsab8tLr0Q