Dakar Rally 2018

Binary_Bark

Binary_Bark

Forging
Joined
Feb 24, 2016
Messages
41,690
Reaction score
23,614
Location
Midgard
The Dakar Rally returns to Peru for the first time since 2013, with the race kicking off in the Peruvian capital of Lima on January 6, 2018.

Route guide

A series of looped stages will see crews tackle a sea of dunes before crossing the border into Bolivia for the rest day on January 12th.

From there, two more stages take the crews southwards through some of the highest parts of Bolivia, before dropping down into northern Argentina for the final part of the race.

This 40th edition of the Dakar Rally features more than 5000km of stage racing, as well as 4000km of liaisons that tie the route together.

Seven of Dakar 2018’s 14 stages are run either completely off-road, or in dunes, making this one of the toughest events in recent history. Navigation is sure to play a major role, especially during the Peruvian stages.
Click to expand...

http://www.wheels24.co.za/Motorspor...ing-off-road-race-this-is-dakar-2018-20171218

[video=youtube;j7GKxMXcjmc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=98&v=j7GKxMXcjmc[/video]
 
My friend's boyfriend is doing it again, this, after wiping out and stuffing up his leg at the beginning of this year at the rally.
Determination!
 
Last edited:
[video=youtube;6QbC8RpPc7M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QbC8RpPc7M[/video]
 
SA rookie team up from 58th to 30th at Dakar 2018

Peru - South Africa’s TreasuryOne Motorsport Dakar rookies, Hennie de Klerk and Gerhard Schutte delivered a heroic drive on the second day of the 2018 race. When the duo vaulted the TreasuryOne Amarok from 58th at the start Sunday morning to bring it home 30th on the day's stage by the finish, following 267km of hard charging across the desert and dunes around the Peruvian port of Pisco.

The team now lies 32nd overall.

De Klerk admitted: “We found a decent pace early on and played it safe all day.

http://www.wheels24.co.za/Motorspor...m-up-from-58th-to-30th-at-dakar-2018-20180108
 
Bryce Menzies failing to head his co-drivers notes;

dakar-dakar-2018-310-x-raid-team-mini-bryce-menzies-peter-mortensen-crashed-car.jpg


[video=youtube;eS43lUVZrNI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=eS43lUVZrNI[/video]

Dakar rookie Bryce Menzies says it was his own 'terrible mistake' that led to the crash that destroyed his Mini buggy and left his co-driver Peter Mortensen with a broken ankle.

Menzies had gone into the second day of competition as the best-placed of X-raid's Mini drivers, sitting fourth and just 38 seconds off the lead after the opening stage.

However, a rollover just two kilometres into the second stage left his buggy in tatters, his co-driver Mortensen with a broken ankle, and the pair out of the event.

"My co-driver called out a double caution, and I checked up and I looked at it – and it just looked like a smaller bump than I think it was," said Menzies.

"We hit it pretty fast; it just unloaded the rear and stuck the front bumper, and I think we flipped seven or eight times.

"It's not the way I wanted my first Dakar to go. I was so excited to race the rest of this rally with the car and just keep improving it, but I made a terrible mistake on my part.

"I was really worried about the dunes, the first five days, with the two-wheel drive buggy, but yesterday it proved that it can work really well. I was so excited yesterday, and last night, and then to come in today and have this happen was heartbreaking."

"[For] me, it's just my ego and my emotions are hurt. And my co-driver ended up breaking his ankle. My heart's off to him, he's the one that called it out and I should've listened to him.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Sunderland and Al-Attiyah boss the stage

Focus…

Following a first long stage that enabled initial gaps to be opened on Sunday, the competitors had to tackle the dunes of the Ica Desert for one last time, allowing them to showcase their navigation and dune-crossing talents. There was much time on offer to be made up for the unfortunate participants of the previous day before swooping down into San Juan de Marcona and its big fine sandy beaches.

The essentials

Sam Sunderland set the record straight. The winner in 2017 was distanced yesterday, but grabbed his second victory in three days and more importantly opened up big gaps over his rivals. Kevin Benavides and Toby Price limited the damage, but Matthias Walkner and Adrien van Beveren did not, trailing the leader by more than 13 minutes. Sunderland’s performance was echoed by Nasser Al-Attiyah, who brilliantly recovered after a below-standard day yesterday. The Qatari dominated the stage from start to finish and methodically distanced the Peugeot armada to reduce his disadvantage in the general standings, which nonetheless are now solidly led by Stéphane Peterhansel. Federico Villagra picked up his first victory on the Dakar on his third participation in the truck category by beating the leader of the general standings, Eduard Nikolaev, at the very end of the stage.

Performance of the day

Ignacio Casale continues to dominate the Dakar 2018. The Chilean quad rider triumphed in San Juan de Marcona to take his third consecutive stage victory in fine style. The winner in 2014 finished half an hour ahead of Alexis Hernandez and Sergey Karyakin, both powerless to counteract Casale’s superiority.

A crushing blow

Proud to open the way following his excellent performance yesterday, Joan Barreda went through hell at the end of the special. The official Honda rider missed a way-point and had to turn back for 15 kilometres until he found the right track. As a result, he lost 28 minutes to the stage winner. Barreda must now attack to claw back the time lost and hope that his rivals make mistakes.

Stat of the day

With 80 kg less and 3 cm more suspension clearance on his Toyota, Nasser Al-Attiyah is taking full advantage of his new Hilux’s dynamic qualities. These modifications are permitted by new FIA rules that came into force recently, to strike a balance between the performance of two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive vehicles.

Quote of the day

Nasser Al-Attiyah: “We had two flat tyres: today and on morning one, on the short stage, and we had one today before thirty kilometres. We lost around three minutes, but it was not a big deal. We won the stage, which was good. We needed to push, but not really crazily. It was not a big push, because the road really isn’t easy and very dangerous in places. It was a good performance and I’m quite happy to win. It’s no problem. There’s still a long way and we believe our Toyota Hilux is a good car and we’ll do our best like what we did today. It's good, except for yesterday when we opened which was very difficult for us because there were no lines, but I think we are in a good way now”.
Click to expand...

https://www.dakar.com/en/news/2018/stage-3/car/sunderland-and-al-attiyah-boss-the-stage
 
STAGE 3 RESULTS:

1 N. Al Attiyah (TOYOTA)
2 S. Peterhansel (Peugeot) +04:05
3 C. Sainz (Peugeot) +06:07
4 C. Despres (Peugeot) +07:43
5 S. Loeb (Peugeot) +08:34
6 G. De Villiers (TOYOTA) +10:11
7 B. Ten Brinke (TOYOTA) +18:07
8 M. Prokop (Ford) +18:56
9 J. Przygonski (Mini) +22:42
10 L. Alvarez (TOYOTA) +23:01

OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 3:

1 S. Peterhansel (Peugeot) 06:34:58
2 C. Despreas (Peugeot) +03:11
3 N. Al Attiyah (TOYOTA) +07:43
4 S. Loeb (Peugeot) +10:11
5 G. De Villiers (TOYOTA) +11:23
6 C. Sainz (Peugeot) +14:47
7 B. Ten Brinke (TOYOTA) +31:18
8 O. Terranova (Mini) +35:19
9 M. Prokop (Ford) +38:56
10 N. Roma (Mini) +42:56
 
gazoo.jpg

Despite losing further ground on stage four, the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA team managed to stay in touch with the dominant Peugeot outfit on Tuesday by retaining three places in the top 10 at the Dakar Rally.

Dutch driver Bernhard ten Brinke was the fastest on the day for the local team, taking eighth place, though he was more than 40 minutes off the pace of Frenchman Sebastien Loeb (Peugeot) who was fastest over the 330km timed section in Peru.

Ten Brinke climbed to fifth place in the general classification, while Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar took 11th position on the stage, slipping to fourth place overall, nearly an hour behind race leader Stephane Peterhansel.

It was a tough day out for South African contender Giniel de Villiers, who settled for 17th spot on the stage, dropping to eighth overall.

Meanwhile, Argentine driver Lucio Alvarez and South African navigator Rob Howie continued their impressive comeback after rolling their Toyota vehicle on day two, claiming seventh on the stage as they settled in 20th place in the standings.

All four SA riders were still in the race in the bike division, led by David Thomas who was lying 51st on his Husqvarna, though he was more than three hours behind French leader Adrien van Beveren.

Wednesday’s fifth stage includes a 666km liaison section, followed by a 268km special, starting in San Juan de Marcona and finishing in Arequipa.
Click to expand...

https://northcoastcourier.co.za/lnn/346785/tough-day-for-toyota-gazoo-at-dakar-rally
 
KTM chief says Sunderland felt “numb” after heavy landing

KTM team manager Alex Doringer has revealed the circumstances of the incident that put Dakar Rally bikes frontrunner Sam Sunderland out of the 2018 event.

Last year’s Dakar winner Sunderland, who was leading the event at the time of his crash, landed heavily after a small jump over a ditch.

Although he didn’t fall, he felt immediate back pain and later pushed the emergency button to summon medical assistance.

“Considering the circumstances, his situation is pretty bad,” said Doringer. “At approximately kilometre 230 he landed in a ditch and caught a compression. He immediately felt strong pain in his lower back.

Nevertheless he rode on, but stopped after a few kilometres and called [race control] PCO for help. In this moment his feet started to feel numb.

“It's difficult to say what's really the situation, but he has problems with his back. He had his first examination at the medical and now he is on his way to [Clinica Anglo Americana] hospital in Lima.

“I talked with him. He said he was in pain, but the doctors have not yet determined what's really the cause. We have to wait and see.”
Click to expand...

Sunderland was the defending 2017 champion and this will be his 4th retirement in 5 Dakars.
 
Stage 5: Car/Bike summary
[video=dailymotion;x6cxdea]https://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x6cxdea?autoplay=1[/video]
 
Nearly at the finish line and David Thomas is about to realise his life long dream of completing the Dakar.

Whoop whoop!!!
 
What I liked about the Peugeot, is every driver car roof is a different color, so even I could tell which car I was looking at.
 
In case everyone missed it, this was Giniel de Villiers 15th Dakar and he has finished every single one of them, 14 of them inside the top-10 with 5 podium finishes. Let that sink in. The world's toughest race hasn't been able to tame our South African ace.

EMAM said:
Nearly at the finish line and David Thomas is about to realise his life long dream of completing the Dakar.

Whoop whoop!!!
Click to expand...

Gratz.

The general consensus among competitors is that this was the hardest Dakar they have experienced, including drivers and riders that raced the Dakar when it was still in Africa, so simply finishing is massive.
 
Last edited:
Why did Peugeot withdraw from future Dakars?
edit:
A few sites state regulation changes.

Maybe because the new rules won't give them such a big advantage? ;)
One might think the Toyota 4x4's have an advantage over the 2 wheel drive Peugeot, but I wonder...

Peugeot's are allowed to be much lighter than the 4x4 's - (minimum weight is prescribed for 4x4, not sure what it is)...will check.
Peugeot's allowed much bigger wheels and much bigger tires - two-wheel drive vehicles: 37"(diameter)/12.5"(width)-17 / four-wheel drive:245/80-16
Peugeot's also allowed different compounds front and back, 4x4 only 1 compound front/back
Peugeot's allowed automatic inflate/deflate technology
Peugeot's tires are anti puncture technology - Toyota had multiple punctures, sometimes 2 or 3 per stage!
Some info on the Peugeot... https://www.topspeed.com/cars/peugeot/2018-peugeot-3008-dkr-maxi-ar175563.html

So tell me again...How disadvantaged are those 2 wheel buggies:confused:
 
Last edited:
raind33r said:
Why did Peugeot withdraw from future Dakars?
edit:
A few sites state regulation changes.

Maybe because the new rules won't give them such a big advantage? ;)
Click to expand...

There's the answer.

If it does, Peugeot team principal Bruno Famin says the French marque will walk away.

"If the concept presented by the cross-country commission is adopted by World Council and adopted by Dakar, we are out," said Famin.

"We only start [Dakar] if we have a chance to win."
Click to expand...

https://www.autosport.com/dakar/news/129783/peugeot-will-quit-dakar-if-rules-change

Peugeot obviously doesn't like the idea of fighting for a win, which is sad. They just want to cruise. If we are honest, they would've quite easily had all 4 buggies in the top-5 if they finished and probably would've sealed the podium.

The Hiluxes seemed to be quicker in the off-piste and WRC-style sections, but it is in the dunes where the Peugeots had the massive advantage. The Peugeot buggies didn't like tight sections due to their very wide tracks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X