The 2018 Dakar is closer than it seems. It takes a lot of prep and the setup process takes so long that teams are already transporting vehicles and supplies. So, since the announcements are coming out almost daily I figure it's not too early to start a thread. There are 525 competitors registered from 54 nationalities. Of 337 vehicles total, 190 bikes and quads, 105 cars and 42 trucks.
One surprise is the BMW/MINI funded effort this year will include a 2-wheel drive category buggy entry. Looks like this:
Yup, it's a branding and advertising exercise, much like how Peugeot's buggies bear little resemblance to their cars.
The opening stage was described as a sprint and only 31km. Sebastian Loeb fell well down the leader board (P27, -5m37s) because of a mechanical problem (brakes). Toyotas fill the top two spots, P1: Al-Atiyyah, P2: Ten Brinke. P3 is held by a Borgward, whatever that is. The first MINI is P4 and driven by an American rookie named Menzies. That, by the way, is the funky buggy version MINI as well. Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5 Column 6 Position # Driver Brand/Team Time Gap 1 301 N. AL-ATTIYAH TOYOTA 000:21:51 2 309 B. TEN BRINKE TOYOTA 000:22:16 00:00:25 3 313 N. FUCHS BORGWARD 000:22:25 00:00:34 4 310 B. MENZIES MINI 000:22:29 00:00:38 5 302 N. ROMA MINI 000:22:44 00:00:53 6 304 G. DE VILLIERS TOYOTA 000:22:45 00:00:54 7 318 L. ALVAREZ TOYOTA 000:23:03 00:01:12 8 305 M. HIRVONEN MINI 000:23:27 00:01:36 9 312 J. PRZYGONSKI MINI 000:23:36 00:01:45 10 311 M. PROKOP FORD 000:23:55 00:02:04
Oops, so much for Menzies... America's Most Promising Racer At Dakar Suffers Heavy Crash At The Start Of Day Two
I remember the Borgward as a car made in the late 50's and early 60's. Sure as hell didn't look like that!