[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toCyywXQb_Q"]Stage 7 Summary - Car/Bike - (Uyuni / Salta) - YouTube[/ame]
Thanks for the Peugeot article repost. 'Man of the match' for me at present is Jurgen van der Goorbergh, 47-year-old former Grand Prix motorcycle racer, who has done the Dakar many times, on a bike, in a single-seater buggy and in a truck. This year he's back on a bike in the Malle Moto ('Trunk Bike') category. I don't know if the American TV coverage has featured this class which is a return to the spiritual home of the original Dakar races - for each rider the organisers transport two 60 litre (2 cu ft) trunks and two spare wheels between the bivouacs, feed the riders (quite well, I'm told - it is a French organisation....) and put up a pup tent for them at the bivouac. Apart from that, they are on their own, no mechanics, no motorhome, no backup. For a guy who must have once had people to do everything but wipe his nose, doing his own mechanic'ing as well as racing is quite some feat. But then he regularly shone at wet GPs and I've always been in awe of good wet weather riders.
I there any dirt race Loeb can't dominate in? I bet when he gives blood it looks like red tinted mud.
Is there a post-race teardown of the winner's car to see if it is legal to the regs. whatever they are. I'm asking after hearing Gordon's statement of the French cars motors?
Gordon fell foul of the engine regs a few years ago but I can't remember whether it was because they have regular checks or they checked him because someone made an accusation. They said his tire pressure regulation system was also being used in some way to increase air intake to his engine (so there must be a reg for that at least, maybe a restrictor?). They excluded him from the results and he ran the rest of the rally anyway, under protest. He then won the next stage (or one of the remaining stages?) by something like 15min and then immediately pulled over to show a news crew with camera that the inflation system hose was plugged. Anyway, after being accused of having too much power due to breaking engine related rules I can imagine being somewhat willing to throw a similar accusation once in a while. After Gordon was excluded, the rumor/accusation mill (probably fed by Gordon) said it was because he was challenging Peterhansel, a French driver, and the officials were controlled by the FIA...in France. Now he's talking about the leading French team... Axis Of Oversteer: Robby Gordon tells the French to kiss his ass
Yikes! Loeb got stuck in the dunes today and lost a few minutes. That only dropped him out of contention for the stage victory. Then, near the end of the stage (30km), this happened! Multiple rolls, apparently. Hard to imagine how he somehow managed to finish the stage and only a bit over an hour behind the winner, Al-Attiyah.
2016 Dakar (Stage 8): Price and Al-Attiyah are Monday’s heroes (best-of-rallylive.com) Standings after Stage 8: Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5 Pos. No. Driver Car Time/Gap 1 302 Stephane Peterhansel Peugeot 26h01m44s Jean-Paul Cottret 2 303 Carlos Sainz Peugeot 2m09s Lucas Cruz 3 300 Nasser Al-Attiyah Mini 14m43s Matthieu Baumel 4 315 Mikko Hirvonen Mini 36m42s Michel Perin 5 319 Leeroy Poulter Toyota 49m32s Robert Howie 6 305 Yazeed Al-Rajhi Toyota 54m19s Timo Gottschalk 7 301 Giniel de Villiers Toyota 54m49s Dirk von Zitzewitz 8 314 Sebastien Loeb Peugeot 1h05m16s Daniel Elena 9 307 Vladimir Vasilyev Toyota 1h08m48s Konstantin Zhiltsov 10 304 Nani Roma Mini 1h28m21s Alex Haro
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg-VLUxJa5E"]Stage 8 Summary - Car/Bike - (Salta / Belen) - YouTube[/ame]
Not to worry, they decided, and rather quickly, that he didn't do anything illegal. Now to watch for conspiracy talk about French officials helping a French competitor driving for a French team.
The French have been known to bend the rules to suit themselves. I remember what happened at the 1966 Monte. First place Mini was disqualified. Giving the win to Pauli Toivonen driving a wait for it........ Citroen.
Yup, there are plenty of reasons (historical examples) supporting the jaded way people view decisions made by FIA officials when French competitors are involved. Also, for whatever it's worth, X-Raid have decided the officials were wrong and are appealing their decision. Yay, controversy, that's what makes motorsport exciting... I guess I don't blame them, though. I don't know what actually happened but if the rules really were broken I'd probably appeal as well.
El Matador leads! Sainz hits the front (maxrally.com) Standings after Stage 9: Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5 Pos. No. Driver Car Time/Gap 1 303 Carlos Sainz Peugeot 28h39m24s Lucas Cruz 2 302 Stephane Peterhansel Peugeot 7m03s Jean-Paul Cottret 3 300 Nasser Al-Attiyah Mini 14m38s Matthieu Baumel 4 315 Mikko Hirvonen Mini 34m50s Michel Perin 5 301 Giniel de Villiers Toyota 53m18s Dirk von Zitzewitz 6 305 Yazeed Al-Rajhi Toyota 1h01m48s Timo Gottschalk 7 319 Leeroy Poulter Toyota 1h03m25s Robert Howie 8 306 Erik van Loon Mini 1h28m05s Wouter Rosegaar 9 304 Nani Roma Mini 1h42m55s Alex Haro 10 321 Cyril Despres Peugeot 1h51m30s David Castera
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1248ICUmvU"]Stage 9 Summary - Car/Bike - (Belen / Belen) - YouTube[/ame]
Apparently Stage 10 is a bit of a brute, lots of attrition. Here's one example for now. Al-Attiyah is one of few who have finished the stage at this point, though nearly an hour back. Along the way...