Most liked posts in thread: Rally Dakar 2012

MINI Wins its Class at the Dakar Rally

Stephane Peterhansel clinched his 10th Dakar Rally win today and the first for Mini as a brand in the car category. Peterhansel lead much the event in the category.

The Frenchman battled American Robby Gordon’s Hummer team for most of the way. However a combination of car issues and possible sanctions over a tire inflation system dropped the American back to 5th.



The X-raid team had entered five MINI ALL4 Racings at the Dakar. The fact that all five cars reached the finish shows the great reliability of the MINI ALL4 Racing as well as the quality of the X-raid team. Quandt: “I would like to say thank you very much to all the driver crews and the whole X-raid team for their superb efforts. They have made the first Dakar victory in the histrory of the X-raid team come true.”

The overall result is indeed an impressive one. All MINI ALL4 Racing drivers finished in the overall top ten. Nani Roma was second and Leonid Novitskiy fourth, while Ricardo Leal dos Santos and Krzystof Holowczyc claimed eighth and tenth places overall. Throughout the whole event, one of the X-raid team’s MINIs has always been sitting pretty on top of the overall standings.


MotoringFile

 

Now Peterhansel can ask Robby Gordon how he likes being beaten by a girl...

 

Robby Gordon is officially disqualified

 

How did other BMW Brands Finish Dakar

FYI, in case you did not know, BMW owns Husqvarna Motorcycles. They do not own the Husqvarna Group which is the world's largest producer of outdoor power products including chainsaws, trimmers, lawn mowers and garden tractors.

Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain earns six podium finishes

The Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain offers a positive summary of the recent Rally Dakar. Four out of five riders reached the finish in Lima. This debut result is highly encouraging for the team and the Husqvarna brand, as the new bike proved its worthiness right away - completing the race without a single technical failure.

The highlights were six podium finishes and one stage victory. This was part of the initial objective, which the team had targetted for the Dakar 2012. The team was consistenly fast with two riders regularly up front - even if the aim to put one pilot on the overall podium couldn´t be fulfilled.

The outstanding motivation of the team was tested with the jury decision against Paulo Goncalves. Also, Joan Barreda experienced bad luck during the stages three and four, when the talented Spaniard suffered from a crash and a broken rear wheel, which costed him a lot of valuable time. Barreda couldn´t make up the loss until the race end.

"Joan has the speed to run with the two best riders in the race," says team principal Wolfgang Fischer. "His stage results definitely give proof and he would have deserved to stand on the overall podium". Paulo Goncalves was most likely a top five finisher in Lima, if not for the incompehensible jury decision.

By the way: Joan Barreda was by many considered the revelation of this year´s Dakar. He was matching the speed of the top riders and is regarded as a man of the future.

Jose Manuel Pellicer performed as an excellent team addition. He was always there when needed, i.e. helping Barreda out of his rear wheel problem. Pellicer was a last-minute replacement, but he nevertheless integrated himself seemlessly into the team and earned everybody´s respect right away. Zé Hélio rode a steady race to finish inside the top twenty. His final result shows the depth of the field. Each year the Dakar becomes more and more competitive, especially at the front.

The Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain would like to use the opportunity and thank all sponsors and fans worldwide, who virtually followed the team throughout this spectacular race.

Finally, the team would like to extend the very best wishes to Ike Klaumann, their fifth rider. The Brazilian is on his way to a full recovery, after having to quit the race following a crash. The team returns home on Tuesday after the podium ceremony, where preparations for the new season will go underway.

Final standings
1. Cyril Despres (FRA) KTM 43:28:11 hrs
2. Marc Coma (SPA) KTM, 53:20 min behind
3. Helder Rodrigues (POR) Yamaha, 1:11:17
4. Jordi Viladoms (SPA) KTM, 1:40:56
5. Stefan Svitko (SVK) KTM, 1:47:28
11. Joan Barreda (SPA) Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain, 3:37:25
19. Zé Hélio (BRA) Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain, 6:16:35
23. Jose Manuel Pellicer (SPA), Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain, 7:41:09
26. Paulo Goncalves (POR) Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain, 8:10:26

Manufacturer´s/Team statistics, podium finishes
1. KTM, 27
2. Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain, 6
3. Yamaha, 2
3. Sherco, 2
5. Aprilia, 1
5. Honda, 1

more information: speedbrain - Offroad Racing

 

As they say may the best man win, well he did.

Stephane Peterhansel & his MINI kicked Robby Gordon's butt.

 

Yep.....clearly against the rules. Sounds like the previous race scrutineers simply didn't catch the infraction, or didn't fully understand the system.

 

And he lost anyway...

 

Robby this one is for you.

 

Thanks for that - emptying the excess air pressure from the tyres after the restrictor does seem like it could be a technical infringement. Though pretty clearly, it isn't an effective way of increasing airflow into the engine, as it has to go via an inflater and the tyres, so all the stuff Gordon said sounds entirely justified.

 

Agreed, as Robby proved by plugging it and winning by 15 minutes.

 

So Robbie got screwed?

 

Let me just say this. It is not the first time by a long shot that the FIA has gone out of its way to favor a french driver.
- Explain Despres getting his time back for being stuck in the mud, AFTER Coma had successfully navigated the same section.
- Anyone see "Senna"?

 

So a lowly American in a now basically defunct American brand, a Hummer, actually outran the best BMW and everyone else had to offer?

Priceless.:cornut:

 

Do you think it is possible that Peterhansel backed off once he knew Gordon would be disqualified? I sure do, why would he race someone who was sure to lose his appeal?

 

ummmm........NO