Dakar 2011 - Day 2 - Cars

Dakar 2009 - Stage 10: Sainz makes it once again

Carlos Sainz in a VW Race Touareg won Stage 10, which started and ended in Copiapo, Chile. The most difficult Stage of the Dakar 2009 so far. The Spaniard alternated first place of this amazing special in the infamous Atacama desert, one of the driest on earth, with O. Terranova and Robby Gordon. Terranova, the Argentine driver of the BMW X-Raid team turned over his car at km 180, just 2 km after passing a check point, the car was destroyed but the crew were rescued unscathed it seems. Robby Gordon in his brutal Hummer did a great job right until the end of the stage and came in second to C. Sainz for only 21 seconds. 3rd place was for Mark Miller also in a VW Race Touareg, 7 min 39 sec behind Sainz. 4th place was for G. Chicherit with BMW (12:25),5th came in Joan Roma, the last surviving Mitsubishi Racing Lancer at 15:01 min. 6th was Giniel de Villiers with a VW Touareg at 18:15 min. The race is still on at this time, as ASO, the organizer delayed the start for almost 2 hours this morning on account of the prevailing fog (the helicopters for rescue, television and the organization could not take off). The stage was also shortened in 200 km as there were dunes with far too soft sand for the up to now tired crews to traverse. It seems the French organizers are weary that there will not be enough vehicles to end the race. There are still 5 more stages to go and it is believed that the Stage in Fiambala, La Rioja, Argentina is extremely difficult and shall be raced in marathon style, not allowing the vehicles to be serviced or repaired after the stage, only the crews by themselves will be allowed to repair. Tomorrow is the last stage in Chile and off they go back into Argentina by one of the highest passes there are in the Andes mountains. We'll have to wait and see who survives this last leg in Chile. 

Carlos Sainz now leads the 2009 Dakar Rally-Raid by 27:31 minutes over his team mate Mark Miller, De Villiers is third 41:13 minutes from Sainz, 4th is Roma at 1:13:13 hour.

Dakar 2009: Video of Stage 3 - Cars

See a Robby Gordon video on-board his Hummer

Dakar 2009 - Stage 4 - Jacobacci - Neuquen: Coma, Sainz and De Rooy strike again.

Over the 380 kilometers of the day’s special stage, Marc Coma boasted the best time and continues to increase his lead at the top of the general standings. In the car race, the struggle continues between Sainz and Al Attiyah, with a slight advantage for the Spaniard. 

What more would Marc Coma need to feel good? He had a relaxed start to the day, with the prospect of a long journey through Patagonia as the pathfinder. Since there were few navigational constraints, there was no worry about getting lost and losing time, especially since his nearest pursuer in the general standings, David Frétigné, was 39 minutes behind him. All the conditions were combined for the Catalan to continue widening the gap, riding at a pace that others would consider supersonic, but which he considers to be gentle. That said, on a bike, everything is relative… 

On the finishing line, in spite of a few cattle gets that he was careful to open on the way, Coma grabbed the day’s best time. He won his 7th stage victory on the Dakar with a lead of 1.17 over Cyril Despres and 1.21 over Jonah Street. With this display, the American rider pushed David Frétigné back into 3rd position, but with only 45 seconds between the two, the battle for second place is far from over. 

Spain continued its distinguished display in the car category, with a new victory for Carlos Sainz. Arriving in Neuquen with 6 seconds less on the clock than Nasser Al Attiyah, the VW driver brings his total of triumphs on the Dakar to 11. After four days of racing, it would appear that the duel which has the spectators holding their breath is the one being fought out between Sainz and Al Attiyah, who have shared the stage wins this year so far and are only separated in the general standings by 3.49. However, will their vehicles continue to be reliable? After all there are still more than 6,000 kilometers of the race to go. 

The expected rivalry with Mitsubishi could occur, as often is the case, later on in the race. In any case, it was not during this fourth stage that "Peter" and his team-mates were able to charge back up the standings. Far behind the leading Hispano-Qatari duo, Nani Roma was the best representative of the Japanese constructor, driving his Lancer to a 5th placed finish on the stage, 6.54 behind the day’s winner. In the general standings, after Masuoka’s withdrawal and the misfortunes of Alphand during yesterday’s stage, only Peterhansel and Roma are in a position to ambush the leaders, less than 20 minutes behind, in 4th and 5th place respectively. 

Close pursuit is also a method used in the T2 category. Today, Jun Mitsuhashi was again the quickest in the category, with the 28th best time of the day, followed this time by Ronan Chabot, also a former winner in the Production category. Having arrived in Neuquen 2.26 behind his Japanese team-mate, Chabot is also well placed in terms of the final podium, because Nicolas Gibon, who lost almost 30 minutes during the special, only hung onto his third place by three minutes. 

With his third stage victory in the truck category this year, Gerard De Rooy has strengthened his status as a legitimate pretender to the title. However, his rivals behind him are starting to apply pressure, meaning there is no room for error. The Russian fleet of Kamaz trucks lies in wait, with three drivers pursuing De Rooy. Indeed, Chagain is only 10.14 behind in the general standings.  (Marathonrally.com)

Standings after Stage 4

Dakar 2009: Al-Attiyah fastest again on day three

Carlos Sainz still in the lead

By Matt Beer (Autosport.com) Monday, January 5th 2009, 17:51 GMT

Nassar Al-Attiyah took his second stage win of the 2009 Dakar Rally on day three, but a puncture meant he was unable to significantly reduce Carlos Sainz's overall lead.

X-Raid BMW driver Al-Attiyah had led the event after the opening stage, only to drop back when he went off-course on Sunday and struggled to find the correct route afterwards.

He looked set to make up for that today, when he reached the second checkpoint of the 551-kilometre Puerto Madryn to Jacobacci stage 2:45 faster than the rest of the field, but a puncture then cost him a lot of time in the final section.

Although Al-Attiyah still managed to win the stage, his margin over second-fastest man Sainz was eventually just 35 seconds, which means that the VW driver is now 3:40 ahead of Al-Attiyah in the overall standings.
"In the last 50 kilometres there was one bike that jumped in front of us and we hit some rocks and had to change the tyres," said Al-Attiyah, who still moved up from fourth to second on the leaderboard.

"I think it's cost us about two minutes, but really this was a very good run - no problems in all the 550 kilometres except the puncture. It's good we are here (at the finish) and the car is working very well. I think we did a good job today.

"We're taking care of the car because it's a long rally, but I think one day we must really push a lot to make good times. But at the moment it's good going and we'll see what happens."

Sainz's teammate Giniel de Villiers has dropped from second to third after a cautious run through today's stage.
It was a bad day for the usually-dominant Mitsubishi team, with 2006 Dakar victor Luc Alphand stopping for nearly half an hour in the stage with an apparent mechanical problem, and 2007 winner Stephane Peterhansel losing time to Al-Attiyah throughout the stage and finishing five and a half minutes off the pace. He is now fourth overall, ahead of teammate Joan Roma and VW's Mark Miller.

Dieter Depping was third quickest in today's stage, but is over an hour behind the leaders in the overall times having suffered costly electrical problems on Saturday.

Standings after Stage 3

Sainz takes Dakar lead on day two

By Matt Beer

Sunday, January 4th 2009, 14:48 GMT

Carlos Sainz has taken the Dakar Rally lead for Volkswagen after winning the second stage of the event.

Opening day leader Nassar Al-Attiyah (X-Raid BMW) had remained ahead through the first checkpoint in the Santa Rosa to Puerto Madryn stage, only to lose six minutes when he went off course in a particularly sandy section and struggled to find the stage route again - eventually having to double back to ensure he crossed the second checkpoint.

Sainz, who had already been slightly faster than Al-Attiyah in the first part of the stage, proceeded to take the fastest time and move into the overall lead, although he also had difficulty in the sand.

"It was very difficult with the dust and the motorbikes," said Sainz. "There were places where you basically had to stop. In one of these places I found a motorbike, and I hope it's okay."

The former World Rally champion now has a 2:19 lead over his VW teammate Giniel de Villiers in second place. Like Al-Attiyah, the South Africa had trouble staying on the rally route in the deep sand.

"The beginning was very fast, but in the middle there was an off piste section where it was not so easy with the navigation," said de Villiers.

"We lost about a minute or two but it was not too bad. Towards the end it was very, very dusty. We tried to be safe and not get stuck in anything."

Defending winner Stephane Peterhansel has now moved up to third for Mitsubishi, ahead of the delayed Al-Attiyah, after taking the second-fastest time in today's stage. (Autosport.com)

Stage 2 results

Dakar 2009 - Stage 1: Buenos Aires - Santa Rosa

Motorbikes

Cars and Trucks


Standings after first stage

More info on Stage 1

Still more info on Stage 1

Dakar 2009: Early pace-setter Chicherit crashes in the dust.

X-raid BMW laid notice of its intent to win the 2009 Dakar Rally, when Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Swedish co-driver Tina Thörner set the overall fastest time through the opening 371km special stages between Buenos Aires and Santa Rosa de la Pampa on Saturday. The Qatari was the quickest driver on the course to the opening passage control and then inherited a lead that his team mate Guerlain Chicherit had held through the subsequent two passage controls, when the Frenchman lost his path in the dust, struck a hole and damaged the suspension on his BMW X3 CC. 

Argentinean driver Orlando Terranova started brightly and held fourth in the stage, before slipping to seventh at the finish, while both Dutchman Peter van Merksteijn and Leonid

 Novitskiy began on a good pace, with the Russian holding an 12th position. 

Two hundred and seventeen bikes, 25 quads, 177 cars, 81 trucks eventually headed into the first of the timed specials between Buenos Aires and Santa Rosa de la Pampa, after an estimated 500,000 people had lined the streets of Buenos Aires and attended the official ceremonial start on Friday evening. 

Nasser Al-Attiyah posted his intention of taking an outright victory from the start and was the fastest driver through the opening PC of the 2009 Dakar, the Qatari edging 11 seconds in front of American Mark Miller, with X-raid team mate Guerlain Chicherit holding third position. But Chicherit hit the front at the second passage control at the 248km point, with Germany’s Dieter Depping and Al-Attiyah running second and third fastest on the road. The Frenchman maintained a 14-second lead over Depping through the third control. Al-Attiyah held third position and Argentinean team mate Orlando Terranova was running well up the field and hovering in fourth position. 

X-Raid’s Dutch Dakar debutant Peter van Merksteijn was an impressive 10. overall, with X-Raid’s Russia’s Leonid Novitskiy in 12 and René Kuipers down in 21st overall.

 But Chicherit’s spirited early run was curtailed after the final passage control. Tomorrow (Sunday) marks the longest day of the entire event - a punishing 837km section between Santa Rosa de la Pampa and the tourist centre of Puerto Madryn, the head town of the Viedma department in the Patagonian province of Chubut. The day’s competitive action begins close to the overnight bivouac and extends for 237km, offering tricky navigation and a mixture of fast gravel and sandy sections, with two passage controls.

 The bulk of the day is made up of a tiring 600km liaison section across the Rio Negro, passing the Rio Colorado and the town of General Conesa to arrive at Puerto Madryn near the Atlantic coast, the Gulf of San Matias and the entrance to the Valdes Peninsula. The city has strong Welsh connections and was founded in July 1865, when 150 Welsh immigrants arrived by clipper and named the town in memory of a Welsh landowner.

Team frustrated by Chicherit's error (Autosport.com) 

By Toby Moody and Matt Beer        Sunday, January 4th 2009, 10:49 GMT

 X-Raid BMW team boss Sven Quant hit out at driver Guerlain Chicherit after the Frenchman's first stage error while leading the Dakar Rally. 

Although the BMW squad ended the opening day of the new-look event in the overall lead thanks to Nassar Al-Attiyah's stage victory, X-Raid looked set to hold an even stronger position after Chicherit had been quickest through the first two check points. 

But Chicherit then wrecked his suspension in a ditch and had to stop after 290 kilometres. 

Quant was particularly frustrated because he had ordered his drivers to take extra care in the fast opening Buenos Aires to Santa Rosa stage. 

"This stage is just like the Australian Safari," said Quant. "I've done that rally five times and knew this stage would be similar to the one down under. I am not impressed." 

Al-Attiyah currently leads the Dakar by 2:17 over VW's Carlos Sainz, with the Spaniard's teammate Giniel de Villiers in third, 23 seconds further back. 

X-Raid BMW have three of their six cars in the top ten, with Orlando Terranova seventh and Peter van Merksteijn 10th.

 

Dakar 2009 - First Stage - COMA, ALONE IN THE PAMPA, BMWS ALL OVER THE PLACE

First Stage: Buenos Aires - Santa Rosa

Whilst Marc Coma’s victory was foreseeable for the first stage, the magnitude of his success and the catastrophes experienced by other bike race favorites put paid to most of the predictions. Despres and Casteu may have already seen their hopes for overall Dakar victory evaporate. In the car race, BMW met both with success,

 for Nasser Al Attiyah, and disappointment, with Guerlain Chicherit’s accident, after he started out of the blocks a bit too ambitiously.

Marc Coma’s methodology does not involve hesitation. He seems to have even grown in stature since the Dakar in 2007, where he was way ahead of all his pursuers in the first two decisive steps in Morocco, at Er Rachidia and Ouarzazate. On the inaugural special of this 31st edition, the Spaniard carved out a gulf between him and his rivals, confirming his unofficial status as the fastest rider in the world. Having started behind title holder Cyril Despres, the winner in 2006 already boasted the best intermediate time after 134 km of the race, 1” ahead. He used this first section to catch up with Despres, and what was to follow was a springboard to leaving him in his wake at CP 3 (after 248 km), with the race becoming a demonstration ride. On the 123 km of long straight tracks remaining, Coma showed the full extent of his power: at the finishing line at San Saladillo, he had to wait for almost half an hour before the first of his pursuers arrived. Finally, it was Jacek Czachor who came home in second position, with a gap to make up that would destabilize even the toughest of competitors: more than 22 minutes.

 There is no way of really knowing whether the pitfalls at the start of this event will be fatal to overall hopes. However, the situation has never been as critical in terms of final triumph for Cyril Despres. With uncertainty hanging over his choice of tires for this year before the start, the Frenchman received some sort of confirmation on this first special stage: he crossed the line with the rims bare on his rear wheel, 41 minutes behind Coma! Others misfortune rarely lessens his own distress, but David Casteu, a serious challenger for the title, also experienced problems with his tires. Following a puncture, he was forced to turn round and head back to CP2, where one of his team-mates, Emanuel Gyenes, gave him his rear wheel. In total, he has a deficit of 1:01.53 to make up on Coma over the next 13 stages if he still hopes to win.

The day also turned out to be a catastrophe for one of the drivers involved in the struggle for the lead, because Guerlain Chicherit, having gone through CP3 with the best time of the day, lost all hope of making an impression on the stage, and probably even on the whole event, by rolling his car onto its roof after 277 km. The outcome was not as pessimistic for Dieter Depping, who also flew through the first 250 kilometers, but then experienced electronic problems with his VW Race Touareg. He finished the stage an hour behind Nasser Al Attiyah, whose victory will probably not help to console the X-Raid team. However, for the Qatari, triumphant the last time out during the UAE Desert Challenge race, it was his second success on the Dakar, after the Nema-Nema loop in 2007. Today’s showing confirms his status as an outside chance for overall victory. 

Ultimately, the two biggest teams on the rally, Mitsubishi and Volkswagen, had to settle for battling for the runner-up position and other places. Carlos Sainz was the most convincing at this game, taking second place behind Al Attiyah, followed closely by his two team-mates, Giniel De Villiers and Mark Miller. Used to pursuing, the Mitsubishi drivers lost a bit of ground on their main rivals: Alphand finished 4.44 behind the day’s winner and Peterhansel 4.54. Just behind them, Argentine Orlando Terranova once again showed how competitive the BMW X-3s are, with a 7th-placed finish on his first day on the event.

Overall Standings here

View a Video of the Dakar cars in Buenos Aires and the podium at the obelisk

X-Raid set to field six X3CC in Dakar Rally 2009

X-raid’s Power Racing Team will field six BMW X3 CCs in the Dakar Rally 2009, which takes place in South America for the first time. Newly-crowned FIA World Cup and FIA International Baja Cup champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah will be joined in the Trebur-based team’s line-up by Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit and Dutchman Peter van Merksteijn, with X-raid Russia’s Leonid Novitskiy, Argentina’s Orlando Terranova and Dutchman René Kuipers completing the driver line-up.

Al-Attiyah, from Qatar, will be partnered by Sweden’s Tina Thörner, while Frenchman Matthieu Baumel and Belgian Eddy Chevallier partner Chicherit and Van Merksteijn. Russian Oleg Tyupenkin, Frenchman Alain Guehennec and Portugal’s Filipe Palmeiro complete the six-car team’s co-driving line-up. All six drivers will wheel out the latest version of X-raid’s potent BMW X3 CC, updates of which have already taken outright wins in the punishing UAE Desert Challenge, Ha’il Saudi Baja, Baja Italy, Baja Spain and Baja Hungary this season in the hands of Al-Attiyah.

"We have a large team with strength and experience in depth," enthused team director Sven Quandt. "Our drivers have a wide range of experience in all forms of rallying and I am confident that our preparations will be rewarded with success in January. We have been developing the BMW X3 CC for many months and I have been delighted with the increased competitiveness of the car and the professional attitude of the entire team."

Al-Attiyah recently confirmed a third FIA title of the season, when he clinched the FIA Middle East Rally Championship for the fifth time in six seasons, but he would dearly love to add a Dakar win to his impressive list of recent victories. The Qatari finished sixth overall with Alain Guehennec in 2007, while co-driver Thörner has tackled the Dakar several times and finished runner-up with South African Giniel de Villiers in 2005.

"This is it, the big one," enthused Al-Attiyah. "This is the event that we have all been preparing for all year and I am so looking forward to the start. I have competed in Argentina before in the WRC and enjoyed the stages there very much. But this will be a totally different challenge. We have shown over the last few months that this new BMW is more than capable of winning the Dakar.

"I know we have the pace and the reliability to win stages and, maybe, take victory. It will not be easy. Volkswagen are very strong and Mitsubishi have a new car, but there are less difficult sand dunes than we would find on a traditional Dakar Rally in Africa and this could be more of a sprint event, which could suit me and the other WRC drivers better. Altitude will also play an important factor and it is important that we have the car set-up spot on for each day."

Chicherit, 30, has won a stage on the Dakar Rally in the past and his co-driver Matthieu Baumel is in winning form this season. The Frenchman partnered Al-Attiyah to success in Saudi Arabia earlier this year and won a recent special stage event in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia before switching his attention to final preparations for January’s Dakar.

Chicherit has the pace to match the Dakar Rally front-runners and is relishing his new South American challenge. The Tignes resident first competed in the African classic in 2005 and finished 49th overall and has set several useful times on off-road events in 2008.

Fifty-two-year-old Van Merksteijn is the oldest driver in the X-raid line-up, but the Dutchman is also one of the most experienced. The Enschede pilot has vast experience in Dutch special stage rallying and circuit racing, including success in numerous long-distance GT races.

He returned to rallying two years ago and tackled several WRC rallies, in addition to working on the 2006 Dakar Rally. He and Belgian co-driver Eddy Chevallier will need to call upon all his experience for his maiden Dakar outing.

Chevallier also has extensive WRC experience and finished ninth overall in the truck category of the Dakar Rally in 2004 and was leading the section with Hans Stacey in 2005 until engine failure robbed the pair of a potentially stunning result. In 2008, Chevallier finished fourth overall in the Monte Carlo Rally with François Duval and won the truck category in the Central Europe Rally.

Terranova tackled the Por Las Pampas Rally last season and will be doubly determined to achieve a top finish in his native Argentina. Orlando is the main local hope for success, is sure to attract massive local support and will be heavily reliant on the vast experience of co-driver Alain Guehennec.

The Frenchman has partnered Al-Attiyah, former Dakar winner Pierre Lartigue, former Group N world champion Grégoire de Mevius and X-raid’s former FIA World Cup champion Khalifa Al-Mutawei in the past. This will be Guehennec’s 17th Dakar Rally campaign.

Russian Leonid Novitskiy is one of the fastest improving drivers in off-road racing and had been second overall in the early stages of the recent UAE Desert Challenge. He and Oleg Tyupenkin will be hoping for a top five finish in the X-raid Russia-run BMW X3 CC.

Dutchman René Kuipers completes the driver line-up. He has tackled several rallies in Europe, including winning the Conrad Rally, finishing third in the Hellendoorn Rally and fourth at the Lautzits event this year. His co-driver Filipe Palmeiro has considerable cross-country rally experience and the Portuguese navigated for Brazilian Paulo Nobre on previous X-raid team campaigns.

The X-raid Racing Team faces its toughest ever challenge if it is to emerge victorious from the world’s most famous off-road rally. A provisional 230 bikes, 30 quads, 188 cars and 82 trucks from 49 countries will take part in the event, but X-raid will need to beat the might of the factory Volkswagen and Mitsubishi teams to stand a chance of taking an outright win in the car category for the first time.

The ever-improving BMW X3 CC has been a match for its factory rivals on several events this season, with Al-Attiyah beating the factory Mitsubishis fair and square in the Baja Spain and the X-raid car swapping fastest stage times with the Volkswagens and Mitsubishis on the two rounds of the 2008 Dakar Series.

Dakar 2009 gets underway from the Argentina capital on January 3rd, with a short liaison into a 371km special stage in the direction of Santa Rosa de la Pampa. This is followed by specials across remote Argentinean agricultural land and barren wasteland, taking in overnight stops at Puerto Madryn, Jacobacci, Neuquen and San Rafael.

On January 8th the event reaches the Argentine city of Mendoza, before crossing the border into Chile on the second longest day of the entire event on January 9th. This section consists of 397km of liaison roads and a 419km special stage in the Andes foothills en route to the Chilean Pacific coastal port of Valparaiso, which will also host the traditional rest day on Saturday, January 10th.

Competitive action resumes in Chile on Sunday, January 11th with a 294km special stage between Valparaiso and La Serena, using terrain similar to that used in the former Patagonia-Atacama Rally. The route continues to head north through Chile and into the Atacama Desert – the highest and driest desert in the world – where teams will benefit from much needed rest at two successive overnight halts in Copiapo.

The competitive action continues at high altitude as the route heads east towards the Argentinean border and a rest at Fiambala, after a tricky section in excess of 4,700 metres above sea level. Once the rally has returned to Argentina, the competition resumes with trails through sand dunes en route to La Rioja and on to more traditional FIA World Cup tracks en route to Cordoba, Argentina’s second largest city, on January 16th.

The final stage takes teams back to Buenos Aires on Saturday, January 17th for the traditional fanfare welcome and ceremonial finish after 5,652 competitive kilometres in a total route of 9,574km.

2008/12/24 | 11:11 CET | Editor: MR/HS/X-Raid

BMW X5 ALMOST ROLLS OVER IN DAKAR AMAZING SAVE!!!


BMW X3 X-Raid Paris Dakar Racer promo video

Peterhansel gets a last gasp victory in Portugal

Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret took advantage of the short final stage of the PAX Rally 2008 to get a last gasp victory in Portimao. After a total 800 kilometres driving against the clock, and half of today`s stage neutralised by a forest fire, Stéphane Peterhansel snatched the victory from the ex World Rally Champion, Carlos Sainz, by 16 seconds.
Luc Alphand was third in the end, bringa successful end to the racing career of the Mitsubishi Montero Evolution with a double success; it will be substituted in the Dakar 2009 by the new Mitsubishi Racing Lancer. In the motorbike category, Marc Coma made sure of a position on the podium after finishing today's stage in third position, behind Rubén Faria the winner of the Rally, and Zé Hélio, second on the stage.
After five days of competition and more than ten hours of fighting against the clock in the centre and south of Portugal, Stéphane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz started the last special stage separated by only 31 seconds. A forest fire in the middle of the route shortened today's stage even more, and at the same time the chances of fighting for the victory. But in the end a Carlos Sainz error allowed the Repsol driver to get a lead of 47 seconds over the Spaniard and so win the Rally in a heart-stopping finale. More at marathonrally.com
Standings here

The Argentinian, Orly Terranova finished the race after suffering some medical problems, but he managed to overcome them and struggled his way up the rally in his BMW X3. But the team faced a number of problems when the car knocked into a stone and damaged the front suspension which sent him way back in the results grid. Also a fire was declared on one of the stages which delayed the race. More here

Watch this video of Orly Terranova on two wheels


Watch an official video of the race


Pax Rally Part 2
Pax Rally Part3