WRC Rally Argentina 2009 - Categorías Producción y Junior

Dakar 2009 - Round-up Cars

In Spanish

Dakar 2009: Photos last two stages

Giniel de Villiers celebrates in Buenos Aires

Dieter Depping crosses a streem in Cordoba

Marc Coma arriving in Buenos Aires

Hands stretching out at Stage 14 finish

                                                      Marcos Patronelli escorted by the police entering Buenos Aires.

Dakar 2009 - La Rioja - Cordoba: Video Stage 13 Cars

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Dakar 2009 - Stage 13 - La Rioja - Cordoba: Nani Roma wins stage for Mitsubishi at last

Pending validation by the race stewards, Spaniard Nani Roma (Mitsubishi) has given the Japanese manufacturer its first stage victory on this 31st Dakar, which is also Nani’s first stage victory on four-wheels in a Dakar! In this 13th stage, the Spaniard took the lead by 7’18" over Polish driver Krzysztof Holowczyc (Nissan), and by 7’27" over French driver Guerlain Chicherit (BMW). However there has been no change in the general standings where South-African driver Giniel De Villiers (VW) is still in command, 2’20" ahead of his US team-mate Mark Miller (VW), and 1h27’13" ahead of the Hummer of Robby Gordon. Victim of a mechanical problem after

 hitting a big boulder, the US driver still holds the lead in the Open category but looses his first stage in this category to his team-mate, Frenchman Eric Vigouroux. Finally, in the Production category, Japanese driver Jun Mitsuhashi (Toyota) has won stage 13 but it is still France’s Nicolas Gibon (Toyota) who leads the general standings.

 Joan "Nani" Roma (Esp - MITSU) - 304

Yesterday was a stage like there are many on rally-raids. You must always expect this kind of ups and downs on a race like the Dakar. Today, I drove well. The car responded well too. This stage victory is a satisfaction for everybody. Now, we are going to go back to Buenos Aires without taking too much risk. I am not disappointed at the end of this Dakar.

 Krisztof Holowczyc (Pol – Nissan) - 317

"Today was a great stage for me. It’s funny because this morning, Jean Marc (Fortin) and I, we were saying: ’do you remember back in 1999, we had lost a wheel of our Subaru in WRC right here. It was rather easy for us, not too heavy on the car that does lack a bit of power. In the sand, we loose time but on this type of trail, it’s easy to drive. Some parts of the special stage were the same as in the WRC Rally of Argentina. This allows drivers to express their talents on more technical sections."

 Giniel De Villiers (Afs - Volkswagen) - 305

"I think we can call this a team stage. The most important is to reach the finish particularly after loosing a car yesterday. The manager wanted us to drive like this today and we abide by the wishes of the team. It’s important for Volkswagen to finish the Dakar in first and second places. We don’t want to take any chances anymore. It would be meaningless. We worked hard to get to this and throwing it all away on the last two stages would not be clever. For now, I am happy of my Dakar. It could have been better. But this is how it goes with the Dakar."

TEAM DAKAR USA

Posted by on Jan 16, 2009, 18:26

“Obviously, I wish that the No. 309 Monster Energy Toyo Tires Hummer would have had a better outcome today. Regardless of a pesky little rock getting in our way, I am still happy with where we stand going into the last stage tomorrow. Even though we haven’t won any specials yet this year, we are still here competing for the Dakar Rally title and that is what that matters. This race is about survival and preparation, and Team Dakar USA has excelled at both. We have been able to address the problems, fix them, and continue forward. Both cars are still in the race, and I couldn’t be more proud of the Team Dakar USA program,” commented Robby Gordon.

Standings after Stage 13

Dakar 2009: Mitsubishi´s Roma survives marathonstage

Mitsubishi's Joan 'Nani' Roma and Lucas Cruz Senra (both Spain) survived what should have been the longest and potentially most difficult special stage of the entire 2009 Dakar Rally on Tuesday. They completed the 670km loop through the Atacama desert, that was shortened to 476km by event officials, in fifth place to maintain fourth in the overall classification.

 The Mitsubishi mechanics left no stone unturned to find the fault that had caused Roma's overheating woes on the ninth stage and the ventilator fan was eventually repaired to rectify the problem. Roma held a virtual sixth at the first passage control and a similar position through PCs three, four and five, before reaching the finish, adjacent to the bivouac, where hundreds of service teams, media and spectators were watching the action unfold at the end of the special from an elevated position on a giant dune.

 Robbie Gordon (USA) set the second fastest time on the special to reduce Roma's hold on fourth position to 21m 25s, but Carlos Sainz (Spain) continued to head team mate Mark Miller (USA) by 27m 31s in the overall standings after setting the quickest time of the day.

 The ASO permitted 312 teams to take part in today's loop stage, with 142 bikes and quads, 109 cars and 61 trucks given permission to restart. Low-lying cloud and a sea mist again forced the delay of the special stage, which had been reduced from 670km to 476km the previous evening, on the grounds that some of the terrain was not challenging and the ASO preferred teams to have more time to tackle the tricky dunes en route.

 But the fog persisted, meaning that the safety helicopters could not take off, and ASO officials were forced to delay the start of the stage by 2h 40m.

 What they said:

 Dominique Serieys, Team Director: 'Nani' is driving very well and has made no mistakes. We had some troubles that have put him back, but we are getting more feedback about diesel technology every day. We are on a good pace now and will try and give him a better car each day. The target is still a podium. Robbie (Gordon) is still pushing and it is good for the rally that another private team is coming into the fight."

 Joan 'Nani' Roma: "I am happy to be here. If they make the original road book about 670km, you know it is going to be tough. The engine mapping could have been better in the power stakes, but we never stopped and we made the kilometers to reach the finish. I am not watching the leader board now. If we cannot take a podium, then fourth or fifth is the same to me. It is just a case of doing our jobs and keeping going over the last few days." 

Lucas Cruz Senra: "It was obviously a hard stage. There were a lot of areas of camel grass and that made it tough. We struggled a little. I stopped on one occasion to take some air out of the tires, because the sand is very soft. The road book was not so good today. One modification was totally opposite to the real direction we had to take and we lost one or two kilometers." (Marathonrally.com)

Dakar 2009 - Stage 12 - Quotes from VW crews

Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
"The most important news is that the accident of Carlos Sainz and Michel Périn did not result in any severe personal injuries. Both of them are very disappointed that the ‘Dakar’ is over for them, but at the same time they’re relieved that with a shoulder injury for Michel the incident did not result in really serious consequences. We wish Michel a speedy recovery. But – we knew that to win, we’d first have to overcome the ‘Dakar’ itself. With Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz and Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford we’ve still got two irons in the fire to win the Dakar Rally with the Race Touareg and TDI power.”

#301 – Carlos Sainz (E), retired"Suddenly, a four-metre deep hole appeared in front of us. We fell into it and landed on our roof. A BMW and Nani Roma were able to get around us at the last moment. The BMW team stopped and helped us to put the car back on its wheels. In the meantime an ASO doctor had arrived who briefly checked Michel Périn and barred him from continuing the drive on account of a shoulder injury. The Race Touareg was by and large okay, the engine was running. Of course we were lucky in this situation as well. I’m very disappointed and I’m very sorry for the team that we´re out, but I’m hoping that our team will win in the end anyhow.”

#301 – Michel Périn (F), co-driver"About 30 kilometres before our accident we’d lost our way but soon found the right route again. We were heading towards the next waypoint, I counted down the distance – as always – and just as I was saying ‘20 metres’ we dropped into this whole. Even the days before, the roadbook had not been particularly accurate and today we paid the price for it. I broke a shoulder blade in the accident and that ended the rally for me and Carlos. I’m very sorry for the team. But I’m hoping that in the end a ‘blue’ vehicle will finish in front.”

#305 – Giniel de Villiers (ZA), 1st place leg / 1st place overall"It was an incredibly rough day for us. Although the special stage today was short, it was extremely slow. The organiser selected routes with large stones, deep and super-soft sand. In addition, there were some places left out in the roadbook, which of course made the navigation extremely difficult. But about five kilometres before the finish my co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz made up a lot of time for us when he found the quickest way while others were still looking for it.”

#307 – Dieter Depping (D), 4th place leg / 7th place overall"I think today wasn’t just 100 per cent ‘Dakar’, it was more like 120 per cent ‘Dakar’. The dunes were incredibly hard to handle, lots of vegetation that made life difficult for us, and we had to cross riverbeds several times. My co-driver Timo Gottschalk had his work cut out for him. Many branch-offs were hard to see and the roadbook led us astray several times today as well. So, today had everything a rally day could offer.”

#308 – Mark Miller (USA), 2nd place leg / 2nd place overall"Today is one of those days where there’s a lot to talk about. The special stage has definitely been the most difficult one of this ‘Dakar’ so far. Particularly in the sand we had to work hard, we got stuck several times and had to dig ourselves out. On several occasions we let some air out of the tyres and filled them up again after the difficult passages. Once we got stuck, and when I left the car I only then realized we’d lost the rear part of the body – I haven’t noticed beforehand that we’d lost it at all. We were leading for a long time, but lost time again at the end. The overall gap between me and my team colleague Giniel de Villiers is small now – but the main thing is that a Volkswagen will be in front in the end.”

Dakar 2009 - Stage 12 - Fiambalá - La Rioja: Video - Cars

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Dakar 2009 - Stage 12: Fiambala - La Rioja: Sainz crashes out of Dakar rally

Dakar leader Carlos Sainz has crashed out of the rally during the 12th stage of the event.

The Spaniard, who was leading comfortably with just three stages left, careered into a ravine after 79 km of the day's special stage, damaging his Volkswagen beyond repair.

His co-driver Michel Perin is reported to have injured his shoulder, but both men arrived by helicopter at the bivouac in Fiambala.
Sainz' exit leaves teammate Giniels de Villers in the lead, pending the end of today's stage.

The 3 first cars have now reached the end of this 12th stage and - against all odds - it is South-African driver Giniel De Villiers (VW), who was timed 3rd, 2’12" behind Miller at CP2, who wins. This is his 3rd stage victory this year and his 11th on a Dakar. More importantly, with a 16’17" over his US team-mate Mark Miller (VW), De Villiers is now taking the lead in the general standings after the withdrawal of Spanish driver Carlos Sainz (VW) today. 3rd fastest clock today, 25’27" behind the winner, American driver Robby Gordon (Hummer) is now more than 1h15" behing the leaders in the general standings.

Michel Périn (copilot to C. Sainz - 301 - VW) - 301

We had made a small mistake in the first part. We took the wrong direction at a Y crossing but it was not too bad because we did end up on the right trail. We were tailing Giniel De Villiers who had started about 10’ after us so it was still sort of OK. Then there was a hidden waypoint with a wadi indicated as ’danger’. But it should have been indicated as ’extremely dangerous’. By the way, the car behind us, Nani Roma’s car, would have fallen in the same hole as we did if we had not been there already. I’m ok; I just have something broken in my arm, but I’m alright.

Giniel De Villiers (Afs - Volkswagen) - 305

"It was really a tough stage. In places we would go around in circles for 15’ to find the right trail. It was very dangerous and the sand was really soft. We stopped a first time to deflate our tyres. Then a second time in a huge canyon with tons of boulders. Dirk (Von Zitzewitz) had to get out of the car to find a way out. It was really a tough day."

Patronelli hits hard!

The first 3 quads have now reached the end of the day’s special stage and Argentinian driver Marcos Patronelli (Can-Am) is today’s winner; this is his 3rd stage victory of the rally and a big one it is with a 35’56" (!) lead over leader in the general standings, Czech driver Josef Machacek (Yamaha), and 36’02" over Frenchman Hubert Deltrieu (Polaris).

3rd stage victory for Despres

The first 7 bikes have now reached the finish of today’s special stage and French rider Cyril Despres (KTM) wins the stage; it is the Frenchman’s third stage victory in this 31st edition of the Dakar, he finishes with a 1’23" lead on the leader in the general standings, Spain’s Marc Coma (KTM), and 9’51" ahead of France’s David Casteu (KTM).

 A surprising third place for Farrès Guell!

After starting today’s stage 20th this morning, Spain’s Gerard Farrès Guell (KTM) had the 3rd fastest clock of the day’s special stage, finishing 9’47" behind winner Cyril Despres (KTM), but 4" ahead of French rider David Casteu (VW), who is now fourth of today’s stage.

Standings after Stage 12

Dakar 2009 - Stage 10 Revisited

Dakar 2009 - Stage 10 Video 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 - Stage 9: La Serena - Copiapo - Cars Video

Dakar 2009 - Stage 9: Sainz takes fifth Dakar stage victory

Autosport.com

By Pablo Elizalde Monday, January 12th 2009, 18:46 GMT

Carlos Sainz stretched his lead at the top of the Dakar standings once again after scoring his fifth stage win of the rally.

The Volkswagen driver has now won three stages in a row to increase his lead at the top of the table to nearly 20 minutes over teammate Mark Miller, who took second place in today's stage.

In one of the longest and hardest specials of the rally at 449 km, Sainz avoided trouble and reached the finish line after nearly six hours of driving.
"This special was very hard," said Sainz. "Very, very, very hard with lots of rocks and with difficult navigation. Really complicated.

"Being here today is a victory. We'll see what happens later, but it was a difficult day."

Miller finished less than two minutes behind, but the American had looked set to win the stage before he was forced to stop to fix his steering and a wheel.

"We have been waiting for a year for this stage," said Miller. "We caught Carlos after 60 kms and we overtook him after around 150. Things were going quite well.

"In the last off-road section Carlos and I were both a little bit... The track was difficult to find and there were big boulders and I hit one on the right, I didn't even see it and it broke the steering so we had to stop and fix the steering and at the same time fix a wheel that broke. But it was a really, really fun day."

Thanks to today's result, Miller moved into second place in the overall standings after a difficult day for Giniel de Villiers, who finished far from his teammates after getting lost around the 80-km mark.

The South African, fourth in the special, dropped 12 minutes and is now nearly 23 behind Sainz in third.

American Robby Gordon was third in the stage after another solid day with his Hummer, ahead of the only works Mitsubishi left, that of Joan Roma.

The Spaniard, a former winner in the bikes category, set the fifth fastest time today, but over 24 minutes adrift of Sainz. Roma is now nearly an hour behind the former rally champion.

Standings after Stage 9

Dakar 2009: Stage 8 - Valparaíso - La Serena Video

See more Dakar 2009 videos here

Dakar 2009 Stage 8: Interviews - Cars

Carlos Sainz (Sp – Volkswagen) - 301

“As long as the rally isn’t over, then nothing is certain. Today was the first time we have driven on tracks. In fact, this stage was very much like a traditional rally stage. Up until now, those are the first real tracks that I’ve seen. But it was very nice, very slippery and sometimes quite tricky. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and I hope that we’ll carry on being as successful as we have been today”.

 

Mark Miller (USA – Volkswagen) - 308

“There were a lot of chances to lose the rally today and no chances of making up any time, so it’s not the kind of stage built for me. It was perfect for Carlos (Sainz) and the guys that like the rally stuff. At every turn there was a chance to ruin your race. It was difficult for me, but I did better than I expected so it was a success for me. Starting fifth or sixth tomorrow, maybe it’s an advantage, we’ll see”.

 

Nani Roma (Sp – Mitsubishi) - 304

“We came really close today. After 50 km we had a puncture, a double puncture in fact. We changed a front wheel and re-inflated a rear tire, so we lost quite a bit of time. As regards the gap at the end, after what happened on the stage, it’s not bad at all. It was a really nice stage in driving terms, but also the type of stage on which Carlos is very good. 

But he’s also good at off-track racing. Anyway, in rally-raids there are always surprises. Now we’re going to be faced with two or three very difficult days. Everything can change, and we won’t not let anything go. Just wait and see”.

Dakar 2009 - Stage 8 Valparaíso - La Serena: Sainz stretches lead with stage win

Autosport.com
By Matt Beer Sunday, January 11th 2009, 17:49 GMT

Carlos Sainz has extended his Dakar Rally lead to nearly 11 minutes after dominating stage eight of the event.

The former World Rally champion was just nine seconds clear of his Volkswagen teammate Giniel de Villiers when the rally resumed after Saturday's rest day, but the South African lost ten minutes to Sainz on the run from Valparaiso to La Serena.
Sainz said he had enjoyed the 294-kilometre stage, which was regarded as a relatively straightforward and easy section compared to the extremely punishing courses that will be used during the coming days.

"I think it's a nice track," he said. "Very slippery, sometimes very tricky also - you don't see a corner and then it's turning. We just have to keep going like today, with no problems, go, go, go."

VW continue to hold a one-two-three at the head of the field, with Mark Miller third, eight minutes behind de Villiers. Miller, who was third-fastest today behind Dieter Depping, said he felt the stage had been far better suited to Sainz than those with a background in rally raids.

"Lots of chance to lose your rally, and no chance to make any time really," said the American. "It's not the kind of stage that's built for me. It's perfect for Carlos and the guys that like the rally stuff.

"I stayed within four minutes of Carlos and I thought I would've lost six to eight, so I did better than I was expecting. So for me, it was a success. A few minutes is no big deal."

Joan Roma remains a distant fourth in the sole remaining factory Mitsubishi, with Robby Gordon hanging on to fifth in his Hummer despite losing a lot of time today when he became stuck on rocks while crossing a dried-up river bed.

Standings after Stage 8

Dakar 2009: Rest Day Video

Dakar 2009 - Stage 7 - Mendoza - Valparaiso

Summary of stage 7 - Cars

Pending validation of the

 results by the race stewards, Spaniard Carlos Sainz (VW) has won the 7th stage, picking up his 3rd stage victory of this 31st Dakar, 3.41 ahead of his American team-mate Mark

 Miller (VW) and 4.13 in front of American Robby Gordon and his Hummer. As a result, in the general standings "El Matador" Sainz has taken

 the lead, 9 short seconds ahead of his South African team-mate Giniel De Villiers and 13.53 in front of the Race Touareg belonging to Miller, putting the 3 Volkswagens in the first 3

 places! Worthy of note, the 9 times winner of the event Stéphane

 Peterhansel again suffered problems today. After a fire in the engine of his Mitsubishi Racing Lancer, the Frenchman has now lost

 all chance of grabbing a 10th victory on his 20th Dakar. In the Open category, Robby Gordon (Hummer) was again victorious and is the

 undisputed category leader in the general standings. Finally, in the Production category, Japanese driver Jun Mitsuhashi (Toyota) won the

 stage, but still only managed to claw back 10.20 on Frenchman Nicolas Gibon (Toyota) who retains a solid lead in the category in the general standings.

Summary of stage 7 - Bikes

Pending validation of the results by the race stewards, Chilean Francisco Lopez (KTM) has won the 7th stage, picking up his 1st success on the Dakar, 3.57 ahead of the leader of the general standings, Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM) and 5.21 in front of France’s Cyril Despres (KTM). As a result, in the general standings Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM) carries on opening up a gap at the top of the rankings, with a 51.22 lead over American Jonah Street (KTM), still leader in the marathon category, and a 52.31 lead over Frenchman David Frétigné (Yamaha), leader of the 450cc category.

Summary of stage 7  - Quads

Pending validation of the results by the race stewards, Argentine Marcos Patronelli (Can Am) has won the 7th stage, picking up his 1st success on the Dakar, 14.01 ahead of Uruguayan Luis Henderson (Suzuki) and 20.22 in front of Poland’s Rafal Sonik (Yamaha). As a result, in the general standings Czech rider Josef Machacek (Yamaha) is way out in the lead, 2:27.32 ahead of Patronelli and 2:38.27 in front of Polish rider Sonik.

Dakar 2009: Video of Stage 6 - Cars: Al-Attiyah excluded from the race

Standings after stage 6