Dakar 2011 - Robby Gordon jumps ramp twice

Dakar 2009 Last Stage - Cordoba - Buenos Aires: De Villiers, Coma, Machacek the winners of the Rally-Raid

The last stage of the 2009 Dakar Argentina - Chile has come to and end, finally. South African Giniel de Villiers (VW)in the cars category, Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM)in bikes and Czech Machacek (Yamaha) in quads are the new crowns of the famous rally. Still to finish, the trucks are now racing the final stage. Second overall to De Villiers (who won this last stage) is his VW partner from the USA, Mark Miller (second in the stage), Frenchman Cyril Deprés (3rd in the stage) is second overall to Coma (6th in the stage) also with KTM, and Argentinian Marcos Patronelli (7th in the stage) with a Can-Am quad came in second to Machacek (2nd in the stage), a wonderful feat for a Dakar rookie, who won 3 stages. Robby Gordon (Hummer USA) suffered a puncture at km 80 of the final stage but arrived in 18th place, placing him as 3rd overall. Norwegian Tollefsen (Nissan)(10th in the stage) is in 4th place overall after a fantastic race together with his partner from Poland Holowicz (Nissan)(3rd in the stage). Spaniard Nani Roma (Mitsubishi) came in 4th in the stage and finished 10th overall, the last survivor of the RalliArt team.
Final Overall Standings

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

In Spanish (longer)


In English

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

In Spanish (longer)


In English

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 7: Cars, Interviews

Carlos Sainz (Esp – Volkswagen) - 301

“The day went well, even if the stage was very hard. There was the mud, and the zones with lots of water, meaning sometimes we had to deal with a bit of wheel-spin. After that it was just as tough, really hard. But everything is going well for the team”.

---

Robby Gordon (USA – Hummer) - 309

“For us, it was a pretty good special. There was a little bit of mud at the end. I have to say for the first section we were right in the fight for the lead, but the last section where there was mud, since we have a two-wheel drive I was very conservative and cautious. We gave up probably 5 or 6 minutes to Sainz just in the last 70 kilometers. My Hummer is still hanging in there. We lost 35 minutes yesterday when we got lost, and that might make the difference at the end of the day between winning the rally or not. I’m happy to be half way there. We’ve come here for the win and we won’t stop until the finishing line, we’re pushing as hard as we can, but you’ve got to be smart: a lot of cars are starting to drop out of the rally. It’s still possible. The Volkswagens often break down during the last week”.

---

Nani Roma (Esp – Mitsubishi) - 304

“It was a good day. The car worked well. Still, there was a slight problem with the windscreen wipers. I finished without being able to see much. I don’t know what happened to Stéphane Peterhansel either. Perhaps he got a flat tire. Anyway, in this race every day something remarkable happens. We still have a long way to go before the finish. For the moment, we’re only near Valparaiso. At Mitsubishi, we have a huge team who work really hard. They’ve made a super car, but it’s a brand new car, so we have to fight and work hard, day after day, and not let the Volkswagens run away with it. The car is getting better and better, and I’m a professional. Mitsubishi pay me for this type of competition. So I’m going to battle and if VW want to win the rally, then it’s going to be tough, because I’m not going to let up, not one bit. I’ve worked a lot for this race”.

Dakar 2009 - Stage 6: A difficult but favourable day for Vigouroux.

Despite many difficulties, Eric Vigouroux finished amongst the first thirty racers during the first genuine rally-raid leg, which was both challenging and varied. As far as climate goes, temperatures hit thirty degrees in the early morning, snowflakes fell during a passage at 2,500 metres of altitude and, for the day's end, there was a strong thunderstorm, which even featured hail!

"As usual, the beginning of the special was hell, with over 100 km of fesh-fesh, no wind and broken-down vehicles everywhere. To avoid them, we had to make large detours through very thick brush. We were blocked for half an hour because of a 4x4 that was stuck in the fesh-fesh, and when we took off, Alex detected a fire that had just started under our hood.

We quickly extinguished it, but a spark plug melted and the engine was running poorly. At CP2, prior to the dunes, we decided to stop to change the spark plug wire and clean the air filter, from which we were able to remove a genuine bucket of sand", explained Eric.

"All things considered, these incidents made us lose an hour, but it was crucial that we pass through the dreaded strip of grey dunes before the night, since they seem to have trapped a large number of vehicles. When we drove through them, a thunderstorm broke out. It was six o'clock at night, but it seemed like the middle of the night. Now, though, we are quite happy to be done with this terrible day, and, once again, Robby Gordon came to congratulate us upon our arrival for our persistence." One of Eric and Alex's qualities it to never give up, and the American driver is particularly grateful for this attitude of theirs.

Dakar 2009 - Video of Stage 5 - Cars

Dakar 2009: Double victory for VW, de Villiers now second.

Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) celebrated a Volkswagen stage victory on the fifth leg of the “Dakar” ahead of their teammates Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D), to improve their overall ranking by one place. De Villiers of South Africa is now ranked second overall, 2.24 minutes behind the new rally leaders Nasser Al-Attiyah/Tina Thörner (Q/S), and is the new leading Volkswagen driver in the field for the time being. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) were at the front of the pack for several hundred kilometres of today’s leg, which featured altitudes ranging from 400 metres to 2,300 metres above sea level. The German pair eventually came second, securing their best result so far on this cross-country classic.

Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) likewise have reason to be pleased, having managed to supplant Mitsubishi driver Nani Roma to take fifth place in the overall rankings following their good performance on today´s turbulent 506-kilometre-long special stage from Neuquén to San Rafael in Argentina.

Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F) have suffered a setback: after leading the rally for three days, they finished today´s leg 15.42 minutes behind the day´s winners and have therefore dropped two places in the overall rankings, to third. They now trail the front runners by 6.33 minutes. (Marathonrally.com)

Dakar 2009: Video of Stage 3 - Cars

See a Robby Gordon video on-board his Hummer

Dakar 2009 - Robby Gordon - Team Dakar USA

Led by American racer Robby Gordon, Team Dakar USA will be a national effort in the world’s most challenging international off-road race. Winning the race aside, Team Dakar USA’s main objectives will be to highlight American innovation, determination and international goodwill.

Hummer Action from Central Europe Rally


Robby Gordon in Baja 2008 race:


See a Robby Gordon shock test video

Robby Gordon Off-Road Dakar Hummer H3 Technical Specifications

Motorsport.com article on Robby Gordon and Team Dakar USA