Dakar 2009: CELEBRATED LIKE HEROES

The 31st edition of the Dakar, the first one in Latin-America, is now over and has seen the victories of Marc Coma in the bike category, Josef Machacek in the quad category, Giniel De Villiers in the car category and Firdaus Kabirov in the truck category. In total, 113 bikers, 13 quad riders, 91 car teams and 54 truck teams finished the rally-raid, that was notably marked by the exceptional enthusiasm the Dakar generated amongst the crowds in Argentina and in Chile.

BIKE RAID: COMA, THE VERY BEST ON TWO WHEELS

In the bike race, Marc Coma made THE performance of the year by leading the rally from start to finish. A feat unseen since 1997 in a Dakar-Dakar when someone called Stéphane Peterhansel had taken command of the raid the moment he started it en route to Tambacounda. Headed for the Argentinian Pampa, Spain’s Coma hit hard right away. A true slap in the face for his adversaries who suffered because of tire problems: Coma stole 41’ to a desperate Despres, 1h01’ to a David Casteu in tears. Only Frétigné managed to limit the damage by "only" conceding 28’ to Coma.
Two weeks and a few more rear tire problems for his contenders later, the tough Catalan won his second Dakar after a last stage where he just followed his main rivals from a safe but sure distance. At the end of a well-raced raid, Coma won wisely with a 1h25’ lead over Despres and 1h38’ over Frétigné. Three years after his first Dakar victory, the KTM-Repsol rider gave Spain his third victory on the rally-raid.

Unable to catch up on the undoubted leader, Cyril Despres did however win 4 special stages - against 3 for Coma -, which brings his stage victory total to 20. Third of the Dakar, David Frétigné, riding his "small" Yamaha, had his best performance ever on the raid winning at the same time the 450cc category race. In the standings of this 31st edition, we will also note the presence of the best woman in the Dakar, Dutch female biker Mirjam Pol, ranking 53rd in the standings. Her countryman, Rob Van Pelt, 33rd wins the bike amateur standings that rewards those bikers who rode without assistance.

In the quad race, Josef Machacek was the bravest of all 13 riders to finish the Dakar - there were 25 of them at the start. The Czech who is almost 52 years old was - once again - amazingly steady, winning 4 special stages and finishing the 10 others in the Top 3. The Yamaha rider wins here his fifth Dakar. He finishes 2h35’ ahead of local hero Marcos Patronelli, second in the standings. The other top performer of the quad race is Elisabeth Kraft, who enters the history of the Dakar by being the first woman to finish the rally-raid on this funny machine called quad.

CAR RAID: LEARNING TO BE PATIENT 
If there are areas where chance is only a marginal factor, it is indeed the world of enduro racing and mechanics. The success of Volkswagen taught those who did not know it that victories are built in the long run, especially in a race like the Dakar. The investment of the German manufacturer, whose goal was to bring the first diesel engine to victory on the most demanding of all rally-raids, started in 2003. After hesitation, progress, confirmation and tough times, it’s in 2009 that the Race Touareg reached its goal by being the master of the race from the beginning till the end.
If the dramatic turn of events of stage 12 - the fatal crash of Carlos Sainz - deprived VW of a Grand Slam, the three remaining cars finished the race in the Top 6 with Giniel De Villiers and Mark Miller ranking first and second. With 10 stage victories out of 13, the crews of Kris Nissen did not leave much to their contenders. This might seem a bit harsh for the others in the race but it responds to a firm will of preserving the whole team from the worst. By the way, the profile of the new winner of the rally corresponds perfectly to the demands of the Dakar. In his five previous participations, the South-African driver gave the impression of being steady and making progress at all times; his victory this year is also the victory of his patience.
And patience is also exactly what Team Mitsubishi must start learning. After an uninterrupted series of 7 victories and a track record with 12 titles in total, the Japanese team finished this Dakar with just one car out of four ranking fourth in the general standings. Since they arrived on the Dakar in 1984, the absence of the Mitsu drivers on the final podium only happened twice before in 1990 and in 1994. This year, Hiroshi Masuoka, Luc Alphand and then Stéphane Peterhansel all left the race prematurely. The last of the Mohicans at Mitsu, Joan "Nani" Roma did his very best to keep his place in the top 3 but collapsed in the stage of La Rioja. His proud reaction the next day when he got the best clock in the Cordoba stage is a very small consolation price for the team: indeed, in order to successfully convert the cars to diesel engines, the engineers and technicians still have a long way to go.

The race through elimination also touched the X-Raid team with the exclusion of Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah, when he was in the lead of the general standings. The level of performance of the BMW X3 had allowed him to win two stages but his lack of reliability forced his to drive around a line of dunes, which led to his exclusion from the raid. Argentina’s Orlando Terranova, who was starting to impose himself slowly upon the elites, had to withdraw from the race after a major driving error.

In the T2 category, Nicolas Gibon gives a new victory to Toyota in this category and also - more importantly - ends up in 14th position in the general standings, whereas the best vehicles engaged in the Production category tend to generally rank around the 40th position. His closest contender, Xavier Foj, also demonstrated the competitiveness of T2s as he finishes 16th of the rally-raid.

Finally, the only 100% female crew registered to start in Buenos Aires, with Florence Migraine Bourgnon behind the wheel and Clémence Joyeux handling the road book, managed to finish the raid and ranks 86th in the general standings. As to the last one in the general standings (91st!), he is also a winner in his own right in his category as Jose Manuel Salinero was the only one who drove the whole Dakar alone in his car.

TRUCK RAID: KAMAZ GETS BACK WHAT WAS HIS

From the first to the last stage in the truck raid, the race was intense and there were many unexpected turns of events. From day one on, it was the Dutch participants who stood out. Van Vliet won the stage and became the first leader of this Dakar in front of De Rooy, while Chagin was only 7th. But the real turn of events of this opening went to Hans Stacey. A flat tire relegated him 39 minutes behind the pack and started the list of his setbacks. The leader of Team Man withdrew at the start of stage 8. Young De Rooy benefited from it to leave his mark on the early stages of this Dakar. Leader as of day 2, De Rooy stayed in the lead for four days and won a total of three stages. But the Dutch mark on the rally was going to fade at mid-raid and give way to the Russian trucks. Kabirov took the lead in the general standings at the end of stage 6, which opened a fascinating pursuit between the many-time winners of the Kamaz team. Chagin and Kabirov took turns at winning stages and at taking the lead in the general standings, and fought a spectacular fight with no mercy. The conclusion of this fight happened in the last special stage when Firdaus Kabirov finished just 30’’ ahead of Chagin and won his second Dakar, pushing Chagin back at 3’39’’ in the standings. Only Gerard De Rooy sort of stood his ground in this final stage and ends up getting third place on the podium, right in front of Mardeev. With 3 trucks out of 3 in the four first places of the general standings, this year, the Kamaz trucks were simply untouchable.

Dakar 2009: De Villiers claims historic Dakar win

Autosport.com

By Matt Beer

Saturday, January 17th 2009, 14:16 GMT

Giniel de Villiers has clinched a historic Dakar Rally victory for Volkswagen, taking the first diesel-powered win in the event in its first year in its new South American location.

Mark Miller completed a VW one-two, as this year's dominant team cruised through the final days over an hour clear of the rest of the field.

It should have been a top three sweep for VW, had Carlos Sainz not crashed out of the lead on Thursday. The former World Rally champion had led for most of the rally, only to slide into a ravine with just two days to go, leaving his co-driver Michel Perin with shoulder injuries that forced them to withdraw.

With Miller losing a lot of time in the same stage, de Villiers suddenly vaulted from a distant third - 41 minutes adrift - into the rally lead, where he remained through today's deciding run from Cordoba back to Buenos Aires.

"Absolutely incredible," said de Villiers, who was also fastest in the final stage. "I've never experienced such a feeling before. I was very nervous in the last couple of kilometres, but it's an unbelievable feeling.

"I'm so happy for the team and everyone back at Volkswagen, who've been supporting us for five years to get this win."

Miller drove conservatively and ultimately finished eight minutes behind his victorious teammate.

"The team won, that was our goal," he said. "It could have been Giniel or me, and that's the way it works. I'm a young guy and I'm going to have plenty of chances, I hope."

While VW celebrated, it was a disastrous event for Mitsubishi. The winners of the last seven Dakars hoped their brand new diesel Lancer could continue that streak, but took just one fastest stage time, never led the event, and lost three of their four works cars early on. Joan Roma's eventual 10th place was little consolation.

With Mitsubishi under-performing, the X-Raid BMW team proved to be VW's main rivals. Nassar Al-Attiyah battled for the lead with Sainz in the opening days, only to be disqualified for missing waypoints while trying to protect an overheating engine.

Third place finally went to Robby Gordon, despite the Hummer driver having some late scares with a stuck throttle yesterday and a flat tyre today. But with a vast advantage over Overdrive Nissan drivers Ivar Erik Tollefsen and Krzysztof Holowczyc in fourth and fifth places, Gordon was still able to make it home in third.

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 6 - San Rafael - Mendoza: Mitsubishi challenge down to two Lancer.

The sixth stage of the 2009 Dakar Rally between San Rafael and Mendoza marked a day that Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart would rather forget, after team co-driver Gilles Picard (France) was taken ill on the special stage and forced the immediate retirement of his driver Luc Alphand (France) from the race.

Team mates Stephane Peterhansel (France) and Joan 'Nani' Roma (Spain) finished the stage with the fifth and sixth fastest times, but now hold sixth and fifth in the overall standings and face an uphill struggle to regain the lost time over the coming days.

Today's special stage was originally shortened from 394km to 232km and then to 178km because of the risk of standing water caused by recent rainfall. Event officials sent a route vehicle into the stage on Wednesday to monitor a river crossing which was already 80cm high and the decision was taken to skip the section on safety grounds.

Mitsubishi's mechanics finally completed the work on Peterhansel's and Jean-Paul Cottret's (France) 'Racing Lancer' just before the pair were scheduled to leave the bivouac and head into the liaison section to the sixth stage to Mendoza.

Peterhansel had incurred a 15-minute penalty in San Rafael on Wednesday evening for missing a time control. He eventually set the fifth fastest time.

Luc Alphand (France) was forced to withdraw from the Dakar Rally 12km after the start of the stage this morning, when co-driver Gilles Picard (France) was taken ill assisting Alphand in putting plates under a wheel when they were stuck in the mud. As a precaution he was airlifted to the bivouac in San Rafa?l for medical checks, but Alphand was unable to continue. Picard then underwent an electro-cardiogram test and everything was normal.

Joan 'Nani' Roma and Lucas Cruz Senra (Spain) held sixth position through the opening passage control and maintained his position to the finish. (Marathonrally.com)

Dakar 2009 - Video of Stage 4 - Cars/Autos

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

Verhoeven opportunistic whilst Sainz takes control

On a stage that was mostly quick, which suited Marc Coma in theory, the leader of the general standings in the bike race lost part of his lead, slowed down by a mechanical problem. Frans Verhoeven won his first ever special stage on the Dakar. In the car category, Carlos Sainz carried off a twofold triumph, by winning the stage and also taking the lead in the general standings. 

What is true one day is not always thus the day after. The same could be said for Marc Coma, whose display between Santa Rosa and Puerto Madryn could give hope to the other lead

ing bikers in the rally. Having set off first, with the responsibility of leading the way, the Spaniard continued in much the same vein to start with as his brilliant showing yesterday, landing the best time at CP2, 2.20 ahead of Jonah Street. But he was only half way there! The situation took a turn for the worse on one of the quick sections of which he is so

 fond, when he was slowed down by a radiator problem. Frans Verhoven, renowned for his consistency, took advantage of this mishap to grab his first ever special stage victory on the Dakar, after having been water carrier for Cyril Despres in 2007. Indeed, his former team leader took second place on the day’s stage, 30 seconds behind and as a result climbs up to 12th place in the general standings. 

Many riders would still like to be in Marc Coma’s shoes however, since he has a lead of 13.47 over his new pursuer, Frans Verhoven. Provisional third place on the podium went to Jonah Street, who was 5th to cross the finishing line today. This 2nd stage also gave David Fretigné the opportunity to climb up to 4th position in the general standings. Only 24 seconds behind Cyril Despres on today’s special stage, the Yamaha rider confirmed that his 450cc has nothing to envy against the KTMs. 

In the car category, the first stage showed that the Volkswagen Race Touaregs would not be waiting in ambush for long, and today Carlos Sainz was the most capable at combining speed and wisdom. For Nasser Al Attiyah and Tina Thorner, yesterday’s winners, the task was proving that their talents as navigators were equal to their pure driving skills. At this level, small mistakes can change everything. Indeed, after a navigational error, when the crew had to execute a quick about-turn to avoid missing a WPM (way point marker, which drivers must pass through), the Qatari ended up behind Sainz and especially in a cloud of dust. Blinded by the Argentine version of fesh-fesh, Al Attiyah sensibly preferred to avoid potentially dangerous attacks. In these conditions, Carlos Sainz completed a faultless display, right up to the finishing line, with the day’s best time. As regards the Mitsubishis, Stéphane Peterhansel was not scared by the dust and his audacity paid off: he scored the second best time of the day, 1.14 behind Sainz. 

The first surprises occurred in the T2 category, in which Miki Biasion, former WRC world champion, lost his place as leader. The day’s winner in the category, Michel De Nora, at the wheel of a Toyota Land Cruiser, only managed to rack up a lead of 1.30 over Jérôme Hardy, in a Mitsubishi Pajero. However, for the moment, Mr. Consistency is Jun Mitsuhashi, a former winner of the “Production” category, who is showing great resistance. He is currently in 36th position in the provisional general standings. 

In the truck category, the turn that events are taking is starting to become a worry for title holder Hans Stacey, who, after only two special stages, is already 1:12.00 behind the race leader: Gerard De Rooy. The GINAF driver, who yesterday saw a stage victory slip through his grasp by just two seconds, was untroubled by the day’s route. He triumphed with a lead of 3.58 over Firdaus Kabirov and has taken the lead in the truck general standings. (Marathonrally.com)

Dakar 2009 - Stage 2: Santa Rosa - Puerto Madryn

Cars

Motorbikes


Standings after Stage 2

Dakar 2009 - The other Dakar: Kiwi making history for his countrymen

By James Ihaka

Michael Shepherd, here with nephew Rory, has always wanted to ride in the Dakar rally.

Michael Shepherd is realistic that the only "first" he is likely to get in the Dakar 2009 rally is as the first New Zealander to race a motorbike in one of the world's most demanding endurance races.

In fact, 44-year-old Shepherd, Kaitaia born and bred and with no sponsorship or claims to professionalism, finished stage one of the rally from Buenos Aires to Santa Rosa in four hours and 37 minutes - an hour and 50 minutes behind the leader.

His brother, Auckland Medical School professor Peter Shepherd, giggled when he thought how Michael would fare, although he did improve his ranking from 234th to 167th after the 371km special stage.

"Every year a couple of people get killed doing this rally, so for him just to get to the end will be an achievement," said Professor Shepherd. "He started second to last in the rankings so if he finished in the top 100 he would be extraordinarily pleased."

Professor Shepherd said his brother had always been "a bit crazy" so it was not too much of a surprise when he found out he had paid about 50,000 ($123,854) out of his own pocket to compete.

"He didn't have any sponsorship so he saved all the money himself ... it's something he's always wanted to do," said Professor Shepherd.

"I'm sure it's been worth it, though. Everyone there has told him he's the first New Zealander to ever race a motorbike in the event."

This year's rally was moved to South America after threats of terrorism forced its departure from its traditional home in Africa.

About 500 trucks, quads, cars and motorbikes will race nearly 9574km, including treks across the Andes mountains into Chile and back across the Atacama Desert, the world's driest.

Competitors will cover an average of 736km on each of the 13 race days.

Professor Shepherd said a couple of motorbike rallies in Morocco had helped to get his brother into shape for the big one.

He said the terrain might be a bit like New Zealand, offering some advantages.

"Also all the other riders are doing it for the first time - on the old course some people have done it 10 times before," Professor Shepherd said.

"Having said that, it's still a pretty challenging course." (The New Zealand Herald)

Dakar 2009 - More inteviews after Stage 2 - Santa Rosa - Puerto Madryn

Carlos Sainz (Esp – Volkswagen) - 301

At the wheel of a Race Touareg with a slightly crumpled right wing, Carlos Sainz crossed the finishing line of today’s special stage as the winner… The Spaniard also takes the lead in the general standings.

“It was a very difficult stage with all the dust and the bikes. At times, we nearly had to stop. I even hit a biker at one point; I hope he’s going to be ok”.

Giniel De Villiers (SA - VW) - 300

1.56 behind the day’s winner Carlos Sainz, Giniel De Villiers displayed good consistency by finishing 3rd in the special stage, like yesterday.

“The start of the special was very quick, but as soon as we arrived in the off-track part, it was not very easy to navigate and we got a little bit lost. We must have lost a minute or two. Then in the last section, there was lots of fesh-fesh, so it was very difficult to get past the bikers. But I tried to be cautious and avoid any mishaps. We didn’t do too badly”.

Stéphane Peterhansel (Fra – Mitsubishi) - 300

Slowly but surely, the title holder is getting stronger. While still adapting to his brand new Mitsubishi Lancer, Peterhansel manage to pick up second place on the special.

“This special stage was a bit more technical. There was some off-terrain work for the first time, so we had to be on our guard. But, it was okay. I caught up with Luc (Alphand) at one point. After that, we ended up in the dust thrown up by the bikers then by Miller (VW). It wasn’t very nice, until we were able to overtake him. It was a short special but, in spite of that, there were some big fesh-fesh sections with quite thick vegetation. We were almost stopped at that point, because visibility was down to 1 or 2 meters. The bikers were all over the place, so we had to be very careful”.

Frans Verhoeven (Nld – 15 – KTM) - 015

Having set off in 4th this morning from Santa Rosa, Team Vectra’s Dutchman made the most of the navigation section, picking up a first stage victory on the Dakar.

“At the start it was quite technical, but then it became quicker. In the middle, there was a very difficult navigation section in amongst the vegetation and with the dust, it was impossible to see any tire tracks. I managed to find the route and at one time I saw there were no more tire tracks in front of me, so I knew I was in the lead…”

Cyril Despres (Fra – KTM) - 001

Without a visor on his helmet and with serious damage to the front of his KTM, Cyril Despres once again had a complicated day, but still managed to finish second in the day’s special stage.

“On arriving in the Pampa, I hit a tiny sod of grass, not even a cow pat and the bike went flying. I rolled over forwards. The Iritrack and the GPS broke, so it was another difficult day, but that’s racing. I didn’t hurt myself though: I was only riding at 20 kmph when I came off. At least this second stage is now finished. I hope all these mishaps are finished too”.

David Frétigné (Fra – Yamaha) - 012

Just like the day before, David Frétigné finished this second special stage with a broad smile on his face. The Frenchman really seems to be enjoying riding his Yamaha 450cc, and the results are following on accordingly.

“To be honest, that was 200 km of really interesting special stage. I really enjoyed myself. We had a bit of everything: quick tracks at the end, after a winding beginning on which we could slide the bike round the bends. So, just from a riding viewpoint, it was a real pleasure. There was also some off-track navigation that was very difficult. Honestly, I was really cautious about it. I thought I had lost time, but I didn’t do too badly in the end. I hope I can continue like this”.

Marc Coma (Esp – 2 – KTM) - 002

“I had a problem with the radiator. I noticed after 104 km that I had an oil leak. At the CP, which was just a few kilometers afterwards, I asked if they had any oil, because I could see it was a big leak. I had to continue, because they couldn’t help me out and I decided to stop at the first place I came across where there were people to see of I could find a solution. That was at the 108-km mark. Someone from the crowd brought me an oilcan. I was able to put it to good use, but I had to stop regularly”.

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: First Interviews after Stage 2.

At the wheel of a Race Touareg with a slightly crumpled right wing, Carlos Sainz crossed the finishing line of today’s special stage as the winner… The Spaniard also takes the lead in the general standings. "It was a very difficult stage with all the dust and the bikes. At times, we nearly had to stop. I even hit a biker at one point; I hope he’s going to be ok". 

1.56 behind the day’s winner Carlos Sainz, Giniel De Villiers displayed good consistency by finishing 3rd in the special stage, like yesterday. "The start of the special was very quick, but as soon as we arrived in the off-track part, it was not very easy to navigate and we got a little bit lost. We must have lost a minute or two. Then in the last section, there was lots of fesh-fesh, so it was very difficult to get past the bikers. But I tried to be cautious and avoid any mishaps. We didn’t do too badly". 

Slowly but surely, the title holder is getting stronger. While still adapting to his brand new Mitsubishi Lancer, Peterhansel manage to pick up second place on the special. "This special stage was a bit more technical. There was some off-terrain work for the first time, so we had to be on our guard. But, it was okay. I caught up with Luc (Alphand) at one point. After that, we ended up in the dust thrown up by the bikers then by Miller (VW). It wasn’t very nice, until we were able to overtake him. It was a short special but, in spite of that, there were some big fesh-fesh sections with quite thick vegetation. We were almost stopped at that point, because visibility was down to 1 or 2 meters. The bikers were all over the place, so we had to be very careful". (Marathonrally.com)

Dakar 2009 entry list

See the Dakar 2009 entry list here

Dakar 2009 - Iritrack makes it possible: on the trail of the Race Touareg

Wolfsburg (30 December 2008). Fighting uncertainty with satellites and Internet: When the four Volkswagen Race Touareg start the Dakar Rally through Argentina and Chile on Saturday (3 January) and cover more than 9,500 kilometres through desert, Pampa and mountainous terrain till 18 January the fans can nevertheless follow the action from the comfort of their own homes. Thanks to the Iritrack system they can monitor the progress of each vehicle live by mouse click. As a result, it is not only fans but also the team management in the next bivouac which is informed about positions, time loss and gaps during the ultra-long stages. The days of complete uncertainty as to when the participants arrive at the bivouac are over with Iritrack.

Iritrack is a satellite supported system for positioning with which the Dakar Rally stewards can determine the position and speed at any time of every single one of the 530 participants. The core component is a small transponder distributed by the rally organisers A.S.O. and fitted to every vehicle before transmitting the first signals are transmitted after the start on 3 January.

Volkswagen once again provides all fans with the Iritrack service: The signal can be followed live via the Internet portal www.volkswagen-motorsport.com. It provides the latest intermediate times as well as respective positions. In this way, the users see exactly where the four Race Touareg of Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F), Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D), Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) and Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) are at any given time. In addition, motorsport fans can also find the latest daily reports, photographs, audio files and videos from South America at the Volkswagen website.

See more about the Iritrack system here

Dakar 2009 - Series pre-event notes 2008-12-31

And it's how they discovered America...

Three days prior to the start of the rally, the Argentine side of the scrutineering has started. The mission of the race stewards is to check the conformity of vehicles and see if it matches the rules for those who had not yet done so in Le Havre. The contenders -- already thrilled by the first part of their stays -- are now impatient to discover the rest of the continent.

The countdown is ticking slowly toward the start of the rally raid; the wheels have not yet turned for the start of the 2009 edition of the Dakar. But people are already talking about excitement and fascination. Out of the 100km or so between Delta Rock and the La Rural Exhibition Park where the second round of scrutineering is happening, the competitors already had several opportunities to enjoy the thrilling atmosphere that is now gaining the country. A lot of them had chosen to arrive a little earlier in the southern hemisphere: the most insatiable meat eaters of them all relished at eating "bife de chorizo", these huge slices of beef served in all restaurants in Buenos Aires; the most careful of them decided to take some margin to adapt to the jetlag and the tourists strolled down the colorful streets of the Boca area or tasted a nice and fresh Quilmes on a terrace in San Telmo. No matter why, all were conquered by the preparation and expressed nothing but enthusiasm when the time of the last formalities came. "First, I tried the car, then I tried the meat", nevertheless clarifies Carlos Sainz who is focused on his aim: the final victory.

The scrutineering of the participants -- mainly organized for the technical scrutineering of the vehicles from the American continent -- allowed the Porteños to catch a glimpse of some of the favorites in the race who had been summoned on this first day. In the bike category, France's David Casteu, flanked by his new team mate, Chile's Francisco Lopez, successfully passed this first test. It was also the case for the BMW X-Raid Team with its top drivers Nasser Al Attiyah and Guerlain Chicherit, and of truck title holder Hans Stacey, who is more concerned with his recently injured wrist than with the technical and admin scrutineering. Expected in the mid afternoon, the gems of the Mitsubishi team however asked for their scrutineering to be differed. Wishing to take a new series of tests on the brand new Lancer of Peterhansel, Alphand, Roma and Masuoka, Dominique Serieys asked the organizers to slightly postpone their scrutineering appointment: "At the shake-down session in Le Creusot, the temperature was 2o.C. The cars being packed with electronics, we had to change some parameters that are sensitive e.g. to temperature differences, height or fuel, which is not exactly the same here. This is why we went test driving the cars on the Buenos Aires test track today", explains the boss of the squad that has a track record of 12 success on the Dakar.

So New Year's Eve will be studious and busy for the pilots of the Japanese manufacturer who now have an appointment in the morning for the administrative scrutineering. In the afternoon, their cars might cross paths for the first time with their main rivals from Volkswagen, i.e. Sainz and De Villiers as well as Robby Gordon's Hummer. The last two winners in the bike category, Cyril Despres and Marc Coma, will also have the opportunity of chatting along the 9,500km of road and trail that await them. But one thing is sure: they will certainly not reveal their strategies to one another...

-credit: dakar

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

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