Dakar 2006 - Spoilers

Another programming reminder (do I watch too much TV? )

The Dakar Rally, one of the greatest events known to man, starts on January 1st. Thankfully, OLN will have extensive coverage with daily updates!! (THANK YOU!) Here is the schedule as per their website:

1/1/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/2/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/3/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/4/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/5/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/6/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/7/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/8/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/9/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/10/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/11/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/12/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/13/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/14/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/14/2006 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm DAKAR RALLY
1/14/2006 10:00 pm - 11:00 pm DAKAR RALLY
1/15/2006 1:00 am - 2:00 am DAKAR RALLY
1/15/2006 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DAKAR RALLY HIGHLIGHTS
1/21/2006 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm DAKAR RALLY
1/21/2006 11:00 pm - 12:00 am DAKAR RALLY
1/22/2006 2:00 am - 3:00 am DAKAR RALLY

Here is a link to the official site: http://www.dakar.com/2006/DAK/LIVE/us/-10200/index.html

For anyone who hasn't seen it, the Darak is one of the great spectacles and must been see to appreciate. One big change for 2006 is that the on board GPS will be limited to speed and direction, so the competitors will have to navigate via the road book just like the good old days.

Robby Gordon will be competing again this year, and hopefully can work with the experience he gained last year.

 

Thanks for the headsup...

Praying for a safe Dakar, last couple of years have been rather tragic.

 

I remember that, Fabrizio Meoni last year, that was very sad to see the riders complete the stage only to be greeted with the tragic news.

 

I am very excited and proud that it is being launched from my country of Portugal. I wish I were there now to watch the start. And yes, hopefully it will not be a tragic one this year.

Cheers,

Vasco

 

Thanks Koby for posting this. I have been a Paris-Dakar fan since its first race. Tragedy is part of it, heck it even killed its inventor.

 

I'm looking foward to it also, I just wish SpeedTV was covering it, OLN dosn't do a great job.

 

OLN's coverage did leave a little to be desired, mostly because they were presenting it more as an "X-treme Action Sport" than as Motor Racing, and they had a major slant towards covering the American drivers.

As always, I will happily take what I can get.

 

Agreed on both.

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88017

 

Does anybody know exactly what's up with the DAF trucks that seem to be missing?

 

De Rooys family was not allowed to ride in Dakar cause of some wrong track regulations !

 

Is that true that in Dakar 2006 there is no allowed to use GPS during whole rally stages ?

 

From what I understood, the DAF truck simply missed the scrutinering, not necessarily that they were out of spec, I could be wrong about that.

As for the GPS, they have GPS but it only shows speed and direction, there is no active map feature in the GPS units. They must navigate the old fashion why using the road book.

Overall I am quite pleased with the first day's coverage. They are treating it like a motor sport this year and Dan Hicks stayed home.

Also, go Sainz!!! One of my favorite drivers, and a true class act. Of course this first stage was exactly what he specializes in, the real test will be if he can measure his pace out in the desert.

Robby didn't fare too well, but apparently they have set the Hummer up for stability more than manoverability, so hopefully that package will shine as the race progresses. I can't believe I'm rooting for an H3 but I really gained alot of respect for Gordon in last year's race.

 

Yeah, first day coverage was ok. The folks from Lisbon really got a treat, gosh I wish to have been there at the roll off.

Unfortunately OLN still uses this computer clip of a Tuareg. Nice animation, the first few times you see it. After 100 times it gets a bit old. Oh well.

Those VWs looked damned impressive. One of those for the road would be fun.

Anybody willing to take a bet how long it will take until the Harley breaks down? Or the Hummer for that matter?

 

No, that was not the case. At scruteneering they were excluded for the fact that their springs were a little too wide even though team De Rooy (and the team of Becks as well) had their specification approved beforehand. Something fishy going on there..

Jan de Rooy is so pi$$ed off that he's considering building 15 De Rooy specials for next year's Dakar to trash the opposition. If you build 15 trucks the possibilites are much greater. It's much more expensive offcourse, but he's angry enough to do it. Should be interesting to see the resulting Truck. Maybe he will be able to compete with the cars like he did years ago.

Ciao, Peter

 

Thanks for clearing that up. The truck assult would be a sight to see, and probably a good idea since the trucks seem to have high attrition.

Those two jokers on the Harley is something else! I can't imagine they will do too well in Mauritania, but hey... best of luck to them!! As for the Hummer, I'm surprised they went with 2WD? Any thoughts on how that would be an advantage?

 

I give neither much of a chance.

The 2WD Hummer beats me. WTF? They're dead in the sand. Your only advantage is less weight, less parts that can break and less spares to haul around, but when you go off road (any terrain) 4WD > 2WD.

 

http://www.eurosport.com/home/pages/v4/l0/s239/e11728/sport_lng0_spo239_evt11728_sto809063.shtml

 

Interesting. Sounds like this was a battle waging for weeks and not a shock totally out of the blue.

Somehow I'm not surprised the FIA has another FIAsco at their hands (USGP 05) where the left hand doesn't know what the right one is doing. However it also sounds like the team knew it was a long shot at best when going to Lisbon.

 

Actually the fastest buggies and trucks at Baja are all 2wd, if you want to see them at work I recommend watching the excellent documentary 'Dust to Glory'.

 

Cool, I had heard about that documentry, but now you have me interested to check it out.

Day 3 they hit Moracco and already we have seen navigation problems, Sainz lost 6 mintues. Day 4 they will see their first taste of the big sand dunes, this is where it gets fun! I remember a clip from last year's race where one crew spent several hours looking around for their traction board in the dead of night.

 

Bring it on!

It was cute how they counted the seconds in the European part of the race. As if that matters in any way. Once we're in the sand the winners will be measured by minutes and hours.

 

Hi all,

I went to see the first stage of the race.
It was amazing..
Cars went through very very fast.. With loud pipes and lot of suspension work.. Fantastic..
The bikes were a bit of disapointment.. I raced several years in TT races, and I was expecting to see better performances from the riders..
I must say that the last ones were not very good drivers.
But It was fantastic..
And Portugal is the best place to start the Dakar..
It was the first time that a "big" real race stage happens in Europe.
I will try to post some pictures.

 

Good for you. Looking forward to see your pictures!

 

Hummer already lost many hours yesterday stuck in the sand with technical difficulties. Haven't heard anything about the Harley. Are they still running?

The VW Tuaregs continue to kick ass and the first Mitsu took itself out in a big shunt.