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Post by raptor22 on Jan 6, 2003 7:53:25 GMT -5
Anybody following this race. ;D ;D I'm very excited to seee that Giniel De Villiers and Ari Vatenen are 2nd and 4th in the cars category. ;DTheir Nissan bakkie (pick up for the yanks) was designed and built by Nissan Motorsport South Africa at their headquarters at the Kyalami race track. ;D Congratualtions to Glynn Hall and his team of engineers on an excellent development programme. Giniel, Hou die blink kant bo!  Hannes, Dankie vir die Test Drive in die Dakar Trokkie, dit was helemal n opwindende ervaring.  Voorspoed Nissan. |
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Post by Henrik on Jan 6, 2003 10:29:03 GMT -5
I always follow the Dakar!
Hope Alfie Cox will avoid inury this year and get a good finish (victory?)
Personal favourite for the bikes is a Swede PG Lundmark. Being a privateer he has no chance of winning, but this guy is worth following. Two years ago he had a really good race, in the top ten, but having crashed a few times earlier in the race, having his face swollen so he could hardly see, he crashed in the penultimate special stage again. As he got to his feet, he thought it wasn't too bad, and proceeded to lift his bike back up to continue. Problem was, that's when he passed out! He woke up a few hours later, only to be informed that his shoulder was smashed... The guy is a monster! Oh, he won the Masters Rally in 2002, so he can ride...
I was actually seriously considering entering the Dakar a long time ago, when it was a bit more amateurish. Always loved racing through the desert...
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Post by Henrik on Jan 6, 2003 11:22:47 GMT -5
Had to add an update about PG Lundmark. Every day he posts a report on his website, and they aregreat fun to read (if you speak Swedish!). Anway, today the real race has started, and he finished 8, so he's doing okay. Actually, this is the first year that he has a small assistance crew following him, and he feels it really is a luxury. The actual race is becoming to easy, so today shortly before crossing the finish line, he stopped to pour some water in his helmet so that he would look tired and sweaty! Here's a pic of his helmet:  |
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Post by Senninha on Jan 7, 2003 3:40:46 GMT -5
I like the Paris Dakar very much - even if it goes to neither Paris nor Dakar anymore, and I very rarely get to see any of it. But you can still follow..... ;D
I'd like to see successes (decent results) for Jutta Kleinschmidt (girl power!!) and Ari Vatanen (cos he's a love!) in particular.
Katayama's supposed to be driving around again this year isn't he? Wasn't it him who got lost the other year?
It'll be great if Vatanen and Biasion though start a trend for ALL former WRC drivers to give it a go, though I'm sure many have previously, I dunno there.
;D Here's to an enjoyable Marseille-Sharm el sheikh (I think - Paris Dakar if you like!)!!!!
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Post by Henrik on Jan 7, 2003 6:03:58 GMT -5
Senninha,
Don't expect too much from Jutta this year. That VW buggy she is driving is just a quickly pieced together vehicle to help VW gain experience in the race, in order to properly attack it next year with the Touareg. Seems they have already had considerable technical problems, and the real race has hardly begun.
Now as to Vatanen, I'm sure he will get some good results. It's not like he hasn't won the race a few times before!! Biasion I think has already contested in the truck category as well, so he has some good experience too.
Nevertheless, I think Peterhansel has to be the big favourite this year. That Mitsu and his experience should do wonders, Masuoka with the same Mitsu could win, but I think he is a bit too wild to actually make it to the end.
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Post by Senninha on Jan 7, 2003 7:06:28 GMT -5
Henrik,
Unfortunately, that;s the problem this year for Jutta, but I don't mind. She said before the rally she'd be lucky to finish - she was really writing herself off, so I suppose on her part we have to look more at next year. I have to support Jutta though, she is partly responsible for getting me to Silverstone in 1999!!!!!
Ari seemed to be doing well, but I think something happened yesterday - although I haven't had chance to work that one out yet - because he seemed to lose a lot of time - I tend to follow the results by teletext on the BBC over here, which is good, but often limited (a bit like their Le Mans coverage)
We'll see who comes out on top between Peterhansel and Matsuoka.... you really never know...
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Post by raptor22 on Jan 7, 2003 11:35:10 GMT -5
Have to agree with you Henrik on your evaluation of Jutta's chances this year. Next year will the year for VW's main assault
I'mexpecting great things from the Nissans and especially Ari. Giniel is too inexperienced in the Dakar to be a long term contender. He is the national saloon car drivers champion and also drives Nissans rally cars in the local championship.
That Nissan pick (hard body) is an awesome vehicle. It was developed to compete in South Africa's offroad racing series. Nissan entered it a few times into the national rallies and kicked butt! The only car that could beat it regularly was the VW Golf.
The Nissan has a 3liter twin turbo charged v6 engine running through a purpose designed Nissan 6 speed sequential gearbox.
I was lucky enough to be driven around the Gerotek military test track by Hannes Grobelaar, one of the NissanSA works drivers.
What acceleration and traction and noise. No roller coaster can compare.
I hope they do well this year
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Post by Henrik on Jan 7, 2003 13:43:25 GMT -5
Yeah the Nissans seem strong. What's good is that there seems to be a bit of competition, the Mitsus being strong as usual and the BMW currently in a surprising 3rd spot! I'm just wondering how the Beemers will hold up as the race progresses in to the more difficult stages.
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Post by RacerX on Jan 7, 2003 14:53:55 GMT -5
Raptor...
Are they (Nissan) using the new FULL size pick-up? I love the Dakar Rally...unfortunately I haven't caught Speedvision in a few days...wuff, will have to catch up!
Thanks for the reminder...
Later,
Rx
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Post by Henrik on Jan 7, 2003 16:08:48 GMT -5
RacerX, Here's a pic of the Nissan. Hope this answers your question...  |
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Post by raptor22 on Jan 7, 2003 17:49:56 GMT -5
RX,
They are indeed, in fact they're actually using most of the original monocoque. The ladder frame underneath has been replaced with a spaceframe structure and the rear section is all new to accomodate the long travel suspension.
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Post by Henrik on Jan 10, 2003 7:02:44 GMT -5
Time for some Dakar updates!
First of all, I'm glad to have just read that Shinozuka seems to be out of danger after his terrible accident yesterday. They estimate that the Nissan must have jumped some 100 meters before hitting the ground agiai, nose first! Last night poor Shino was between life and death, but it seems he'll pull through now.
So, not much luck for the Nissans then. Vatanen had problems with the front, and lost much time. At least de Villier is still in the top five, placing 4th for now, but with a huge time gap.
Jutta has been impressive since the problems in the early stages. With her superb driving, and some top drivers dropping out, she is now up to an unexpected 5th place on the general.
Still, it looks clear now that the Mitsus will take finally victory. I gues the only question is if it will be Masuoka or Peterhansel. Personally I would like to see Peter take it.
As for the bikes, looks like Alfie did it again! After finishing 2nd overall last year I thought that he had learnt. I guess not! Having messed up with his navigation yesterday, he tried catching up the lost time, and ended up crashing and hurting his shoulder. Out of the race...
So, Meoni with the big LC8 or Sainct with the LC4? I suppose I would go with Meoni. The only thing that I'm always going to regret is that Heinz Kinigadner never got to win when he was driving his KTMs. I suppose just taking the role as team manager has helped KTM succeed though. Oh, and how about some outside competition! Where is BMW, Honda etc.?
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Post by Henrik on Jan 10, 2003 11:02:58 GMT -5
Oh boy, Jutta is kicking!! She has now moved up to 4th in the general! De Villier must have experienced some problems today as he has slipped to 8th suddenly.
Peterhansel seems to have it in the bag unless some technical problem. He now has over 15 minutes advance on Masuoka. De Mevius is till in 3rd with the X5.
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Post by Senninha on Jan 10, 2003 11:05:34 GMT -5
Olá!! Go Jutta!!!!
Hope Shinozuka keeps improving too, thankfully.
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Post by Topcontender on Jan 12, 2003 10:55:26 GMT -5
French co-driver Bruno Cauvy was killed in an accident on Saturday during the Dakar Rally's 10th stage.
According to race organiser Hubert Auriol, the driver of the Toyota car, Daniel Nebot, escaped with bruises after the car overturned and is being treated for back pains.
Doctors arrived at the scene of the crash in the Libyan desert, 270km into the 521km special stage, 27 minutes after being told of the accident, Auriol said.
Cauvy, 48, was reported to have died immediately after the car went out of control in sand dunes.
How did it happen? i have not seen any footage explaining what happened. I am not interested in seeine someone get killed, but i am intereted in knowing how it happened.
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