Give us your list of Top 5 All Time Dakar Competitors, and why...

Here's mine;
5th - Jean-Louis Schlesser, responsible for building his own 2WD Buggy (Solo Car, no co-driver/navigator), multiple winner of The Dakar in his class. His Buggy design has become synonymous with the Dakar.

4th - Jacky Ickx, an amazing race car driver, with 6 LeMans Wins, 1 Dakar Win, 1 Bathurst Win (in Aus obviously!), and multile F1GP Wins with Ferrari and Brabham, plus seasons with Lotus, etc. Jacky is 7th on the list of all time Dakar Stage Wins. He won Dakar in a Merc G-Class 4x4, and later raced a few Dakars in a Porsche 911.

3rd - Stephane Peterhansel - a fantastic competitor, 1st in The Dakar on many levels... Multiple wins in Bikes first, then Cars. 1st on the list of all time stage wins. Stephane only comes in at 3rd for me, because he later victories have come with heavy financial backing with major Factory Teams. The guy's in the 1980's had to work much harder to gain their victories.

2nd - Ari Vatanen, originally a Rally Car Driver, and is responsible for helping invent and popularise the "Scadanavian Flick", a specific rally maneuver coming from the Finn's, in the ice, but was also translated onto dirt/gravel, and then tarmac. Ari won about 5 Dakars, and had his Car stolen one year while leading, and probably would have claimed 6 titles. He's 3rd on the list of all time Stage Wins at Dakar. A true professional, gentleman, and accomplished driver in many different vehicles.

1st - Marc Coma, I'm a Coma fan, not a Cyril Despres fan! But Marc & Cyril could be equal 1st! (In my book!)... These days, the Motorbike Class is very even, provided you are running a KTM of course!! I think a Dakar Win on a Bike is a greater achievement than in a Car, or Buggy, Quad, or Truck. I think Marc might just pip Cyril once their careers are over, and done!... We will have to wait and see!


The notable guys not in my Top 5... Nani Roma, Cyril Despres, Edi Orioli, and Carlos Sainz.
2nd on the list of all time stage winners is Vladimir Chagin in the Trucks Class.

Is Malcolm Smith competing?

Car 63, Herbie De Volksy


Didn't even need a driver, hence he was disqualified after a Dakar win in 72 and all records of the win wiped clean !

Malcolm smith... That's gold...

He would have won and said "yeah, that was pretty neat"...

What about Andy Caldecott... The Aussie who passed away racing in the Dakar....

Damn good rider in my opinion... Legacy cut short...

Way more thought than I will ever put in, but if you make it a top 7 including Cyril and that madman in his trucks, then I wouldn't argue.

Schlesser!!!!! .......

A quick tribute to Schlesser!





This is very much like a Dakar... Turn the volume up to hear that engine!

It's that time of the year for all things Dakar, bring it on !

My brother in law is on the Robbie Gordon team. Chief mechanic. Has spent the last 6 months putting the car together, 18 hour days of testing, refitting, remodelling and more testing. He came home for a week and has just flown out to Sth America for the race. I have always enjoyed watching it but to hear the stories of just how much work (and money) goes into the top competitors cars puts a whole new spin on it.
Looking forward to the start of this years Dakar. Bring it on!

I'm thinking tomorrow, is my little Dakar Day!...

(my Machine...450EXC, this is just 17 minutes away from my pad next to the beach! Lucky Country we live in!!)

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jamdfingr said..
Malcolm smith... That's gold...

He would have won and said "yeah, that was pretty neat"...

What about Andy Caldecott... The Aussie who passed away racing in the Dakar....

Damn good rider in my opinion... Legacy cut short...

Andy was a very very good rider, but Coma and Depres are great riders! So unfortunately, Andy doesn't make my Top 5, but I'm more than happy for you to have him in your top 5! Tell us your other 4!

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simstat said..
My brother in law is on the Robbie Gordon team. Chief mechanic. Has spent the last 6 months putting the car together, 18 hour days of testing, refitting, remodelling and more testing. He came home for a week and has just flown out to Sth America for the race. I have always enjoyed watching it but to hear the stories of just how much work (and money) goes into the top competitors cars puts a whole new spin on it.
Looking forward to the start of this years Dakar. Bring it on!

Is Robbie Gordon using the hummer's again , he has become one of the true characters of Dakar !

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esoom said...

simstat said..
My brother in law is on the Robbie Gordon team. Chief mechanic. Has spent the last 6 months putting the car together, 18 hour days of testing, refitting, remodelling and more testing. He came home for a week and has just flown out to Sth America for the race. I have always enjoyed watching it but to hear the stories of just how much work (and money) goes into the top competitors cars puts a whole new spin on it.
Looking forward to the start of this years Dakar. Bring it on!

Is Robbie Gordon using the hummer's again , he has become one of the true characters of Dakar !

Robbie is running a custom built 'Gordini'. Built from scratch by the team from the ground up. There is a couple of Doco's on YouTube called the road to Dakar (part 1 and 2)which are a good watch and give some idea of the work that went into making the thing. He's got a talented team.

Thanks for that!
Here's the short version / teaser!





Parts 1 & 2;

Robby Gordon and The Gordini must have run into some early trouble... They are well off the pace... Almost running last. Something must have gone wrong... All they can hope for now is redemption with a Stage Win, or something... I was thinking that his set-up had too much suspension travel, and the suspension was a little too soft... Those settings might contribute to a roll over...


Marc Coma (Esp) is doing well... Just a few minutes off the lead... Dakars are won and lost in Week 2, not Week 1 !!
Price (Aus) is doing really well on his KTM.

Cyril Despres is racing a beautiful Peugeot (Cars), but he is 1 hour off the pace... First Dakar in a car though...
Stephane Peterhansel switched teams to Peugeot, probably spat the dummy about team orders last year, when Nani Roma picked up the win, after Stephane was asked/told to let him win!... Peterhansel is well off the leaders too. Sainz is the best placed Peugeot.

Been watching the race updates on FB. Looks like brake troubles in the current race. Was 55 minutes behind and last update had him at 47 behind. Bit of a let down but a long way to go yet.

Yes, I saw that "brake" issue for Robbie.

Young Toby Price is doing really well on his KTM!... He's doing a great job so far, considering he doesn't really have any major sponsors (so much spare real estate for sponsors! / stickers...)... I think he scored a KTM "invite"... My assumption is that he is racing a Dakar bike from last year, or their Stock Dakar Rally Bike, but I would expect that Marc Coma is riding a superior bike... I could be wrong... But sometimes, "superior" bikes are infact more troublesome...

I think there was 160 bikes who started on Day 1. As at the end of Day 4, I think only 95 bikes are left! 40% are already out!??...

The heat seems to be affecting a few competitors and machines !
The Dakar always lives up to it`s name and crushes many, to compete and finish would be a blast .

With the South America move, the altitude becomes pretty much an equal problem to the heat... Put them together, and these South America events are probably the tougher than Africa.

Here's a nice little video from Team Peugeot... I think they are a big change to win next year... They have some of the best drivers, but they are newly returning to Dakar, and I think this year ends up being Testing, Research, and Development... BUT, Mini and Toyota already have race ready machines, setting the pace!!!

www.redbull.com/int-en/team-peugeot-total-dakar-2015-testing-video

The Internet has almost anything and everything... You what it's missing... There doesn't seem to be Dakar Full Stage videos... I'd love to sit down and watch a FULL HOUR++, of High Definition Rally... Just engine noises, and the chit-chat between the driver and navigator/co-driver, dust, bumps, jumps... 5 GoPro's. 2 forwards, 2 in cockpit, and 1 facing backwards... Splice the video together, the true fan would love it!... I'd love to sit there and watch that in evening, and let that send me to sleep!

Honda rider, Bort is out... He was leading, and snapped the left hand side of his handlebar... I'm not sure on the rules for repairs, etc, but this seems to have caused his rally exit... We'll know more at 6:00pm tonight, after the nightly SBS One Dakar Telecast at 5:30pm...

Marc Coma takes the lead. Toby Price is going really well in 4th Overall, and only 16 minutes behind Coma, after 29 hours of Special Stages.
Toby is 27, and Marc is about 37 (years old)... I have no doubt that Toby can win Dakar within a few years. This is his first Dakar! He can definitely go faster, and become a better navigator...

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Simondo said..
The Internet has almost anything and everything... You what it's missing... There doesn't seem to be Dakar Full Stage videos... I'd love to sit down and watch a FULL HOUR++, of High Definition Rally... Just engine noises, and the chit-chat between the driver and navigator/co-driver, dust, bumps, jumps... 5 GoPro's. 2 forwards, 2 in cockpit, and 1 facing backwards... Splice the video together, the true fan would love it!... I'd love to sit there and watch that in evening, and let that send me to sleep!

It is a shame that such a large event gets so little coverage. The engineering and logistics alone would be fascinating, and so many categories don't get any time.

isthat because we are not the target audience, or we just dont want to pay for it

I think it is assumed that people only want 30 minute daily updates (on SBS One at 5:30pm)...
But there would be plenty of enthusiasts that would be happy to watch a 16 Hour 4 x DVD Special, covering more details about the Dakar.
You could do a 20 minute clip on Navigation. 20 minutes on mechanics x 5, to cover Bikes, Cars, Buggy, Quads, and Trucks.
14 Days Racing x 30+ minutes of raw footage. Plus a 2 hour Highlights Show.