Dakar 2009 Official Review

Peterhansel won today, penultimate stage, Al-Attiyah came in 2nd, Sainz 3rd. Al-Attiyah reduces the gap to 2:48 min with one final stage left (sunday's stage is just a demo).

Ullevalseter won the bikes stage, and takes 2nd pos in the standings, where Despres keeps leading comfortably.

Final showdown tomorrow!

fingers crossed for my main man Nasser. Teo! its Spain VS Qatar !

title goes to Sainz

second Nasser Al Attiyah, our main man from Qatar!

third Miller.

1 2 3 for VW!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (J708 @ Jan 15 2010, 11:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>fingers crossed for my main man Nasser. Teo! its Spain VS Qatar !

Carlos Saintz wins by only 2 min odd, very close after such a long distance.
J708 sorry your guy lost but he did scare the crap out of Saitz and next year might be a completely different story. It might be between Mar Miller and Nassar next year in the VW squad.

Yay!! GO SAINZ!! DAKAR CHAMPION!!

Pheww that was a close one! Sorry J708, better luck next time (I do hope you win your Ben Spies bet!)

CARS
1st Sainz ESP (Volkswagen), 2nd Al-Attiyah QAT(Volkswagen), 3rd MILLER USA(Volkswagen)

BIKES
1st Despres FRA (KTM), 2nd Ullevalseter NOR (KTM), 3rd Lopez CHI (Aprilia)

TRUCKS
1st Chagin RUS (Kamaz), 2nd Kabirov RUS (Kamaz), 3rd Van Vliet NED (Ginaf)

QUADS
1st Patronelli ARG (Yamaha), 2nd Patronelli ARG (Yamaha), 3rd Gonzalez ESP (Yamaha)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Goldwing @ Jan 16 2010, 08:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Carlos Saintz wins by only 2 min odd, very close after such a long distance.
J708 sorry your guy lost but he did scare the crap out of Saitz and next year might be a completely different story. It might be between Mar Miller and Nassar next year in the VW squad.


thanks goldwing come to think about it after crossing country for a good 50 hours which is 3000 minutes. only two minutes separated the first and second place. We all here are proud of Nassers achievement this year, specially cause it means alot for a Qatari (since we don't hold the best sports record) to shine in the most extreme form of rallying. I hope he does well this year in the S2000 class in WRC, IRC and MERC.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teomolca @ Jan 16 2010, 08:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Yay!! GO SAINZ!! DAKAR CHAMPION!!

Pheww that was a close one! Sorry J708, better luck next time (I do hope you win your Ben Spies bet!)

CARS
1st Sainz ESP (Volkswagen), 2nd Al-Attiyah QAT(Volkswagen), 3rd MILLER USA(Volkswagen)

BIKES
1st Despres FRA (KTM), 2nd Ullevalseter NOR (KTM), 3rd Lopez CHI (Aprilia)

TRUCKS
1st Chagin RUS (Kamaz), 2nd Kabirov RUS (Kamaz), 3rd Van Vliet NED (Ginaf)

QUADS
1st Patronelli ARG (Yamaha), 2nd Patronelli ARG (Yamaha), 3rd Gonzalez ESP (Yamaha)


I know! Congrats to Sainz and congrats to VW achieving a 123. They did an amazing job in picking the perfect drivers whom they knew had the potential. Don't we all hope Spies does come top 5. except one person just kiddin.

extract from an interview with Marc Coma

full interview (spanish)

What did really happen that friday, January 8th in the Iquique-Antofagasta stage?

"It was a very strange situation. It was a long stage, with a neutralized part in the middle, so I took it easy in the first part. I stopped during the neutralized part to pee, and there were some people that looked at my wheel, saying it looked too new. We tried to prove mathematically that there was nothing ilegal, we asked for a measurement of the depth of the blocks but they refused to do it."

So what did you think when the first news of what going on in race Direction arrived to you?

"Nothing, I was very calm because I knew I hadn't changed the wheel, so no matter how much runouring was going on around I remained calm. When I saw race direction held a meeting I started to worry, but we had a meeting with them in which I gave an explanation and I went to sleep very calm, because they told me they would meausre the blocks to check it. Curiously later they told me they couldn't measure them"

Well I don't wanna cry out it's all a French complot, but I think considering the harshness of the penalty they should have taken a more detailed look at the evidence and not just hand out such a serious penalty just based on the words of his French rival Despres and they French TV.

If he did change the tyre well he's so full of crap for keeping on lying even after it's over. But if he's innocent ... Dakar organisation stinks.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teomolca @ Jan 18 2010, 10:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>extract from an interview with Marc Coma

full interview (spanish)

What did really happen that friday, January 8th in the Iquique-Antofagasta stage?

"It was a very strange situation. It was a long stage, with a neutralized part in the middle, so I took it easy in the first part. I stopped during the neutralized part to pee, and there were some people that looked at my wheel, saying it looked too new. We tried to prove mathematically that there was nothing ilegal, we asked for a measurement of the depth of the blocks but they refused to do it."

So what did you think when the first news of what going on in race Direction arrived to you?

"Nothing, I was very calm because I knew I hadn't changed the wheel, so no matter how much runouring was going on around I remained calm. When I saw race direction held a meeting I started to worry, but we had a meeting with them in which I gave an explanation and I went to sleep very calm, because they told me they would meausre the blocks to check it. Curiously later they told me they couldn't measure them"

Well I don't wanna cry out it's all a French complot, but I think considering the harshness of the penalty they should have taken a more detailed look at the evidence and not just hand out such a serious penalty just based on the words of his French rival Despres and they French TV.

If he did change the tyre well he's so full of crap for keeping on lying even after it's over. But if he's innocent ... Dakar organisation stinks.


exactly. couldn't means we measured them and ur innocent. lool

I've grabbed the full set of stage review broadcasts by Eurosport. Carlton Kirby's commentary can become tedious, but the coverages is sound and the scenery is sublime.

I'm running out of storage and will likely delete these in a few weeks.
Holler if you want some DVD love in the mail (in exchange for a few bucks to cover shipping, etc.)

-Moo