2012 Stage 5 Quotes

Quotes from Stage 5 of the 2012 Dakar Rally

Nasser Al-Attiyah - Finished 11th

" The spare wheel was loose and it hit the engine water pipe, breaking it and after the temperature was very high, so we stopped to repair again and lost a lot of time. But what can I do? I was really having a good run, I was doing my maximum but I don't know what's wrong, you know. My plan today was to take at least ten minutes from everybody and that's what was happening because I was really fast until CP2, I think. But after, we stopped there because we needed water and to fix and prepare the car. So, yes, I'm disappointed again!"

Robby Gordon - Finished 2nd

"I actually kind of paced it the whole time and we didn't have any problems. Our car works good enough on those type of sections. I was surprised that we got beat by Holowczyc, he did a great job, but for us to beat Peterhansel by 3 minutes was good and that makes up a little bit of the distance. I think we beat De Villiers by about ten minutes, so I'm going to say, looking at what we see right now, we're probably in third position and we've got a long way to go. I'm not even driving the car that hard."

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Permalink Reply by Vlad Rogers on January 5, 2012 at 5:28pm

Sounds like Nasser is noticing the differences between VW and RGM. At least hes fast as shizzzz

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Permalink Reply by Ryan on January 5, 2012 at 5:41pm

I think Nasser is happy to have a ride. And yes he's fast!

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Permalink Reply by mark roye on January 5, 2012 at 5:41pm

May be fast as shizzzz. But the race is not always to the fastest. To finish first you must first finish. Avoiding the mud, and near roll-overs that may damage the car or get spares loose may very well be faster in the end. RG understands this.

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Permalink Reply by onebuilder on January 5, 2012 at 8:26pm

Well said!

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Permalink Reply by pdxracefan on January 6, 2012 at 12:34am

Yup. I agree. Again.

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Permalink Reply by Brad on January 6, 2012 at 5:55am

come on guys. This is the perfect team you have the rabbit and then you got the steady. And in the end a lose spare ruins your day. I'd like to know how many close calls everyone has who isn't being so closely watched.
Are you going to blame burnt wires on Nasser as well? He wins cause he pushes.

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Permalink Reply by pdxracefan on January 6, 2012 at 12:35am

Hard telling, not knowing what their team strategy is.

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Permalink Reply by will on January 5, 2012 at 8:28pm

From JCR facebook;
JCR/Honda
Johnny Campbell sent this Quote in: Stage 5 went well for us. It started in sand and went into dunes right away. Nasser caught us quickly, and was driving like a mad man. We let him pass as his pace was really aggressive. Then we trailed him and caught and passed a few cars but we had a hard hit from front end impact and lost a fan motor. The engine temps were climbing so RG backed out of it to save the engine, we lost Nasser, but once we got on some fast roads the temps went down and we resumed race pace. RG picked it up in a cross grain section and we gained a lot of time. Toward the end of stage Nasser was parked with problem. We did a quick check and they had to repair a water line. We took off and resumed a good pace to the finish. Super fun day. Good for the Speed Energy Hummer #303. Tomorrows Stage looks to be canceled due to icy conditions over the Andes..
JC

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Permalink Reply by J.R. Sands on January 5, 2012 at 8:41pm

Loose tire, maybe Nasser and Cruz can go over the rig before the start to check.....as well as sometimes things happen. Nasser looked to be on a flyer. The Hummer is a rocket, and also can get beat-up...maybe take care of the Hummer and it will take care of you...