Dakar 2011 Confirme in Argentina-Chile

Today, Matias Sanchez, member of the RGM, confirmed that the Dakar 2011 is going to be at Argentina and Chile!

Yeah! This year i will follow the Team everywhere i can!

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Permalink Reply by TOG on March 19, 2010 at 12:02pm

Great to hear ! There were strong reports of it going back to Africa, so this is good news.

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Permalink Reply by WJM on March 19, 2010 at 12:33pm

Excellent

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Permalink Reply by Jaci on March 19, 2010 at 12:58pm

This is great news! Just seems to me that Dakar as a whole, not only Robby, has a bigger following in South America vs Africa.

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Permalink Reply by Turtle7 on March 19, 2010 at 1:16pm

I would say that the South American following has more dinero then the African. Follow the money...

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Permalink Reply by Amar on March 19, 2010 at 2:31pm

Sorry, The ASO has not confirmed it yet, so I would not rely on this so much.

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Permalink Reply by Wheaton56 on March 19, 2010 at 3:23pm

IMO, would only go if i could help out a team and be useful. io cant sit still for very long

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Permalink Reply by todd on March 19, 2010 at 5:38pm

On race-dezert.com it was posted that the Dakar will be in Argentina and Chile in 2011. But Won't be official till Tuesday. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

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Permalink Reply by alan4s on March 23, 2010 at 3:09pm

And the latest update of that story has Marcos meeting Robby on Sunday after the drivers meeting:

When he left the meeting, di Palma's first concern was to go back to the RV and prepare "Luisito" for his first Cup race. But on the way out of the tunnel, he met multi-talented Robby Gordon, who despite racing in the top-10 in the past two Dakar Rally races, claims only a poquito of Spanish language skills. They arranged to discuss, by e-mail and through intermediaries, a possible Dakar effort by the Argentine.

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Permalink Reply by todd on March 23, 2010 at 12:03pm

The ASO just confirmed the Dakar Rally will be in Argentina and Chile in 2011.

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Permalink Reply by TOG on March 23, 2010 at 3:21pm

Yeah, imagine if the Kentucky Derby was run at Santa Anita in Ca.

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Permalink Reply by alan4s on March 23, 2010 at 5:15pm

Once upon a time, a lot of racing was about a bunch of guys just trying to go faster than each other, and overcoming the challenge of it. Whether it was on the horse track at the county fairgrounds, on the saltflats or beaches, or in the deserts of Mexico or Africa, it was about building the best car, and going faster than anyone else.

I think that's what SC was referring to as the "soul" of the Dakar.

Once someone starts trying to make money off of it, it changes in ways that are sometimes good, and sometimes not so good. Regardless, the changes take away the character of the race.

That said, it is a lot more accessible to fans, both locally in South America, and via media outlets around the rest of the world, so in a selfish way I agree with your assessment of the advantages. But it's not the same, and many people miss that "soul".

Make sense?