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Jan 17th, 2013 Dakar Rally Stage 12 Race Info & Discussion
Join in and discuss all the action from Stage 12 of the 2013 Dakar Rally. Robby Gordon recorded his first win in Stage 11 , but remains 19th overall. Gordon will get the holeshot for stage 12 in an attempt to win his second stage of the rally. The cars are slated to begin the special section of stage 12 at 10:08am/et and Robby Gordon will begin his special section at 10:08am/et. Raceday chat will be available throughout the entire 2013 Dakar Rally.
2013 Photos
STAGE 12 TRACKING
STAGE 12: FIAMBALA > COPIAPO
Connection 396km | Special Stage 319km | Total 715km
COURSE OVERVIEW
This time the competitors will cross the Andes Cordillera from east to west, by the Paso San Francisco, and return to the Atacama Desert to experience every kind of difficulty that exists in a long-distance rally. The major sections of dunes are situated right in the centre of the special stage: the participants will have to climb the “cathedral” dunes and avoid entering the basins which are just as big. It won’t be any easier on the tracks, where rocks and stones, despite being scattered around, can immediately bring the fastest of them to a halt. Those who reach Copiapó with a perfect performance will score points for the overall standings.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hendricus on
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I'm hoping that Robby and Kellon are on to something good! The stage 11 win is awesome! Congratulations!
These rally courses require instinctive cat fast reflexes, and precision control of the vehicle. This is certainly true of the narrow dirt roads, and I bet the paths they take through the dunes are similar. This racing seems very different than the long stretches of whoops, seen in US and Baja races. I'm hoping that Robby has found his sweet spot.
Also, I can't help but think that it helps if the navigator knows what to expect from the vehicle, the driver, and the terrain. I don't mean to be critical, but I think the dunes at the beginning of the rally caught Robby and Kellon unprepared.
What's fun about Robby is this sense of huge potential. He runs near the top already - stage 4 notwithstanding. He will find that tweak that will puts him on top. Whether it be something better between him and Kellon, stickier tires on the dirt road days, or an improved skill of leading without tracks to follow. I don't really know.
I'm with you TOG, I sense a stage win coming!
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Permalink Reply by Kenneth Earnest on
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General question: Have American's ever won the bike stage and the car stage on the same day before?
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Permalink Reply by Mike Kenyon on
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don't believe that has ever happened before today
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Permalink Reply by Thomas Engrav on
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I think RG is really getting a sense of how to stay near the front on every stage. He's got his Hummer to where he can nearly win every stage, and even stay within 10 minutes on the WRC-style roads. He really got the Hummer dialed in now. He now just has to reduce the mental mistakes, and just try not to get caught out on something like what happened on Stage 4, which if you look at it, is something you can't exactly prepare. In any case, I'm highly confident we'll see RG and Kellon back next year.
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Permalink Reply by pdxracefan on
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I certainly hope so.
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Permalink Reply by SlyFoxx on
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I second championing the guys with the duct tape and the hammers who keep the orange machine 'a runnin'. GAS ON blokes!
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Permalink Reply by Jake Stewart on
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Great coverage on the race, I only wish there were recap videos for every stage. I need my RG fix.
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Permalink Reply by billy williams on
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Jan
14
Robby Gordon has no place in the Dakar Long-time readers of my blog might recall that I have an axe to grind with Robby Gordon, especially when it comes to his participation in the Dakar Rally. Let me explain. I've deeply enjoyed watching and attending the Dakar since I was a kid. I love the camaraderie of the racers, the mix of bikes, trucks, quads and cars, and the general demeanour of the teams and personalities that this event attracts. For the uninitiated, it's a 14-day, 5,300 mile rally that used to run from Paris to Dakar, but is now run in South America retaining only the 'Dakar' name. It's a severe test of drivers and machines, there are regularly deaths and injuries and it's not unusual to see less than 40% of the initial entrants finish. It's difficult and dangerous and everyone looks out for everyone else. And then Robby Gordon came along with his arrogant, boorish American attitude, somehow thinking he was entitled to win because he'd taken part in some silly little American "desert" race in California. His attitude is completely wrong, for a start. He treats the Dakar like his own personal playground and you can tell all you need to know about him from the very first day of the rally. Where all the other competitors drive up the start ramp, get out of the car, greet the crowd, do press interviews and are generally pleasant to the press and public, Gordon prefers to jump the ramp through the start gate, perform a doughnut and then drive off in a royal "f*ck you" to everyone there. That's just the start of it. Last year he was caught cheating, and whenever he has a bad day, he has the mother of all tantrums. Most of the racers take bad days in their stride. Gordon prefers to give his co-drivers concussion by throwing helmets and punching things. It's like watching a 5-year-old being deprived of their blanket. He's full of hostility and very obvious disdain for anyone not on his team, and has no sense of team spirit or the camaraderie required for serious off-road racing. Two years ago he bitched and whined when his team driver flew past him while he was stranded on the side of the road, saying that they should be working as a "team" and that he should have stopped. Last year, when the opposite happened, he abandoned Nasser Al Attiyah in the middle of the desert. Apparently Robby Gordon's idea of "team work" is "everyone must help me". No surprise then that his team, co-drivers and team-mates change every year. Nobody will do more than one rally with him. He's impatient and dangerous when he's driving, forcing other vehicles out of the tracks into brush and rocks as if he was redneck racing in NASCAR. And overall he's actually a terrible, terrible driver. This year is the fifth time he's tried the Dakar. He's failed spectacularly three times and been disqualified for cheating once. This year he beached his car on the only sand dune of the day on the 8 mile first day stage. Then he broke his gearbox trying to get it off. The second day he beached it again and needed a tow. The fourth day he turned it over and lost 4 hours, whining and complaining that "the dune wasn't marked on the map" when everyone else was flying past his wreck on the same route without any issue. He talked crap about the Mini team last year and again this year saying "minis are for girls" but oddly, because the Mini team have talented drivers, they're handing Gordon his ass on a plate (as usual). So please excuse me if you see me cheering and clapping when I see his stupid orange Hummer upside down in the desert, or beached, or sitting in a rocky gully. He's destroying the Dakar, he has no place in this event, and frankly the sooner he realises that and gives up on it, the better off motorsports fan will be....... nice guy what a frenche
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This is wrong on so many levels, it's pretty much not worth developing a full response for. And I'm not even a RG fan boy.
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