Jan 7th, 2012 Dakar Rally Stage 7 Race Info & Discussion

Join in and discuss all the action from Stage 7 of the 2012 Dakar Rally. Robby Gordon finished 2nd in stage 5 & Nasser Al Attiyah finished 11th. Cars begin stage 7 at 7:56am/et (9:56am local). Raceday chat will be available throughout the entire 2012 Dakar Rally. Raceday chat now works on the Ipad & Iphone.

STAGE 7 TRACKING


STAGE 7: Copiapo > Copiapo

Connection 154km | Special Stage 419km | Total 573km


COURSE OVERVIEW

The loop will be the biggest challenge of the week, although the beginning of the special stage, which will travel along tracks in the middle of the hills and cacti, might appear easy. But afterwards, the strain of the kilometres covered since Mar del Plata will begin to take their toll, exactly at the time when a great number of dunes will follow one after another. The last string of dunes to be crossed, so near and yet so far from the finish, may well resemble a bivouac which has been transported to the middle of the desert. Thankfully for the latecomers who pitch their tents, the regulations allow vehicles to be presented until 6 pm on the rest day.





STAGE BY STAGE RESULTS

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Hendricus on January 7, 2012 at 5:26pm

Thanks Redline. Interesting. So the RGM Hummer is not a Class-1 car either. Other than it is two-wheel drive, mid-engine. Similar in that sense, but different in other significant ways.

Ah.., but the RGM-Hummer IS still very much built in the genre of US off-road cars. Do you know, is the engine an all-aluminum Chevrolet LS, fuel-injected, normally aspirated (no turbo)? Do you know the displacement?

Am I catching this correctly, the Dakar rules hold the engine at about 300 hp?

Permalink Reply by 7gason7 on January 7, 2012 at 5:38pm

the 2006 Hummer began as a 2003 Class 1 buggy. The 303 is still that car, but very little is left. A TT would not do well because it is
1. Heavier
2. Carries smaller fuel load
3. would have to run a restrictor plate and the HP would be the same as the Hummer.

So a heavier car with less HP not a good ratio.

Eric Vigouroux ran a pro truck in the 2006 Dakar:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/eric%20vigouroux%202006%20Chevro...

Nasser also has run a Chevy Pro Truck before

Permalink Reply by Hendricus on January 7, 2012 at 5:57pm

Good stuff. Thanks.

But then think about it conceptually. A lightened TT, smaller engine, larger fuel-tank, etc. Basically, what RGM has done to a Class-1 car, but now to a TT.

I don't really know what I'm asking. I have to ask myself, "So what's the point?"

The RGM-Hummer must handle better than a front-engine TT-genre vehicle made for Dakar would. What do you think?

I guess I could answer myself too, "Hey, anybody can get anything to work, right?"

Permalink Reply by 7gason7 on January 7, 2012 at 6:40pm
Permalink Reply by Hendricus on January 7, 2012 at 7:34pm

Wow. Thanks for the pic. Generous of you. I don't get out much. Thanks for chatting me through off-road racing 101. I need to get to a race, visit the pits.

Permalink Reply by Mike Kenyon on January 8, 2012 at 1:23pm
Permalink Reply by 7gason7 on January 8, 2012 at 1:48pm

Tim, Not a problem. If the TT could be run in it's true form and we could squeze another 75 gallons of fuel in it, it would be fun to see. The Hummer is the best config based on SCORE rule inclusion. The ASO requires some additional safety add ons too. All cars need fenders and 2 spares so all Class 1 type cars look different then they do in SCORE races. The Preditor guys built a couple class 1 type buggies for the 2011 Dakar. See how different they look:

http://www.predator-offroad.com/x18dspecifications.html

Permalink Reply by Hendricus on January 8, 2012 at 2:22pm

Good looking car. I'm sure you would agree, the models without fenders look better. Fenders make it look like it's not as fast, which is not necessarily true. I bet if I actually drove or navigated the Dakar, I would appreciate the fenders. Great to see the So Cal builders going international. Preditor seems to have presence all over the world. So am I understanding correctly, the Score version of this car would run in Class-1? This car seems small for Class-1. I though the Class-1 cars were mostly LS-V8 powered. But I don't really know.

Permalink Reply by Carlos Durazo on January 9, 2012 at 10:25am

I belive this predator is Mex Driver De Uriarte. The quit at stage 4, failure on the chasis.

Permalink Reply by Capt. Allen "Pez Loco" on January 7, 2012 at 6:46pm

Hey Gas did you see I posted my Annual pic of me And Danica, LOL

Permalink Reply by 7gason7 on January 8, 2012 at 1:42pm

Yeah I did! Very cool I hope she still weighs 100lbs or my calcs will be way off

Permalink Reply by Carlos Durazo on January 9, 2012 at 10:27am

The biggest diference beetween hummer vs class1 its, the first one has LIMITED power, class 1 is UNLIMITED.

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