Jan 8th, 2014 Dakar Rally Stage 4 Race Info & Discussion

Join in and discuss all the action from Stage 4 of the 2014 Dakar Rally. Robby Gordon recorded a 6th place finish in stage 3, and is now 3h46m behind. The first part of the special section of stage 4 is 217km, followed by a 185km 'neutral zone', then the last section is 284km (657km total). This is the longest special since 2005.

2014 Stage 3 Photos

STAGE 4 TRACKING

STAGE 4: SAN JUAN > CHILECITO

Connection 211km | Special Stage 657km | Total 868km

COURSE OVERVIEW

The strategy of the motorcyclists will come into play: initially their navigational skills will be seriously tested at the beginning of the morning, and then they will be faced with the problem of worn tyres, as they have already been over-used the day before. As for the drivers of cars, they will have an even more demanding route to tackle in the countryside. The Dakar’s competitors haven’t faced a special stage this long since the historical one from Zouerat to Tichit in 2005! They will have to cross rivers, descend the canyons in a Wild West setting and beware of the other participants: as these terrains are often wide open, it will be entirely possible to overtake fellow competitors.

The GREEN section of the route is the connection , the RED is the Special Section of the stage.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by TOG on January 8, 2014 at 8:34am

Here is the updated top 8 at KM217 of 657 (WP5)

1) Al-Attiyah
2) Sainz +33s
3) Terranova +1m56s
4) Roma +3m13s
5) Villagra +3m19s
6) Peterhansel +4m38s
7) Holowczyc +7m24s
8) GORDON +9m39s

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Permalink Reply by yano on January 8, 2014 at 8:44am

he's slowing down damn it .....

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Permalink Reply by TOG on January 8, 2014 at 8:50am

Now is a good time to take a break - It's going to be awhile until the next 'true' scoring update at KM425 (WP7)

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Permalink Reply by StefanYuhas on January 8, 2014 at 8:50am

It seems that overall Robby is holding his own. Up WP5 he lost 9 minutes, which is 2.5 seconds slower per km average. Hopefully he will have better pace from WP6 till finish. But overall I am happy he seems to be back in it... Maybe now the truck is running better the team will have time to refine the setup and get more speed.