To put this year in perspective we must study the past

Watching videos from this year’s Dakar I am struck by how calm and upbeat Robby is. There are many on the Planet that get nervous when the 303 or the 300 lose multiple minutes on a stage. Here is a chart of this years stage results:

2012 Stage Results

Stage	Place	Time Back	Overall Time	Ov. Place
1	5th	+00:49	+00:49	5th
2	3rd	+04:26	+02:28	2nd
3	5th	+02:08	+00:54	2nd
4	14th	+18:10	+16:23	5th
5	2nd	+01:01	+13:32	4th
6	Cancelled

Seeing that 18:10 minute gap can make one think about panicing... but don't do it. Lets compare this year with what many regard as the high water mark for Team Speed 2009.

2009 Stage Results

Stage	Place	Time Back	Overall Time	Ov. Place
1	17th	+14:25	+14:25	17th
2	10th	+09:24	+21:32	10th
3	10th	+13:25	+34:25	9th
4	10th	+12:13	+46:45	9th
5	3rd	+04:12	+41:48	7th
6	8th	+32:23	+1:11:47	6th
7	3rd	+04:13	+1:08:21	5th
8	8th	+23:40	+1:32:01	5th
9	3rd	+02:16	+1:34:17	5th
10	2nd	+00:21	+1:34:38	5th
11	Cancelled
12	3rd	+25:27	+1:18:52	3rd
13	16th	+22:49	+1:27:13	3rd
14	23rd	+19:02	+1:46:15	3rd

After 6 stages Robby is closer to the overall lead then he ever was in 2009. In 2009 he finished 3rd. This is a long race. Also notice he picked it up after the halfway point. He has promissed to do this again this year. Tighten up you belts settle in and enjoy what might be a very good year for Robby.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by 7gason7 on January 6, 2012 at 6:48pm

Jeff, Not so.. Standby I will put one together on 2009.

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Permalink Reply by 7gason7 on January 6, 2012 at 7:03pm

Ok Get ready to be suprised

2009 Stage 1 Overall

Place	Team	Overall Time
1	302 Al-Attiyah
2	301 Sainz	+02:17
3	305 De Villiers	+02:40
4	308 Miller	+04:21
5	303 Alphand	+04:44

2009 Stage 2 Overall

Place	Team	Overall Time
1	301 Sainz
2	305 De Villiers	+02:19
3	300 Peterhansel	+03:51
4	302 Al-Attiyah	+04:15
5	304 Roma	+05:42

2009 Stage 3 Overall

Place	Team	Overall Time
1	301 Sainz
2	302 Al-Attiyah	+03:40
3	305 De Villiers	+05:45
4	300 Peterhansel	+08:47
5	304 Roma	+14:22

2009 Stage 4 Overall

Place	Team	Overall Time
1	301 Sainz
2	302 Al-Attiyah	+03:46
3	305 De Villiers	+11:33
4	300 Peterhansel	+15:41
5	304 Roma	+20:00

2009 Stage 5 Overall

Place	Team	Overall Time
1	302 Al-Attiyah
2	305 De Villiers	+02:24
3	301 Sainz	+06:33
4	308 Millerl	+19:55
5	304 Roma	+24:29

2009 Final Results

Place	Team	Overall Time
1	305 De Villiers
2	308 Miller	+08:59
3	309 Gordon	+01H:46M:15S
4	327 Tollefsen	+06H:04M:34S
5	317 Holowczyc	+06H:37M:49S

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Permalink Reply by 7gason7 on January 7, 2012 at 3:34pm

2012 through stage 7
Great day for the team

Stage	Place	Time Back	Overall Time	Ov. Place
1	5th	+00:49	+00:49	5th
2	3rd	+04:26	+02:28	2nd
3	5th	+02:08	+00:54	2nd
4	14th	+18:10	+16:23	5th
5	2nd	+01:01	+13:32	4th
6	Cancelled			4th
7	2nd	+7:30 (300)	+13:09	3rd