Jan 16th, 2013 Dakar Rally Stage 11 Race Info & Discussion

Join in and discuss all the action from Stage 11 of the 2013 Dakar Rally. Robby Gordon recorded a very nice 5th place finish in Stage 10 , but remains 19th overall. Gordon is now over 6 hours in the overall, but will get yet another good starting spot in an attempt to win his first stage of the rally. The cars are slated to begin the special section of stage 11 at 9:53am/et and Robby Gordon will begin his special section around 10:03am/et. Raceday chat will be available throughout the entire 2013 Dakar Rally.

2013 Photos

STAGE 11 TRACKING

STAGE 11: LA RIOJA > LA FIAMBALA

Connection 262km | Special Stage 219km | Total 481km

COURSE OVERVIEW

It is very rare for nothing to happen in Fiambalà! And in 2012 rain ensured that this lethal white sand remained firm, allowing the vehicles of the Dakar to pass through this prime spot for getting blocked and for engines to overheat, without recoiling or stalling. These dunes with their very welcoming contours typically have a very unpleasant surprise in store for competitors. Everything is possible in Fiambalá, including in the new strings of dunes featured on the route. The third part of the rally will boast sand once again, and each person will have to adapt his driving and his general approach to the terrain: those who are less attentive will also risk making serious navigational mistakes which will cost them dearly.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dave Horwath on January 16, 2013 at 8:39pm

The mini's have to hiccup at some point...

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Permalink Reply by Adam G on January 16, 2013 at 4:22pm

Meteorological Armageddon

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Permalink Reply by shorty on January 16, 2013 at 5:42pm

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Permalink Reply by RICK ALDRIDGE on January 16, 2013 at 4:35pm

Godsent, my ass. Makes it sound like a fluke win....asshole (or maybe its a translation thing?)

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Permalink Reply by PathfinderCS on January 16, 2013 at 4:43pm

While I do agree it could've been worded better; I doubt there was any malice behind it. Could be just European humor. I'm just glad he has (provisionally) kept the win.

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Permalink Reply by steve wilson on January 16, 2013 at 4:39pm

Robby Gordon Americanos aka rebelde es el Rey de Argentia!! El Gas!!

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Permalink Reply by PathfinderCS on January 16, 2013 at 4:44pm

I was not aware that the trucks had even started.

Finally, the problem was the same for the truck race, and so was the outcome. Gerard de Rooy achieved the best time at CP1, 56" ahead of Alès Loprais. As a result, this will mean a 24th stage victory for the Dutchman on the Dakar and the 6th this year. In the general standings, Russian Eduard Nikolaev will still have a solid lead, but should now sit in front of his team-mate Ayrat Mardeev, who looks to have taken advantage of the problems encountered by Czech driver Martin Kolomy at the very beginning of the stage.

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Permalink Reply by GLuce on January 16, 2013 at 5:07pm

the cancelling nonsense started in chat, and was baseless, everything Dakar posted was it was over at cp1. Too bad because this terrain was going to give RG a wide margin of victory. On to tomorrow!

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Meyer on January 16, 2013 at 6:45pm

I agree.. assuming RG didn't break down or have a mishap he could have gained a lot of time in the overall today. Not sure it'd would have been enough to gain a place or two, but certainly would have made things tighter.