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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Permalink Reply by Head Held High on January 8, 2014 at 8:08am

usually 90-100 km I think but you have to get there in the time allowed. Like right now RG could pull over and change a tire if he wanted but he has to be at the end of the neutralization within a certain amount of time and then they staggered start everyone again

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Meyer on January 8, 2014 at 8:26am

Thanks. I always wondered if they regrouped them and restarted or if cars could just hit the waypoint and continue warp speed. Feel free to add any tidbits you want.. it's nice to hear from someone who has been there :)

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Permalink Reply by Geris on January 8, 2014 at 8:14am

lost 2 min 34s between wp4 ant wp5 22 km ... sorry 14 miles ...

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Permalink Reply by will on January 8, 2014 at 8:04am

It's interesting that ASO just flipped the switch to get tracking working for both bikes and cars on separate courses today. Almost like they were just toying with us.

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Permalink Reply by Kathy Kubara on January 8, 2014 at 8:23am

amazing

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Permalink Reply by Mark Reeves on January 8, 2014 at 8:06am

Looks like disaster for Toyotas. Poulter and de Villiers - neither even through WP1 yet - wonder if de Viliiers stopped to help Poulter? Either way they've lost easily over one hour if they're still going.