Jan 14th, 2014 Dakar Rally Stage 9 Race Info & Discussion

Join in and discuss all the action from Stage 9 of the 2014 Dakar Rally. After starting 56th, Robby Gordon had a great stage 8 and finished 10th. Gordon is now 24th overall. Robby Gordon will begin stage 9 at TBA

2014 Stage 8 Photos

STAGE 9 TRACKING

STAGE 9: CALAMA > IQUIQUE

Connection 29km | Special Stage 422km | Total 451km

COURSE OVERVIEW

The 2014 Dakar will reach its most northern point in Iquique, where the competitors will see the ocean for the first time this year. Above all, the drivers and teams will discover the Atacama Dunes again after a first part of a special stage which will be rather tedious. Dune specialists will be in command over a distance of almost 150km. Thrills will be guaranteed at the very end of the day, on the last three kilometres of the descent to Iquique: there is more than a 30% difference in height from start to finish and it is almost not recommended to break. The law of gravitation takes on its full meaning: the bivouac is not far away!

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 Tony Srubjan on January 14, 2014 at 6:04pm

Will he get a ticket for a headlight out ?

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Permalink Reply by geothermaljones on January 14, 2014 at 6:06pm

Only if they can catch him...

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Permalink Reply by Hendricus on January 14, 2014 at 6:06pm

Robby is still in it. He can still win a stage, but judging from the efforts of the smaller teams this year, none of them are close to beating the Minis. I don't say this to brag about the Minis. I say this as matter of fact assessment of what's happening. In year's past I've had the feeling that with just a little more tweaking, Robby could win. This year I don't feel that way.

There has been misfortune for Robby, Kellon and the Gordini, but the others continue to up their game. I wonder what BMW/X-Raid have invested in their program? I wonder what Robby has invested is his? Say over the past three years? Even just the past year? Anybody care to speculate?

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Permalink Reply by edgard vargas on January 14, 2014 at 6:11pm

mucha razón son 11 minis y luchar con un presupuesto enorme, y robby solo invierte un 5% de lo que invierte el equipo X-raid, pero ahi vamos en la lucha

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Permalink Reply by Hendricus on January 14, 2014 at 6:22pm

Translate:
"rightly is 11 minis and fight with a huge budget and robby invests only 5% of what you invest the X-raid team, but there are going to fight."

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Permalink Reply by Hendricus on January 14, 2014 at 6:25pm

I'll go along with your 5% guess, but I'm still curious about actual dollar amounts, or even speculative guesses from those that have raced off road.

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Permalink Reply by edgard vargas on January 14, 2014 at 6:30pm

gracias, desde Lima, Peru, aqui en mi oficina somos 10 seguidores de RG

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Permalink Reply by Robert Ryan on January 14, 2014 at 6:15pm

No he has been too slow on the WRC sections. Carlos Sainz said his Dakar was lost two stages ago, but will be looking at stage wins, which he has done.