Jan 7th, 2015 Dakar Rally Stage 4 Race Info & Discussion

Join in and discuss all the action from Stage 4 of the 2015 Dakar Rally. Robby Gordon recorded a respectable 15th place finish in stage 3. The rally moves into Chile, and the Gordini should be very strong in the Atacama Desert. The special section of Stage 4 is 315km long. Robby Gordon start time: 1:11pm/et. Gordon sits 40th in the overall standings, 4h24m behind. Raceday chat will be available throughout the entire 2015 Dakar Rally.

2015 Stage 3 Photos

STAGE 4 TRACKING

STAGE 4: CHILECITO > COPIAPO

Connection 594km | Special Stage 315km | Total 909km

COURSE OVERVIEW

The competitors will have to prove they are worthy of entering Chile! A very early start and a climb to a height of 4,800 metres will precede the border crossing at Paso San Francisco. The really challenging section will begin with a gradual warm-up on the mining tracks, before drivers are faced with the reality of the Atacama Desert. The route here is open and sandy. Over the course of the last 40 kilometres, the giant dunes and basins of Copiapo will have to be tackled and for many this will be at night. Overcoming them will require finesse and instinct.

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 patricio garcia on January 7, 2015 at 5:33pm

Hola flaco, si ni idea que le paso. A lo mejor hoy sabemos algo. el lunes se le clavaron lis frenos traseros, y casi terminando la etapa el auto se paro y necesito un empuje. Ayer anduvo mejor, pincho una goma ydespues volo. Hoy parece que se quedo clavado en las dunas

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Permalink Reply by David Clay on January 7, 2015 at 5:07pm

Hey TOG, why are they not doing the Team SPEED daily update videos? I miss not getting Robby's two cents at the end of each day and the behind the scenes footage of the team working on the Gordini. In good times and bad we are still RGM fans through and through and would still like to see what's going on. Going into day 5 there's still not a single video inside the biovac

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Permalink Reply by TOG on January 7, 2015 at 5:11pm

They are, Just horrible internet access so far. TONS of travel. Air cards haven't been picking up cell service.

It took over 1 hr to upload a 50mb file this morning.

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Permalink Reply by David Clay on January 7, 2015 at 5:21pm

Oh Awesome! Thanks, I was starting to get worried we were going to get left high and dry!

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Permalink Reply by Ron Downs on January 7, 2015 at 5:20pm

I agree what happened to the English Eurosport vids they were also good.

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Permalink Reply by Ron Downs on January 7, 2015 at 5:24pm

I thought there must be something up

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Permalink Reply by TOG on January 7, 2015 at 5:28pm

We ran out of budget.

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Permalink Reply by Martin Jofre on January 7, 2015 at 5:07pm

Gordini seems to be running failry well in the last WPs, after being fixed, but not doing stage winning times between any WP.

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Permalink Reply by geothermaljones on January 7, 2015 at 5:08pm

Please note RG is one of the few "contenders" that only races Rally Raid once a year.
Say what you like about Baja & Laughlin & Vegas, they're only a weekend long deal.
Air All & Yazeed Et.Al. run Rally Raids all over Europe, Africa, Asia, etc...
Yazeed wrecked a hummer in one of the African runs...
All the big Mfgrs have thousands of track proven miles & many more testing.
RG doesn't have the time or money to be exclusive to Rally Raid, and no one (in the U.S.) other than a Planet Robby and a few others seem to care about it.
I always thought Polaris ought to be a sponsor & throw in a support truck and a number of buggies and share a Bivouac with the Speed Crew.
How about all those guys running the Stadium truck buying in & running a 2nd 3rd & 4th car.
RG is a privateer & this is how privateers run.

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Permalink Reply by Mike taylor on January 7, 2015 at 5:16pm

I understand how Robby lives he's balls to the wall doin other things, I don't know the answer to this but when was the last time a true privateer won all out Dakar, it's brutal u can't show up and win. He wants a Dakar overall win, things have to change but I think it was TOG who said there r things working behind the scenes, will work at the shop for free! Lol only 45 minutes away haha. He won't quit till he wins so we will see what the future holds gas on, he's still a bad mf though! I agree with the Polaris deal didn't he have a deal with them in the past not at the Dakar but in general

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Permalink Reply by geothermaljones on January 7, 2015 at 5:23pm

They've always had a small sticker deal on the support trucks, though I haven't seen it this year.
Back in the 80's privateers were winning, then the mfgrs got involved and the "sport" grew.
In the 80's they'd leave Paris with Champagne flowing & do the scenic cruise to the Med...
Ferry over & start the race.