Jan 11th, 2015 Dakar Rally Stage 8 Race Info & Discussion

Join in and discuss all the action from stage 8 of the 2015 Dakar Rally. This is the second half of the Marathon stage. The special section of stage 8 is 781km long. Robby Gordon start time: 5:25am/et, and he will be the 9th car off the line. After a 9th place finish in stage 7, Gordon sits 23rd in the overall standings, 5h48m behind. Raceday chat will be available throughout the entire 2015 Dakar Rally.


2015 Stage 7 Photos


STAGE 8 TRACKING


STAGE 8: UYUNI > IQUIQUE

Connection 24km | Special Stage 781km | Total 805km

COURSE OVERVIEW

The Dakar bows to the laws of nature. Hence, the weather will decide which route will be taken to leave Bolivia. If it’s dry, the start could take place in the Salar de Uyuni, for a 100km route across a smooth road of white salt: full throttle and foot to the floor! The route then slows down abruptly, with the longest part of the special stage taking place on more technical mountain terrain. The day will end with more than 40km of dunes, concluding with the vertiginous descent to Iquique.

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 TOG on January 11, 2015 at 9:13pm

Matt - Yes it is! Have at it! :)

Permalink Reply by robbyfansinceimsa on January 11, 2015 at 9:13pm
By the way Robby is winning his class by about 33 hours
Permalink Reply by mj on January 11, 2015 at 9:25pm
Matt didn't mean for it to come off harsh just saying Robby knows what he's doing and the Gordini is a great package . If you really break it down and look at everything that's happened this yr it has been just fluke stuff that could've happened to any of the teams not just the Gordini . Just kinda getting tired of all the woulda coulda shoulda stuff . It's not just you and I apologize if you took it that way .
Permalink Reply by Rob on January 11, 2015 at 9:35pm

The one thing I think would help all the way around is a smaller tire. You gain power to the ground, it's easier on the brakes and suspension plus it's a tick lower to the ground for better handling.

Permalink Reply by TOG on January 11, 2015 at 9:14pm

From Johnny C

Phew! Glad to be at rest day just a little past halfway point in the rally. We have had ups and downs this rally but all good and regrouping on our day of rest tomorrow.
Today's stage was a continuation of the Marathon stage where we had no support for an over night stay in Bolivia.
We started with a short Liaison,
30k to the start on a massive "Salar" or salt flat in English speaking world.
We started 5 cars wide, every 5 minutes following just a cap headings for 133k wide open!!
Exciting to say the least when you are plus 120mph for that duration.
We decided to run it conservative and hang with the comp and save our equipment for the many kilos in the days ahead.
We pushed a little too wide near the final waypoint, causing us to s- turn back to it,
For the gps to pick it up and avoid penalty.
We went from front to back of pack and had to settle for 5th on the road for our line. Bummer!!!!
Now we had to suck dust but not too long.....
Unfortunately, the engine decided to be pissed off and not give the oil pressure RG was hoping for.
With that it turned into a survival day rather than a race day. After the special there was a 250km neutralization followed up by a 38k sand special, finishing at the bivouac at the bottom of the infamous 3000' Iquique dune.
Not even sure of our finish today, it was management of equipment that mattered. RG did a fantastic job at that and we brought her home safe and sound.
Now rest day begins!

Permalink Reply by StefanYuhas on January 11, 2015 at 9:15pm

You can't buy the experience (notebook data) that Robby has, he has forgotten more about off road racing then I will ever know. But you must take each of this years problems and fully analyze each one and improve the part so it doesn't happen again. But there is also the problem of overall pace. The Gordini is absolutely slower than the Mini's and Toyota's. So the biggest problem to be solved for next year is SPEED.

Lets get to the finish and improve for next year.

Permalink Reply by Mike Kenyon on January 11, 2015 at 10:15pm

re-read these line's from Johnny.
Exciting to say the least when you are plus 120mph for that duration.
We decided to run it conservative and hang with the comp and save our equipment for the many kilos in the days ahead.
We pushed a little too wide near the final waypoint, causing us to s- turn back to it,
For the gps to pick it up and avoid penalty.
We went from front to back of pack and had to settle for 5th on the road for our line. Bummer

Johnny didn't say they got their doors blown off.Why are we talking engines? If Stage 2 was par (no time lost or gained) RG & JC would be 2:46:41 back, 12th overall

Permalink Reply by StefanYuhas on January 11, 2015 at 10:29pm

I will do a review tonight to make my point clear. But In short if we throw out the play it safe day and the 2 stages Brakes and Flex plate. We still finished no higher than 3rd and Average about 5th or 6th. That can only be due to speed.

Permalink Reply by Robert Ryan on January 12, 2015 at 6:06am
That is amazing, as I know the MINI's have been restricted in their performance compared to previous years
Permalink Reply by Team Maranello on January 11, 2015 at 9:42pm
At least he had "gas on" on the down hill. Live to fight a aother day. For my personal satisfaction, just one stage win would be awesome.
Permalink Reply by Michael Martinez on January 11, 2015 at 9:58pm

I'm following the rally like a fly follows the smell of shit.......It's a blast and to sit on my $1.49 ass and say he should have done this or he should have done that would not only conflict with my style it would seem if I did that I were an ass. If I could say anything Robby Gordon and the team could do different or have done wrong is this...............They did not take me.

Permalink Reply by robbyfansinceimsa on January 11, 2015 at 10:00pm
Mj, no problem at all, I've seen you around here for years. I was about to post about the problems being fluke things. The rear caliper from a bad master cylinder, rock, caliper seal etc. The main time loss of the whole rally was getting stuck the second day as a result of bypassing the rear brakes and having only fronts and being conservative. I obviously do not know but I'd guess the ring gear problem was a result of the previous days repeated starting while stuck. Maybe they replaced the ring gear and just got a bad one, that also happens. Some of the time lost is definitely the result of the bad starting positions from the above problems and being hard to pass the slower cars. Other than that a couple of navigation errors

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