Jan 7th Dakar Rally Stage 5 Race Chat

Join us for the Dakar Rally on Jan 7, 2009 , right here and chat about the action during the 5th stage.Robby begins the day 9th overall in the standings.

Stage 5 - Wednesday, January 7
Neuquen > San Rafael
Connection: 173 km | Special: 506 km | Connection: 84 km | Total: 763 km
The major test of the first week of the race will perhaps be fought on the road to San Rafael. The long distance will oblige teams to remain concentrated at all times. The pilots will also be confronted with real dune passageways, including a range nearly twenty kilometers long. Long off-road stretches will alternate with much more technical sections in the track following the “rios”. The Cordillera can be seen on the horizon, but taking time to sightsee is out of the question: a too-late arrival at the bivouac always leaves a mark.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on January 7, 2009 at 10:51am

Yeah, I don't know how much longer GM/Hummer are going to throw money at this. Even though Sponsor isn't sold worldwide, they are getting some exposure back home with this, Desert race fans are following this event, they know who RG is and so it is working for Monster in that regard. And its definately a good match for Toyo.

Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on January 7, 2009 at 10:46am

Its true the Hummer has been an attraction ever since RG brought it in 2006.....and whenever he participates in a SCORE or BITD event, he is the marquee driver.

Permalink Reply by rpmscott on January 7, 2009 at 10:48am

Am I right in saying if he started 17min behind the leader at the start. And is about 8min down. he should show up 25min after the first car pops up. if he has not lost more time?

Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on January 7, 2009 at 10:50am

CORRECT!

Permalink Reply by rpmscott on January 7, 2009 at 10:52am

So what time did the first car pop up? HA HA HA I forgot to look.

Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on January 7, 2009 at 10:53am

About 13/14 minutes ago?

Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on January 7, 2009 at 10:56am

Also, he started about 17 minutes behind, but the guy who started first, isn't leading on time. RG is 5 minutes behind Sainz who (I think!) started first.

So its a "more or less" measure, unless you really want to get anal and go through the starting order, and time updates...

Permalink Reply by rpmscott on January 7, 2009 at 10:58am

nope! hurts my head

Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on January 7, 2009 at 11:00am

exactly! just don't look for him TOO soon or get TOO ansy if he doesn't show up as quickly as you think he should!

Two minutes takes a LONG time when you sitting on your ass on the Internet checking the live tracker!

Permalink Reply by Matt on January 7, 2009 at 10:51am

I agree he does a lot in terms of crowd excitement for his sponsors.

Just remember the climate of the economy though. How many americans are watching this event? When is it on ESPN? How much money does GM have to dump into the program?

The crowds may love the guy and the truck (as do I), but without better performance I fear todays economy might take its toll on the team if it continues to come up short.

Again, Im not being negative, just trying to have a discussion while we wait for checkpoint updates. I do want to understand though why the Hummer is having such a rough go of it at this point.

Permalink Reply by T. Crane on January 7, 2009 at 10:53am