Jan 12th Dakar Rally Stage 9 Race Chat

Join us for the Dakar Rally on Jan 12, 2009 , right here and chat about the action during the 9th stage

Stage 9 - Monday, January 12

La Serena > Copiapo
Connection: 88 km | Special: 449 km | Connection: 0 km | Total: 537 km
We are at the first step of a decisive trilogy. The reputation of the Atacama Desert, known as the world’s driest, will be tested by the competitors. Those who hope to find dunes will be rewarded. But they will also be fed a generous helping of rocks. This stage is typical of the Dakar 2009, with numerous changes of terrain. The positioning of difficulties, with long stretches of dunes at the end, will require pilots to conserve their strength. They must show themselves to be both multi-talented and with a firm sense of how to manage their efforts.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Team Maranello on January 12, 2009 at 2:38pm

Boulders, you know why the hummer is kicking ass. Tomorrow i vote Robby for a stage win

Carlos Sainz (Esp – Volkswagen) - 301

“This special was very hard, very, very hard. There were a lot of stones and difficult navigation. It was really complicated. Just finishing is already a triumph. Just finishing without problems is a triumph”.

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Mark Miller (USA – Volkswagen) - 308

“I’ve been waiting a year for that stage. We caught up with Carlos (Sainz) after 60 kilometers on the off-road section. We overtook him after around 150 kilometers and things were going quite well. We were back and forth more or less battling. In the last off-road section, the track was a bit difficult to find and there were big boulders. I hit a big boulder on the right. I broke the steering, so we had to stop and repair the steering and at the same time fix a wheel that broke. Carlos beat us by a bit more than a minute I guess, but it was a great day, a really, really fun day. I had a smile on my face from the start until the finish. I gave it everything today, because I thought I could pull back 6 or 7 minutes, but we were just really unlucky. Tomorrow it should be fantastic again, and I’m really looking forward to it”.

Permalink Reply by Ex Desert on January 12, 2009 at 3:00pm

Eric started 31st and finished 17th.. good job

Permalink Reply by WJM on January 12, 2009 at 3:00pm

Vigouroux in. Provisionally 17th. A great run!

Permalink Reply by Philip on January 12, 2009 at 3:06pm

so it sounds like sainz stopped and helped mirrer fix his car or did he have problems to.

Permalink Reply by Philip on January 12, 2009 at 3:07pm

miller

Permalink Reply by TOG on January 12, 2009 at 3:08pm

Robby was going to be happy with a top 10 finish today, so for him to finish 3rd is like a victory. I can't tell you how huge this is going into tomorrows race.

Permalink Reply by Pathfinder7 on January 12, 2009 at 3:11pm

Now a little luck and some attrition and RG could stand atop that podium at the end!

Permalink Reply by WJM on January 12, 2009 at 3:12pm

Looks like Hummer 2 in the top 20 OA

Permalink Reply by gorobbygo7 on January 12, 2009 at 3:18pm

Nani Roma (Sp – Mitsubishi) - 304

“We made a navigational error that lost us around 6 or 7 minutes. There was a lot of dust and we couldn’t even see the tracks. We made the same mistake as De Villiers in front of us. After that, we kept picking up problems. The engine temperature got very hot. So, it was really complicated in the dunes where we had to stop 5 or 6 times to cool it down and to adjust the tire pressure. There is still a chance, there always is in races like this. It’s not all over. But we’re a long way behind now!”

Permalink Reply by WJM on January 12, 2009 at 4:57pm

Less than half the cars that started today's stage have yet to finish

Permalink Reply by FlyHiFlyLo on January 12, 2009 at 5:32pm