Coverage starts Jan 3! :taz:
In the US on NBC Sports: https://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2021/01/01/dakar-rally-start-times-tv-schedules-race-information-how-to-watch-nbcsn/
Also streaming worldwide on Red Bull TV: https://www.redbull.com/us-en/events/dakar-rally
My boy Loeb is already 21 minutes down. Damn.
I don't follow international motorcycle rally well enough to know the riders, so generally I pick a manufacturer. I am undecided thus far, but the obvious choice is probably Ricky.
12 stages seems like a real let down, but I guess any Dakar is better than no Dakar, not that the rally exists like it once did.
The race is kind of a sprint this year. Many of the competitors are having a hard time coping. The race is particularly volatile as everybody tries to figure out their strategy. Also, there appears to be some controversy about fuel for the bikes.
It's amazing to me that after like 30 years of these races that Peterhansel is still a force to be reckoned with. The dude was born for this shit.
Loeb now with a five minute penalty for speeding.
The death of racing these types of regulations...
Quote from: sav0r on January 03, 2021, 05:49:48 PM
I don't follow international motorcycle rally well enough to know the riders, so generally I pick a manufacturer. I am undecided thus far, but the obvious choice is probably Ricky.
I don't follow it very closely either, just Dakar each year. I root for anyone representing the Stars & Stripes! Especially if they're aboard a Yamaha or if a privateer.
Quote from: sav0r on January 03, 2021, 05:49:48 PM
12 stages seems like a real let down, but I guess any Dakar is better than no Dakar, not that the rally exists like it once did.
Same number of stages as last year. It's been 12-14 stages for almost 20 years now.
Quote from: sav0r on January 06, 2021, 12:21:45 AM
The race is kind of a sprint this year. Many of the competitors are having a hard time coping. The race is particularly volatile as everybody tries to figure out their strategy. Also, there appears to be some controversy about fuel for the bikes.
It's amazing to me that after like 30 years of these races that Peterhansel is still a force to be reckoned with. The dude was born for this shit.
Yep there's been a lot of yo-yoing of the field. No one seems to be able to get near the front and maintain for multiple stages.
Peterhansel has been the king of these races forever. The dude has some staying power! He's won it 13 times!
Unfortunately, today in Stage 6 Howes got a 6min time penalty for speeding. :rolleyes: That sucks, he was doing so well
The car class has turned into a 2 man race
The stage number has fallen from something like 17 in the mid 00's to the now 12, so a huge loss. If I had to guess, the rally likely averaged out to 15 stages over the years. I know they have run as many as 22 stages in a single rally.
Obviously as venues for the race have evaporated they have done their best to maintain the existence of the rally. It's just disappointing having grown up on watching the highlights from each day. Getting back to Africa should be a priority, obviously political stability make this difficult.
When I met my to be wife and we were first living together I was telling her how I wanted to drive the Dakar and Pikes Peak. Those were my two ultimates, maybe with a sprinkle of the 24 hour at Le Mans in there. We watched highlights for the day and the first thing to come up was how a driver died. She forbid me from the Dakar at that moment. Not that I have ever found a viable route to get there. However, at the time I was in serious talks with Honda over a Fit powered prototype car to be manufactured here in Pittsburgh that we would produce for Pikes Peak. Nobody died that year at Pikes Peak so she was okay with it. I never sealed the deal with Honda though, they sent their dollars elsewhere.
Al-Attiyah's performance in Dakar always amazes me. He's an absolute garbage road rally driver.
We lost a rider. I saw a news blurb but no real details. I'm sure something will come out soon.
My wife pulled me aside to tell me I am definitely never driving the Dakar.
She found the article...
Godspeed, Pierre.
https://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2021/01/15/dakar-rally-rider-death-pierre-cherpin-bike-crash-medical-transport/