2014 Dakar

[corax]

So the Dakar just started into it's second week and I finally found a bike to cheer for
(Robby Gordon & Ballistic BJ Baldwin are the obvious choices in the "Cars" category)

Dakar Rally Competitor Sponsored by Pornographer
(this was last years graphics, but the sponsor and bike theme is the same this year - current pics here: NSFW)



BTW, if you've never experienced the addictive 2 week struggle to find coverage and keep up with it, here is why the Dakar is the greatest offroad race on the planet summed up in a nice neat infographic

[Seanz0rz]

Wish there was some sort of TV or online coverage that wasn't just some dude tweeting or otherwise doesn't suck.

[corax]

ADVRider has a lot of info spread across several threads here:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=25
there are also several board members there sending back inside info from the front lines
I believe last year ADVRider organized a trip down to the Dakar . . . I want to say it was somewhere around $1200 (not including airfare down) for bike rental, guides, food and lodging

(the Official Event Coverage thread is already over 400 pages)

[Seanz0rz]

Thanks, I'll check out the link.

It would be nice if we had a channel or 4 that covered motorsports, and not just nascar. F1, WRC, MotoGP, BTC, Aussie V8, etc.

[Robinhood4x4]

A Dakar newbie question, but how come you don't see any baja style trophy trucks in the Dakar? Does it have to be based on a production vehicle?

[corax]

Doesn't have to based on anything near production - depending, of course, on what class you're building for.

For example, Robby Gordon ran a full size rear engine Hummer H3 looking tube frame creation for the last couple years


whereas this year it's a smaller truck based on his Stadium Super Truck (<- click the link to see these little beasts in action) series that he calls the "Gordini HST"


while Ballistic BJ Baldwin is running his first Dakar in a Chevy truck that isn't really Chevy truck sized

BTW, to even up the odds a bit within each class, they allow 2WDs to use central tire inflation systems while 4WDs cannot.

but when they say "Truck" in Dakar, this is what they mean:


Everything else is a "Car" "Bike" or "Quad". The "Truck" class actually grew out of the support trucks that followed the cars and had to keep up to make the next service area. The most famous truck (in my mind) being the DAF Turbo Twin from the mid-80s

How do you make an 11-ton truck go 150 mph? Two 11.6-liter diesel engines, each fed by three turbochargers, producing 1,200 horsepower and a space-time-ripping 3,466 lb-ft of torque. EACH. That's 2,400 hp and near-as-dirt 7,000 lb-ft. It also had a lightweight aluminum spaceframe

But for the most part, smaller lighter vehicles with a shorter wheelbase are the norm - there's even a side-by-side UTV running this year. Shorter wheel base for the technical sections I guess. Lighter weight=less armor required and less fuel consumption which means smaller tanks and more weight savings. Porsche proved the small/lighter package was feasible years ago

[04 Rocko Taco]

I wish there was some decent Dakar coverage on TV.

[04 Rocko Taco]

Even translated to English, that sie about the bike is hard to read, haha. ...and not JUST because the pictures are distracting.

[Marc P]

This year is has the worst coverage I can remember....thank goodness for the Dailymotion.com vids

[corax]

I believe NBC is actually carrying coverage for the first time in . . . well, not sure they ever did really
Bunch of youtube stuff here, just look for the video titles that are in english: http://www.youtube.com/user/dakar/videos

Also, this thread is a bit much to decode, but has all the links to coverage: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=943500
go to the second post with the network broadcast links - some stations won't play in this country
Scroll down in the second post, just below the world time map & install VLC along with the playlist file
here's one that will play in the US: http://eurosport.yahoo.com/motorsport/dakar/
It does take a bit of effort to keep up with it all, but there are some great stories out there