The F5 Bivouac (rallye raid news) and W2RC - World cross country rally championship

Get done working Oct 9th, I was thinking if I started riding from Ohio, I could make the start of the race.

The Danish rally rider , " Jes Munk " called "The Gringo" will be again at the start line of the Dakar Rally in South America in 2012. He will drive a brand new KTM 450 RR Rally instead of his 450 Rally Aprilia from last year.
He set up his own team for the next year.

Jeebus!
I'm almost as excited as you guys are and it's still nearly 4 months away! Gotta start exercising the ol' F5 finger.

Good-O on those going; we ol' broke-down stay-at-home pharts will be with you in spirit.

(Now, where'd I put those spare tubes for the 640? Gotta mount the Metz Saharas on the spare
wheels for the run down to Big Bend. Don't wanna waste the D606 knobs in the Hill Country!)

where's mine?

Exciting as it is, it is very difficult as well... I am trying to get some contacts in Argentina, no luck so far, I signed up and posted on a south America moto forum but I got no replies so far...

Does anyone know of any active SA on-line communities I could go knock on some doors?

I know of one of my ex-colleagues who moved to BA to take up being a tango instructor, I think she married a local guy there, will try to find out more...

Obviously she doesn't follow the Dakar but maybe her man can sort something out...

Saying that, your best bet would still be an inmate from here

Any trusted individual in Argentina is a good lead, we'll talk in private about her, I'll pm you. Thanks!

On other news:

Google says:

So there you have it! Orfanos will take part in the 2012 edition! (as if you didn't know already)

Asked James West on FB if he would be in SA in Jan.. his reply

"no chance, lack of sponsors and no good team offers, start looking at 2013"

makes me feel better about not raising enough to do the Australasian safari (even factory type riders hit roadblocks)

So I wonder how the ASO appeal is going for Mike Stanfield ?

and Morocco rally is comin up too..

http://www.npo.fr/rallyemaroc/en/tunisie-2011/

ps James broke his wrist again last week, not good. It will be interesting to see how Sam Smith does in Australia.

WK2SURF when are you coming to this neck of the woods to play in the sand?

Just seen this and thought I'd bump the Bivouac thread...

Check out this bad boy:



From what I gather it's legit - in action on the Pharons Rallye as we speak:



Not being an FIM round this year, I guess anything goes - including 1200cc twin cylinder muthers!

I know Touratech were looking at producing a 'kit' of parts for the Super Tenere to make it more like the World Crosser concept bike, maybe this is the prototype?

Are you man enough?!

Toot toot!

Jx

Whoa, the return of the monster twins?

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ORANGE CRUSH's new poster boy, Aussie Steve Cooney on the LC8 950 SuperEnduro... Australasian Safari 2011... 20th place.

There will be another Twin at the Pharaons, inmate Disodbediente with his LC8.. but also two Vespa!
The ST1200 rider (Francesco Catanese) has already made it with an Africa Twin 750, in 2008

And more of the bike here:
http://www.omnimoto.it/magazine/7965/yamaha-xtz1200r-super-tenere-al-pharaons-rally-2011










http://www.omnimoto.it/mwpImages/photogallery/2011/4283/photos650/yamaha-xtz1200r-super-tenere-al-pharaons-rally-2011-
gallery_8.jpg

off the Dakar.com site

After planning out the route, preparation for Dakar 2012 is continuing with the compilation of the road-book, the competitors' bible that they have to follow to the letter. The work is complete for two thirds of the stages, with the one at Fiambala rhyming with mishaps for the reconnaissance team…

The route from Mar del Plata to Lima, imagined by the Dakar organising team for the 2012 edition, will be taking the competitors on a journey of almost 9,000 kilometres, with a programme that now needs to be detailed step-by-step. Accompanied by a handful of experts in all sorts of tracks and desert terrains, David Castera spent most of September in Argentina and Chile. For this second series of reconnoitring, the challenge involved putting the route down on paper that all the vehicles will take in the month of January. Kilometre after kilometre, the pages of road-book are being filled up, denoting the crossing of a dried river bed, a change of direction, the presence of a hole accompanied by a level of danger, etc. On conclusion of these three weeks of wandering, ten stages have received on-the-ground validation and the sketches, once finalised, are ready to send for printing.

Whilst the riders and drivers of the Dakar are already used to struggling in the white dunes of Fiambala, the reconnoitring convey has already suffered due to the ruggedness of the region's terrain: three days were necessary to write up the 5th stage of the rally. The mission was clear for Jean-Pierre Fontenay, a two-time winner of the event, now reconverted to driving one of the three reconnaissance vehicles. To produce a road-book that is reliable and faithful to the actual racing conditions, he had to get as near as possible to the rhythm at which the leaders progress, even if it meant putting the robustness of the Amarok he has been entrusted with to the test. Even without stopwatch pressure, it only needed one small mishap to end up losing a lot of time! After grinding to a halt, the time it took to transport the spare parts for repairs from Cordoba then the work necessary to get the vehicle back on the road cost this small band of adventurers a full day. As regards Chile, the Atacama Desert held other surprises in store for the expedition. In addition to the difference in temperatures (35°C at the hottest part of the day and 3°C when they settled down into their sleeping bags!), the Dakar reconnaissance team arrived in Arica shortly after a day that will go down in history. The torrential rain that fell on the region brought an end to a one-hundred year drought. As a result the team had to make their way through a transformed landscape. They were also amongst the lucky people able to take several photos of the Atacama covered in flowers and grass; a prairie in the middle of the desert…




seems like day 5 will be a DUZY...


and just about every other day!!

Let the countdown begin

yeah sure, just because you're going to be there you want us to start jumping?

Your loss is my gain

Good luck with the trip Deadly!
Anything you can add to the best Dakar coverage here on ADV is much appreciated!
Live the dream for us!

why yes, and I know where you can get a 525 Meca kit for cheap!