Dakar 2013 - Official Event Coverage - thank you ALL TeamF5, lurkers and posters!

[Bluebull2007]

Originally Posted by Flood

In the end, I think I'd rather see too much media in the CN thread than miss some of the wonderful shots of the day's stage. And if it's too much some, just scroll down.

[8340SU]

Arrêté au Km 134 de la spéciale, David Casteu est reparti après une minute. Il aurait effectué une vérification sur sa moto.

here it is, he stopped for a minute

EDIT this is about Casteau

[garfey]

@Nitro -
Great summation from Ingo - Thanks much for posting it!

[BigDoc]

I watched the coverage last night on the Speed Channel. I have to admit that as a former rally car driver, I chuckled at all the ones who followed the lost "leader". Glad you got it right.

[8340SU]

Lopez must be loosing at least 10 minutes now

[Brodovitch]

Despres just ate 5.39 away from Casteu at WP4

Full-on alien mode today

[Seppo]

CD is about 4min behind Casteu on the Track, will he be able to physically overtake him?

[Balkan Boy]

[QUOTE=8340SU;20478788]

Arrêté au Km 134 de la spéciale, David Casteu est reparti après une minute. Il aurait effectué une vérification sur sa moto.[/QUOTE

]here it is, he stopped for a minute

EDIT this is about Casteau

Originally Posted by Brodovitch

Despres just ate 5.39 away from Casteu at WP4

Full-on alien mode today

Casteu is helping him. I hope it's not a mechanical issue.

[Frougby]

Originally Posted by Brodovitch

Despres just ate 5.39 away from Casteu at WP4

Full-on alien mode today

Holy Schnieke! I realy think CD wants to force some riders into a decision of pushing their engines too hard, I wonder who will take the bait?

[garfey]

Boundsy's thru WP1 +00:07:39 ... hope he got some better meds and his back is more manageable.
And Manuel's thru WP2 +00:13:55. Engine's apparently doing fine.

[Stagehand]

Originally Posted by Nitro

Hi guys
damm my internet sucks, this is the 4th time i tried to post this

Hi there guys
Here we are,one week later at the rest day.
It is great to be here after a hectic week at the "office".I had a slow start to it all.I kind of always get so intimidated by all the action around me and need to settle in.The quality / ability of riders has improved tremendously and the advantage I thought I might have in the dunes , did not materialise.I did catch up in the dunes but lost it on the high speed sections that I absolutely hate with a passion.The first week had a lot of really fast sections in it,and dust was a major problem.The stage from Calama to Salta was so fast that the average speed over 276km of special stage was 110 km per hour................that is insane.One could ride the bike at full "taps" for the first 120km, then it slowed down, but the dust was so bad that you could not overtake.
My dislike to quads increased by a 120% ( just joking ) ,because I got stuck twice behind a quad in a stage and had to follow the guy to the finish with a fright train of riders following me.We were all "luss" to wring the guys neck..........bloody fooooool !!!!!
Riding over the Andies was very cold again,but I was prepared for that.I should have duct taped the air vents on my helmet, because the only part of my body that froze was my sculp...........wish I had some hair.But luckily the "solar panel"of mine survived the freezing temperature.
I was very shaken by the tragic accident of the young French rider.Most of us were infront of the rider,so we did not know about the accident until the finish of the liaison.Rumers has it that he fell asleep,because he hit the police car on a bend on a downhill ( he was either going to fast and lost control or fell asleep ).We had past a hight of 4975 meters and on the way down I suffered from a headache and also had to pull over because I was feeling very tired.It is just tragic and it gets you to think how dangerous this is.
The last 2 days were a marathon stage where we as bike riders don't get to see our service crew.It was 2 long stages and the organisers had it in for us.The bivouac was in a gymnastic hall and we were all supplied with sleeping mats/blankets/shoes/t-shirts/toothbrush........you name it, to keep us comfortable.We were only allowed to work with what we could carry on us,but in extreme cases there was a service truck were on could lend tool from.
Yesterday was for a change my day with some magic riding terrain.I felt so at home and was able for the first time to ride the way I know I can.Major luck was involved, I have to add that,but that is all part of it,I guess.The day was devided into 2 special stages,but due to lots of rain the night before the organisers were forced to cancelle the first part because of the rivers that were overflowing.
The cool thing was that the most part of the special was wet,so dust was not an issue.The ride was very technical and very tiring .Lots of riverbeds with rocks,small choppy dunes,fesh-fesh that was wet for a change,but still difficult to ride.I passed a lot of riders. We got to a riverbed were there was mayor confusion with the navigation.The American,Casselli was the culprit ,he headed off in the wrong direction and everybody followed him.The top riders were riding in circles and lost at that time already a good 20 minutes in race time.I followed my road book and took the correct route and just rode on.
I am in absolute shock guys...............15th overall for the day.........I am lost for words.
I am "kakking" myself ( sorry for the French guys ) to start among those super fast guys tomorrow.At least I have Brett there to hold my hand ( he finished in an awesome 17th for the day ) and we made out that we will ride together after the start.
My bike is running like clockwork and for now we are not changing the engine.When Jan does the oil changes he takes special care in studying the oil sieve for metal pieces,and the oil was super clean up to now.The bike is not having trouble to start and is not smoking,so for now we will monitor the situation closely.One gets penalised for engine changes,so we will only do it if it is really necessary.
Having Gilly here is such an amazing experience.She is Daves and my Dakar mummy.She does washing for us every night, see's to it that we take our pills and" buzzes" around us to keep us happy.There is nothing like a women's touch to keep us kids in control.
Charles is taking care of passport / customs when we need to pass borders.He downloads all the Go Pro footage and helps with everything.He is our daddy to the equation."Jannemanne" and Onno are in control of servicing the bikes,changing tyres and driving endless hours.We are a really cool team and have no issues what so ever.
I believe that "Lisa Lips" is in her element of keeping you guys updated.Thanx my bock,I really appreciate that you do this for all of us.
To all of you out there, Thanx for routing for me. Makes me feel special that I can represent our country at this level.Week 2 is upon us, the harder part of the rally, so lets see what lies ahead.
I want to stand on that podium in San Diago.
You all take care and hold thumbs.
All the best
Ingo=

Thanks for the awesome report

[yammie]

Originally Posted by Brodovitch

Despres just ate 5.39 away from Casteu at WP4

Full-on alien mode today

[neduro]

Misc, Love the new moniter!

Lyndon is very good at staying in his head. I think he'll ride as fast as he feels sure of, it's a rare an fascinating opportunity to see how that stacks up, given that he will have no dust in front and no roadblocks to wait for. Most folks running where he had been never get a clear day, always there are slower riders ahead, dust, etc that limits your pace at some point during the day. I don't think he'll have that particular issue today!

[Brodovitch]

Originally Posted by Seppo

CD is about 4min behind Casteu on the Track, will he be able to physically overtake him?

3:21 to be exact. I think so, with the pace he's got today. Might happen even before the neutralized fuel stop

[PackMule]

Originally Posted by misc

http://monitor.trackingdakar.nl/ has updates?

Hey Mischa, I see you've made some additions to the monitor page!

When I first clicked in, I saw the whole field. I started playing around with the options (filtering, etc), and now I can't seem to get back to seeing the whole field again. What am I doing wrong?


Thanks!