The Dakar

Give us your list of Top 5 All Time Dakar Competitors, and why...

Here's mine;
5th - Jean-Louis Schlesser, responsible for building his own 2WD Buggy (Solo Car, no co-driver/navigator), multiple winner of The Dakar in his class. His Buggy design has become synonymous with the Dakar.

4th - Jacky Ickx, an amazing race car driver, with 6 LeMans Wins, 1 Dakar Win, 1 Bathurst Win (in Aus obviously!), and multile F1GP Wins with Ferrari and Brabham, plus seasons with Lotus, etc. Jacky is 7th on the list of all time Dakar Stage Wins. He won Dakar in a Merc G-Class 4x4, and later raced a few Dakars in a Porsche 911.

3rd - Stephane Peterhansel - a fantastic competitor, 1st in The Dakar on many levels... Multiple wins in Bikes first, then Cars. 1st on the list of all time stage wins. Stephane only comes in at 3rd for me, because he later victories have come with heavy financial backing with major Factory Teams. The guy's in the 1980's had to work much harder to gain their victories.

2nd - Ari Vatanen, originally a Rally Car Driver, and is responsible for helping invent and popularise the "Scadanavian Flick", a specific rally maneuver coming from the Finn's, in the ice, but was also translated onto dirt/gravel, and then tarmac. Ari won about 5 Dakars, and had his Car stolen one year while leading, and probably would have claimed 6 titles. He's 3rd on the list of all time Stage Wins at Dakar. A true professional, gentleman, and accomplished driver in many different vehicles.

1st - Marc Coma, I'm a Coma fan, not a Cyril Despres fan! But Marc & Cyril could be equal 1st! (In my book!)... These days, the Motorbike Class is very even, provided you are running a KTM of course!! I think a Dakar Win on a Bike is a greater achievement than in a Car, or Buggy, Quad, or Truck. I think Marc might just pip Cyril once their careers are over, and done!... We will have to wait and see!


The notable guys not in my Top 5... Nani Roma, Cyril Despres, Edi Orioli, and Carlos Sainz.
2nd on the list of all time stage winners is Vladimir Chagin in the Trucks Class.

Car 63, Herbie De Volksy


Didn't even need a driver, hence he was disqualified after a Dakar win in 72 and all records of the win wiped clean !

Way more thought than I will ever put in, but if you make it a top 7 including Cyril and that madman in his trucks, then I wouldn't argue.

My brother in law is on the Robbie Gordon team. Chief mechanic. Has spent the last 6 months putting the car together, 18 hour days of testing, refitting, remodelling and more testing. He came home for a week and has just flown out to Sth America for the race. I have always enjoyed watching it but to hear the stories of just how much work (and money) goes into the top competitors cars puts a whole new spin on it.
Looking forward to the start of this years Dakar. Bring it on!

Robby Gordon and The Gordini must have run into some early trouble... They are well off the pace... Almost running last. Something must have gone wrong... All they can hope for now is redemption with a Stage Win, or something... I was thinking that his set-up had too much suspension travel, and the suspension was a little too soft... Those settings might contribute to a roll over...


Marc Coma (Esp) is doing well... Just a few minutes off the lead... Dakars are won and lost in Week 2, not Week 1 !!
Price (Aus) is doing really well on his KTM.

Cyril Despres is racing a beautiful Peugeot (Cars), but he is 1 hour off the pace... First Dakar in a car though...
Stephane Peterhansel switched teams to Peugeot, probably spat the dummy about team orders last year, when Nani Roma picked up the win, after Stephane was asked/told to let him win!... Peterhansel is well off the leaders too. Sainz is the best placed Peugeot.

Yes, I saw that "brake" issue for Robbie.

Young Toby Price is doing really well on his KTM!... He's doing a great job so far, considering he doesn't really have any major sponsors (so much spare real estate for sponsors! / stickers...)... I think he scored a KTM "invite"... My assumption is that he is racing a Dakar bike from last year, or their Stock Dakar Rally Bike, but I would expect that Marc Coma is riding a superior bike... I could be wrong... But sometimes, "superior" bikes are infact more troublesome...

The heat seems to be affecting a few competitors and machines !
The Dakar always lives up to it`s name and crushes many, to compete and finish would be a blast .

Here's a nice little video from Team Peugeot... I think they are a big change to win next year... They have some of the best drivers, but they are newly returning to Dakar, and I think this year ends up being Testing, Research, and Development... BUT, Mini and Toyota already have race ready machines, setting the pace!!!

www.redbull.com/int-en/team-peugeot-total-dakar-2015-testing-video

Honda rider, Bort is out... He was leading, and snapped the left hand side of his handlebar... I'm not sure on the rules for repairs, etc, but this seems to have caused his rally exit... We'll know more at 6:00pm tonight, after the nightly SBS One Dakar Telecast at 5:30pm...

Marc Coma takes the lead. Toby Price is going really well in 4th Overall, and only 16 minutes behind Coma, after 29 hours of Special Stages.
Toby is 27, and Marc is about 37 (years old)... I have no doubt that Toby can win Dakar within a few years. This is his first Dakar! He can definitely go faster, and become a better navigator...

isthat because we are not the target audience, or we just dont want to pay for it