A New Beginning

[Ferrari333SP]

So is this the official announcement/confirmation?

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/7786132?MSNHPHMA

[b-makk]

South America should be cheaper than Africa for RG's team.
Wonder if participation will be down next year because of the extra cost to Euro teams.

[cvc motorsports]

It says they will announce the race route on Tues. so I assume that will be their formal press release.?

[Hog Wild]

South America should be cheaper than Africa for RG's team.I'm not sure about that. It's actually FARTHER to Buenos Aires than it is to Lisbon, from California or East Coast. The boat trip is also further. And if the entry fees are the same, then what will be cheaper?

It will definately be more expensive for the European teams because now they also have to ship and fly everything in just as we have to do. So that will probably make assistance services more expensive for anyone getting those services from Europe based teams. That may not affect RG much, but it could affect Michael Petersen's team negatively.

[Ferrari333SP]

It is farther, but because both land masses are connected, technically RG could drive everything he has down there, thereby passing on the boat trip, couldn't he? Not sure how safe all the roads are leading to Buenos Aires, but you would think there would be at least some route he could take.

[Mumzy]

It is farther, but because both land masses are connected, technically RG could drive everything he has down there, thereby passing on the boat trip, couldn't he? Not sure how safe all the roads are leading to Buenos Aires, but you would think there would be at least some route he could take.

Not!!!

[RGFan]

300 miles further as the crow flies.......5800 to Lisbon, 6100 to Buenos Aires. The nice thing is, they can ship the vehicles from Long Beach instead of Georgia and ship them to Chile and make a 500 mile drive to Buenos Aires as a shake down drive as the other teams do in Europe. Should not be really any more or less expensive from a logistics standpoint, being that Lisbon is closer, Dakar is farther then Beunos Aires. Might buy them a little time in prep. And generally the West Pacific seas where the shipping lanes are, are not as treacherous as the Atlantic......Generally, there is always exceptions.

[Will_Higman]

I have been doing a “little” research on Chile and Argentina… I think this is going to be a great event and well suited for Team Dakar USA.

I haven’t been down there but at first blush the terrain looks similar to Morocco i.e. more dirt than sand... This might be good for Robby and the Hummer.

Should be interesting!

:)

[Hog Wild]

Ok, who's going to sail their yacht from Cabo to Buenos Aires so RG and Jonah Street can have a victory party in style? Here's a photo of the port in Buenos Aires. Like Will Higman, I've been investigating a lot down there, and I believe this exact location is where ASO will setup camp for the start and finish. It has a LOT in common with their setups in Belem-Lisboa and Portimao. It's an ideal location, which shows off the beauty of Buenos Aires well. Get your reservations for the Hilton now, just out of view to the right. Puerto Madero:
http://www.icvturismo.com.ar/images/destinos/bsas/bsas1.jpg

[spalind]

Still gonna need a boat to get the stuff down there...the roads don't connect through the "Darien Gap" in South Panama/Columbia....you can drive all the way to south Panama but then need to ferry across to Columbia...given the amount of equipment RG and others will have, it will be more economical/safer to just ship it all by boat---probly still from the East Coast U.S. still as well given the race will start on the Atlantic side of South America...Not sure you'd wanna drive your trucks through Columbia and Venezuala either even if it were all connected...Columbian drug lords and the Venezuelan dictatorship may not be quite as scary as Al Queda but their no pussycats either...

[RGFan]

That is why I said drive form Chile, it is a 500 mile jaunt. Safe region, much more so then Baja anyways, can keep all of the shipping on the left coast, buy some prep time in the process and be able to shake everything down on the 500 mile trip over.

[Hog Wild]

It's officially announced on the Dakar.com website.

And here's the intro video: Dakar 2009 Intro (mms://a1069.v160250.c16025.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1069/16025/v0001/aso.download.akamai.com/16025/video/clip_dk09.wmv)

Looks BETTER than Africa ! ! !

[b-makk]

Maybe I'll go set up a little terrorist organization in South America so the ASO can "pay" me for "protection"

I can't believe I just got schooled in geography by Americans. Canadians always brag that they know more about geography than the US. Now all we have is hockey...

[RGFan]

Maybe I'll go set up a little terrorist organization in South America so the ASO can "pay" me for "protection"

I can't believe I just got schooled in geography by Americans. Canadians always brag that they know more about geography than the US. Now all we have is hockey...

We look at you guys the same way we look a the French:D Just teasin....And as far as Hockey......Wayne Gretzky owns a team in Phoenix, not Edmonton....Enough said (lol):D

[dfmcse]

It is farther, but because both land masses are connected, technically RG could drive everything he has down there, thereby passing on the boat trip, couldn't he? Not sure how safe all the roads are leading to Buenos Aires, but you would think there would be at least some route he could take.


Drive? I had Google Maps calculate Los Angeles, CA to Buenos Aires, Argentina and it puked. LOL

[FlyHiFlyLo]

It looks really good. I don't know if they 50 strait miles of dunes but the dunes do look much firmer... This will be better for the H-3

[sierra]

Saying that South America is safer than Baja is wrong, It may not be much safer even than Africa; there is a place in South America, The tri-border, close to where the race will be held, that it's a well known heaven for Arab terrorists and Al Qaeda cells.

There, the cells make lots of untraceable money that they send to countries in the Arab world to support their Jihad war, and what's to say that they won't try to do something in the race, since is so close to them?? they have done this before in Buenos Aires, with the bombing of the Israeli embassy in 1992, followed by a similarly deadly attack on AMIA, the Jewish community center, in 1994 also in Buenos Aires.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37133

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=south+america+tri+border&btnG=Search

[RGFan]

I can tell you for a fact that while there are issues everywhere, including Al Queda Sleeper Cells here in the Continental US, The regions where this race will be had is much more safe then lets say Venezuela/Columbia/Panama. A large part of my job is traveling, South America, Mexico, Russia, UAE, Saudi........I travel all over. We have a security agency we work with because of the issues stated above. There opinion has been that North Africa is, has been and will remain one of the most dangerous places on the planet period. You can not even begin to realistically, much yet responsibly compare North Africa to Argentina/Chile. You are comparing essentially a land of barron lawlessness where the worst terrorist organizations in the world have been known to train for the better part of a century (beginning with the Nazi's in modern history) to Argentina and Chile, two well respected countries with respected military forces which both have solid relationships with the US and the majority of the world. They have taken hard lined approaches to dealing with drug cartels and terrorist related issues and have done a great job compared to many areas on this planet, including here in the US and even parts of Europe.

Not trying to slam you, just set the record straight.;)