Dakar Stage 7 - Iquique > Antofagasta

[Hog Wild]

Dakar 2010 Stage 7 - Iquique > Antofagasta

Liaison: 37km
Special: 600km (372mi), 50km asphalt liaison mid-way to drive around a natural reserve
Liaison: 4km





641 km are on the menu of stage 7 including 600 km (!) against the clock, i.e. the longest stage in this 32nd edition. No chance of boredom however for the contenders who will have to face the most versatile route of the Dakar this year. The stage will start with 40km of sand dunes; then contenders will hit brittle or even very brittle terrain and even a 3km "Salar" (salt flat) they will need to cross and where it will be hard to drive faster than 10 km/h!... Other peculiarity of stage 7 is the neutralization of the race at km 177 for a 50-km liaison on asphalt to drive around a natural reserve. The contenders will start racing again at km 227, with a fast track cut off by windy sections and some off-track on rocks... In a nutshell a particularly varied menu with a lot of spicy parts just before the rest day, which allowed the organizers to push the end to 6:00PM the next day so that a maximum number of contenders would have the opportunity to reach Antofagasta within the time limits and go on with their rally raid.

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[Chase 2]

Wow!!! So much drama and we are not even to the rest day!!! Jonah Street's team is reporting that this year's course is on extremely difficult terrain, perhaps even the most difficult ever!!! The nice thing about holding the race in South America is that after Stage 7 many of the competitors will be sleeping in hotels for two nights. Too bad most of the mechanics won't be so lucky. Man, I love this race!!!!

[FlyHiFlyLo]

600KM... More Carnage!

[bufeo]

It'll sure be an interesting two-part Stage, especially with an early exposure to sand.

Allen R

[FlyHiFlyLo]

All I can say is Holy smokes! This is going to be one of those "Where did everyone go" types of stages. 5MPH sections??? 15 timing points? It looks like a damn roller coaster. Two men enter, one man leave!

[Yumaoffroad]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afd4Ojt5Dlw"]YouTube- Dakar Hummer casi pisa perro[/ame]

[fishd00d]

lol woulda been rad if BJ put it up on 2 wheels like he does with his TT!

[Ryan_P]

All I can say is Holy smokes! This is going to be one of those "Where did everyone go" types of stages. 5MPH sections??? 15 timing points? It looks like a damn roller coaster. Two men enter, one man leave!

And pushing the finish until 6:00pm the next day to ensure more people finish!?!? When the ASO is preparing for the worst, they are expecting carnage. This could be RG's best shot and making up some ground with the VW's pushing each other; someone's gonna put on their foam helmet tomorrow and pull a tard move. Gas on RG!

[FlyHiFlyLo]

Stage starts in 4 hours... Time for me to get some sleepy time.

[C flips]

Stage starts in 4 hours... Time for me to get some sleepy time.

Thin is my first day off of the year, guess i'll only be sleeping a couple of hours.