Eleven of Fourteen Stages completed – Where are the US drivers positioned?
BJ Baldwin jumping his Hummer H3 in the dunes of Chile
With 11 of 14 Dakar Stages completed the race is almost finished, but it’s never over until it is over. All of the American eyes have been on the four US entrants Robby Gordon, Mark Miller, BJ Baldwin and Jonah Street.
Robby Gordon and team-mate BJ Baldwin may have brought knives to a gun fight. The Hummer H3 that started out as a typical SCORE Class 1 race car may not be the right vehicle for this years Dakar. Lots of the stages favor the lighter more nimble 4wd cars on the stages that are more or less WRC roads. Robby and BJ had good days and even one stage win, but overall struggle to stay within the Top Ten overall ranking. Within their own class of 2wd Buggies they hands down dominate, but it’s that overall podium that everyone will be talking about for years to come.
The word in the bivouac today is that Robby Gordon is contemplating a new vehicle platform. Will it be 4wd, turbo diesel-powered or a near stock approach? Time will tell and as we know Robby he is not afraid to make things happen and swim against the grain.
Bj Baldwin is 21st overall and it this point purely follows Robby for support. BJ and Robby are scheduled to race the SCORE Laughlin race on its 2nd day this Sunday.
Mark Miller is the black horse. He has Al-Attyah and King Carlos in front of him battling for the lead while all he has to do is keep a smooth paste and a Top 3 podium is guaranteed. If any of the two lead Teammates fall out he may have to help them, but it would catapult him to 2nd place as 4th is Peterhansel with a 1 Hour and 50 Minute gap between the two.
Jonah Street had one fantastic stage today. He was only 3 Seconds short of a Stage win. A local police officer closed off the wrong road at a Y-Intersection and everyone in front of Jonah took the wrong route while he trusted his navigation skill over the local law and made the correct turn. That gave him a good lead, plus he is one amazing rider. He is ranked 7th overall and too far away for a Dakar win in the bike class. He might gain 1-3 positions but can also very easily fall back.
After Stage 11 Cars ranking:
1. Carlos Sainz (E)/Lucas Cruz (E) Volkswagen Race Touareg 36h 34m 45s
2. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QA)/Timo Gottschalk (D) Volkswagen Race Touareg 36h 44m 51s
3. Mark Miller (USA)/Ralph Pitchford (ZA) Volkswagen Race Touareg 37h 03m 04s
4. Stéphane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret (F) BMW X3 CC 38h 49m 05s
5. Guerlain Chicherit (F)/Tina Thörner (S) BMW X3 CC 39h 05m 44s
6. Carlos Sousa (P)/Matthieu Baumel (F) Mitsubishi Racing Lancer 40h 28m 50s
7. Giniel de Villiers (ZA)/Ralph Pitchford (ZA) Volkswagen Race Touareg 41h 20m 58s
8. Guilherme Spinelli (BR)/Filipe Palmeiro (P) Mitsubishi Racing Lancer 41h 59m 53s
9. Orlando Terranova (RA)/Pascal Maimon (F) Mitsubishi Racing Lancer 42h 15m 16s
10. Robbie Gordon (USA)/Andy Grider (USA) Hummer 42h 18m 41s
