Dakar 2013 - Stage 14 - La Serena, Chile -> Santiago, Chile

[REEVESRacing]

Thanks again to everybody for the updates - especially Ferrari and Short Bus, and all the expert and hilarious (Argentina Weather!) commentary!

Good Job RG and Team, epic Rookie year Kurt Caselli, 2013 was great, looking forward to 2014.

Facebook / Planet Robby: While we wait for the final results ( RG will probably end up 6th in stage 14 ) here is a GREAT post race RG quote: really proud of my team, no mechanical problems and we will be back next year

Oh yeah, Is Mark miller racing in 2014?

Finally, Congrats to all the finishers and thoughts for those injured and lost.

 

[spalind]

I'm extremely glad to see that Luis Belaustegui is still motoring along on his KTM 150. God, that's got to be tough on his 'shoestring' (almost literally, but that's worth a thread in itself) budget. Perseverance Award!

Allen R

Absolutely!! I wonder how many of his students at the U of Missouri have been following along? I believe he will now set the record for the smallest cc bike to have ever finished the Dakar.

 

[bufeo]

Absolutely!! I wonder how many of his students at the U of Missouri have been following along? I believe he will now set the record for the smallest cc bike to have ever finished the Dakar.

There was a blog following him last year. I believe he made it to the 12th or 13th Stage before he injured his wrist in an accident. I couldn't find a blog for this year. He is a professor (language I believe) at the KC branch of the UofMO. Both tracking sites now show that he finished. Whew! Living the dream. Can't you just imagine....?

Well, now I can go do some chores. Take the hound out for a run or something like that.

Ciao all. It's been fun again.

I'll probably 'see' some of you for the Parker.

Allen R

 

[Short Bus]

In Santiago today. Robby found someone to play with.

 

[TRUKTOR]

Thanks for all of the information and the stage updates- you guys make it an even better event to follow.

 

[bufeo]

Dang, Short Bus. Here I was ready to abandon the Dakar Rally threads for another eleven months and you keep coming up with these great videos.

What's the Rally Buggy equivalent of "Dueling Banjos"?

Allen R

 

[CRAIG_HALL]

Dakar 2013 - Stage 14 - La Serena, Chile -> Santiago, Chile

Congrats to Victor Mastromatteo for finishing in his TMR USA built car. His first race in this class I believe.

 

[NicksTrix]

congrats RGM on finishing and having your strong days. one very positive thing this year i see they had the mechanical end of things together as there weren't the break downs of years past. the development work throughout the year paid off. congrats

 

[wheeli]

I wasnt posting as offten as previous years but followed along faithfully everyday,thanks everyone who contributed it made for a great race,and to RDC this is always my favorite time of year on here, peace out from the great white north.

 

[TRUKTOR]

SPH -



I'm dedicating this win to Jean-Claude Olivier

It's a special moment: fifteen days of racing full of emotions and tension and, now, the pressure vanishes all of a sudden. I'm thinking of Jean-Claude Olivier, who passed away last week. He taught me everything I know, so the second week was quite hard because I thought of him throughout. Now I'm dedicating this win to him, and we'll try to enjoy it despite it all. A race is never won from the beginning. The team did a cracking job. We never stopped, we never had a mechanical. We only had to drive as fast as we could. On the other hand, my co-driver Jean-Paul did an amazing job navigating. We never had to ease up. We always maintained a high pace, apart from the last couple of days, when we started dosing our efforts. This is the first time since I started racing in cars that we've finished a race without a single mechanical problem. This is the best car I've ever driven. It wasn't an easy victory, because we knew the buggies would be fast. But this situation enabled me to focus from the start of the race. I attacked to open up a gap between me and my rivals. It's still a strong flavour because we've got a whole team behind us. Sven Qandt has been involved in the Dakar for over a decade and he'll be sharing in this win together with everyone who works with us.

 

[TRUKTOR]

DeRooy-

A huge disappointment

Finishing fourth is a huge disappointment for me, because after all we only had a bad day and, apart from that, everything went smoothly... But that's the way the cookie crumbles, you can no longer take back 20 minutes in one day at the Dakar... Therefore, when you lose an hour in one go, you know it's all over... We fought until the end to at least finish on the podium, but so did our rivals... and in the end they came out on top, not us. We have to accept this, even if it's a very hard pill to swallow.

 

[TRUKTOR]

Chicherit- RG's Donut buddy -

It went by too fast. The best thing about it is that we proved the car has a huge potential. Our performance didn't cut it in terms of reliability and endurance, but our speed was good enough. We've got eleven months ahead of us to work hard. I was hungry in a positive sense. I missed driving. I gave it my all every single day. I psyched myself up every time because we had loads of little mechanicals and we had to get up and running at top speed again. I got my feeling back, which is very reassuring. I drove very fast during the second week. But let's not kid ourselves, the car didn't have what it takes to win the Dakar. It's fast, but to win you need to go fast for longer. No need to look for excuses: we've got lots of potential, but now we need to exploit it.

 

[TRUKTOR]

DeVilliers-


We've made leaps and bounds

It was a difficult race, as usual, the Dakar is never easy. There were many good things about it. We finished second after putting up quite a fight and proved that the Hilux has made leaps and bounds. We were a bit unlucky at times, which prevented us from finishing a bit closer to Stéphane. He, on the other hand, had a perfect race. At any rate, the Hilux has become much more reliable, I'm extremely pleased. You need a bit of luck in the Dakar, you need the wind to blow in your favour. It wasn't always the case, but that's racing. If we work harder to tweak our preparations, perhaps we can build upon this base to do better.

 

[TRUKTOR]

Roma-



We have to accept it

It was a weird rally, but we have to accept it. Some years everything goes smoothly, which was the case last year, on the back of two bad years. I got off to a bad start this time round and got into one of those dynamics in which you botch everything for a few days. But we have to accept it and, anyway, I'm happy of the way we got involved with Michel. We didn't finish as high as we would've liked to, since we wanted to fight for the win, but we have to accept it, that's sport for you. Imagine how stupid we would've looked if Stéphane had lost the Dakar due to a problem and I hadn't been behind him to help. I'm happy for Stéphane and for the entire team, because we won the race after all.

 

[TRUKTOR]

Nikolaev- truck winner -KAMAZ


It hasn't sunk in yet!

It hasn't sunk in yet! I'm full of emotions because, after fighting minute by minute, second by second, throughout fifteen days of racing, I've finally made it, I've won the Dakar. It's simply incredible! I'm on cloud nine. For me, it's a dream come true, a dream which began five years ago when I got into a racing Kamaz for the first time as a mere mechanic. I dreamed of winning this rally someday and I did it! I still can't believe it happened!

 

[TRUKTOR]

Despres - winner again on the KTM



Too tricky for it to be easy

It's true that I needed to cross the line and see all these pictures and people here to know that no-one can take this win from me anymore. I went for it, with all the surprises a Dakar can throw at you: little navigational mistakes, perhaps fewer than the others, dosing my motorcycle and a good team. In the end, I've got a good reason to be very happy. The day when winning the Dakar becomes easy, it won't be interesting any more. And this day is still far! It's too long, it's too tough, it's too hot, it's too cold, you've got to rise early in the morning, you've got to find your way out of the dune mazes in Peru and Chile, you've got to tackle the stones and cactuses on the courses near Córdoba... It's just too tricky for it to be easy to win. And it's even better when you win a difficult race. I'm always focused on what I have to do: I think too much about this race to be impressed. We're up against a gruelling element, the desert. Then there are the stones, the Andes... and we experience them. It's as real as it gets.

 

[TRUKTOR]

Lopez - 3rd -Bikes



It's just like winning the Dakar

I had a problem with my gearbox yesterday and had to change my engine. Unfortunately, I was second in the overall classification. But making it to Santiago was more important than chasing an impossible second place. I'm happy because I won yesterday's stage. I went the whole nine yards every single day. With four stage wins under my belt and a podium spot, I'm happy for myself, for everyone, for Chile, for my family, for my wife. Changing the engine was the right decision. If I hadn't, I'd still be on the course. Now, this third place counts more than a second place. Especially after what happened last year and the terrible accident. It's just like winning the Dakar."

 

[Ferrari333SP]

In Santiago today. Robby found someone to play with.

Awesome video; thanks for sharing. Would be so cool to see what Chicherit could do with a Hummer. Alas, he'll be another force to be reckoned with next year for sure.

 

[michael_loomis]

Dakar 2013 - Stage 14 - La Serena, Chile -> Santiago, Chile

Friggin awesome. Good times and good reads. Love sharing this time together with you fellas. Even you Petey!!

 

[michael_loomis]

Dakar 2013 - Stage 14 - La Serena, Chile -> Santiago, Chile

And Chicherit, bravo!!!

Good stuff!