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Dakar 2017 Thread


RantMachine
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Couldn't be arsed to start a thread for the Dakar while I was on holiday, but you can bet that I was still keeping up with it :lol:

A few days left to go, so don't miss out!


Highlights so far:


Hero MotoCorp Join Dakar Rally

India's biggest motorcycle manufacturer have stepped up to the plate with a new 450 rally raid model, and have two riders on board; India's first ever Dakar rider CS Santosh, and new competitor Joaquim Rodrigues... and Rodrigues is doing pretty damn well! 10th place as of yesterday.

http://i.ndtvimg.com/i/2016-09/hero-motosports-team-rally-dakar-2017_827x510_51474274108.jpg

http://auto.ndtv.com/news/hero-motosports-team-announces-entry-to-dakar-2017-with-cs-santosh-1460462


Reigning Champion Knocked Out

Toby Price crashes in stage four, breaks femur, now in hospital in Bolivia suffering seizures believed to be caused by blood clot in lung

http://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/TFWurqJd3WWgt5tunziPf4/f0475f60-f4f6-436c-a3b4-1d004566fb4f.jpg/r0_0_630_354_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4393689/toby-price-suffering-seizures/#slide=3


Honda f**k Up Their One Chance

With Price out of the running, Barreda Bort in a really strong first, and Goncalves in fourth, things are looking good for Honda... until they decide to refuel in a prohibited zone and incur a ONE HOUR sanction on their top three riders, knocking Barreda down to 10th. Not the sort of thing that anyone is likely to come back from. What the hell Honda, I swear this is the last year I'm cheering for you idiots.

http://cdn-8.motorsport.com/images/amp/2QvvaAAY/s6/dakar-dakar-2017-joan-barreda-monster-energy-honda-team.jpg

http://www.motorsport.com/dakar/news/dakar-leader-barreda-handed-severe-penalty-863300/


Sam Sunderland Might Just Be The First Ever British Dakar Winner

With so many of the other major players swept aside, Sam Sunderland has secured a highly respectable 20 minute lead over Pablo Quintanilla - if he can keep it up, he'll be the first ever British competitor to win the Dakar in ANY category. Which almost makes up for yet another predictable year of KTM winning. Still, nice to see a Yamaha rider in the top three...

http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/798e4c31b51c05a01a2ef9bd9151566d?width=700

http://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsport/rally/dakar-rally-sam-sunderland-keeps-grip-on-motorcycle-class-as-car-category-sees-sebastien-loeb-rise/news-story/b8afad94215b36ba571333c38364f4d2


And on that note I should get back to work for a bit :lol:

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STAGE 10 UPDATE


Honda Plagued By More Penalties

Honda's Michael Metge finished stage 10 in first place, only to be given a one hour penalty for going off route and missing a waypoint. Not all bad news for Honda, thankfully Barreda Bort was second over the line and so took the spot as stage 10 winner. Barreda has now jumped back up the rankings, going from 9th to 5th place overall. At 53 minutes variation, if he hadn't picked up a one hour penalty of his own for a refuelling discrepancy he would be in first place now. DAMMIT HONDA YOU'VE HANDED THIS ONE TO KTM ON A SILVER PLATTER.

http://world.honda.com/Rally/Dakar/2017/dakar-stage10/race/img/photo/01.jpg


Sunderland Drops Back But So Do All The Other General Leaders

Sam Sunderland finished stage 10 in a disappointing 12th place. Of course, 12th place in the Dakar is far from shabby - but not ideal when you're trying to hang on to first place. Thankfully, the 17 minute variance clocked up in this stage does nothing to hurt his lead, thanks to his biggest competitor being knocked out of the running (more on that below). Despite an overall lacklustre performance in stage 10, Sunderland now has a stronger overall lead; 30 minutes variance to the competitor in second place, Matthias Walkner (OH WHAT A SURPRISE KTM AGAIN). In fact, the current contenders for the podium are ALL KTM riders. Honda's Barreda Bort and Yamaha's Van Beveren are looking like the only thing standing between us an the most vanilla podium in recent years...

http://www.mcnews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Dakar-2017-Stage10-Sam-Sunderland-1-Image-Marcin-Kin-1024x683.jpg


More Big Names Start To Stumble

Husqvarna's man Pablo Quintanilla is out of the running after getting lost, then breaking down, and then finally having to be rescued by a medical team after getting too dizzy to ride. Dehydration can be a killer on this race, with Michal Hernik's death in 2015 still fresh in memory all I can say is it's a good thing they found him without any trouble.

Joining him in hospital was Stefan Svitko, who collapsed from exhaustion after completing Stage 10. Thankfully it looks like he might be back in action in time for stage 11, but to be honest the Dakar website is unreliable at best so I won't know for certain until later today :lol:

http://cdn-3.motorsport.com/images/mgl/2775qZx2/s8/dakar-dakar-2017-3-husqvarna-factory-racing-pablo-quintanilla.jpg


Hero Watch

Hero Speedbrain's Joaquim Rodrigues has dropped down the rankings to 14th place, but is still very much in the running. I'm still crossing my fingers that both he and CS Santosh (currently 51st place) will make it across the line and in turn encourage Hero to stick with the rally for 2018. It's certainly been a solid start for the new manufacturer on the scene, and I really hope that this sees more factories coming (or coming back back) to the sport. Suzuki and Kawasaki seriously need to get their act together, and to be quite honest I'd quite like to see Jinan Qingqi take a shot :lol:

http://i.ndtvimg.com/i/2017-01/joaquim-rodrigues-hero-dakar-2017-stage-7_827x510_71484143854.jpg


One thing is for sure - it's been a tough year for the leaders and there's everything to play for!


COME ON BANG BANG!!

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