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General Moto | Off-Topic Posts
Dakar has started...Yam 450 2 wheel in first!!
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[QUOTE="Tony Eeds, post: 714524, member: 32023"] [b]Stage Six[/b] Stage 6 - 6 January 2004 - OUARZAZATE > TAN-TAN Liaison 176 km Special 351 km Liaison 276 km Total 803 km Ouarzazate - Tan Tan This stage between Ouarzazate and Tan Tan was fast, bumpy, rocky, a real technical challenge. Important to take it easy, slow down, and avoid too much damage. Very few travellers go there because Tan Tan is lost in the middle of a huge desert of rocks and stones, just by the Atlantic ocean. This meeting between sea and desert gives the impression of being at the end of the World. Out of time, between past and present! Nani Roma won the stage, finishing ahead of fellow Repsol KTM Spain team mate Isidre Esteve Pujol by 2min25. This is their second consecutive 1-2 finish. Roma: "My bike was well adapted for such a special. I had a good rhythm in front. It was a tricky stage with the dust and the sun. A stage where I had to be careful not to damage the bike because the mechanics wouldn't have had the time to repair due to the early start time. The hardest part was actually the liaison this morning. I was more cautious than during the special. Tomorrow the race really starts. Isidre Esteve is not a surprise because he is very experienced and fast." Pujol was not happy: "At first everything was working very well. I took special care of my tires because the track was littered with rocks. After 100 kilometers my trip master stopped working and 80 kilometers further my substitution trip master was gone as well. From than on I could only use my GPS to navigate. I waited for Nani after CP 2 (kilometer 206). At CP2, I let Roma go past and asked him if I could stay behind. It's too bad because I had the possibility to extend the gap in the overall. The important thing is that I'm still in front and with Nani behind, it's perfect for the team. Yes, I was really ticked off. I did not make any mistake and still I couldn' t win." Australian privateer Andy Caldecott finished an excellent 3rd for the stage, is in 5th overall: "I guess it is a satisfaction to be in the top 5. But I'm disappointed because during 80kms I was in the dust of Cyril Despres. I then had a fuel problem. I knew I hadn't run out of fuel. It was just that the fuel wasn't going through. It happened at 10kms of the finish line and I lost around 30sec. I was very comfortable during the first 200kms. Tomorrow's stage is daunting because of the unknown! I've never done such a long stage." Italian Fabrizio Meoni, who finished 9th today, was cool about today's results: "The Spaniards practiced in Morocco. They know the surroundings like the back of their heads. . . It isn't doing any good to look at the overalls just yet. I ride my own race and I'm glad if I bring myself and the two-cylinder bike safely across the finish line. At the first stages my motorbike could not perform all that well. Tomorrow I should be able to ride at full speed." Sainct is still hurting from a crash two days ago: "I"m not feeling great. My arm was hurting at the start this morning when the muscle was cold and giving me hell at the end over the stones. I can still cope with the pain. The problem is that I can't remain well focused". Giovanni Sala crashed at around km 117. The KTM rider launched a distress signal and appears to suffer from broken ribs. The normally personable Italian did not like to talk a whole lot when returning from the doctors; every word was hurting him badly: "It happened in fast turns on little dunes. I jumped across a bump when I suddenly saw the big rock on the ground. I missed it with my front wheel, but must directly have hit it with the rear one. Then I crashed and unfortunately now everything is over. It's really too bad because I was having a good race." Alfie Cox is 41 yo today: "The track moved up and down and it felt like a trampoline. Also there were unbelievably many jumps today. . . I feel sad for Gio. I hope he will soon be okay again. It is even harder for me now. For Meoni and I Gio was to be of great help if anything did happened to us on the way. We will also miss the team results now." The team manager of the American Red Bull Team seemed relaxed at the last finish in Morocco. "We are rookies!" commented Scott Harden. Harden is in 13th place overall, Paul Krause is in 25th and Larry Roeseler in 26th position. Pal Anders Ullevalseter arrived at the finish line in 10th (+6'26) and Per-Gunnar Lundmark is in 11th (+12'14). #115 Charlie Rauseo, of SLEEPY JING'S MADMAN RACING moves up several places, into 51st overall, on the KTM Rally 660. 36 yo Rauseo lives in San Francisco. He and his girlfriend, Jing, just opened a cafe in North Beach. Thiery Hupin (France, KTM 660), withdrew after reaching the first checkpoint on stage 5, yesterday. According to Dakar Magazine (on the Dakar web page), this guy had never ridden a motorcycle before learning just a few weeks before the Rally. If he hadn't withdrawn, I would have gone crazy. In the cars, Peterhansel (Mitsubishi n°203) lost his lead due to a 5 minute penalty for having pushed his car yesterday, then problems fixing a flat today. His team mate, Masuoka stunned the opposition today, by winning the stage and taking the overall lead: "Eighty percent of the special was rocky. If you went 10cm out of the good track, it cost a puncture. It's an important result". Ari Vatanen (Nissan n°205) and Jutta Kleinschmidt (Volkswagen n°204) suffered similar fates at km 117 when crossing a river, when they both broke down because of water in the engine. The Finn was able to get back on track after. a 2h50 hour repair. The German however had to be towed to the finish by an assistance truck and was still expected at the bivouac. WRC champ, Colin McRae has admitted for the first time that the Dakar rally is more difficult than he anticipated, conceding that today's stage was longer than he thought and that the pace is quicker than expected: "I think that the pace is faster than what I was expecting. Today the pace was very, very fast and felt like a full out Safari pace on the WRC which I was quite surprised about. The terrain changes all the time and it is probably a bit more difficult than I anticipated. Maybe the right pace is to go slower but for the moment everybody is going quicker than me so what do you do." "You try to prepare mentally for the distance," he said, "but tomorrow's stage is over 700 kilometres and today's stage was only 350 and it felt a lot longer than I thought it would, so tomorrow is going to be a long day." TOMORROW!!! Tomorrow's stage will be the longest of this year's Rally; a total of 1055 kms, including 701 of special. After riding and racing 800 km today, they leave at midnight and ride 345kms from Tan Tan to the Mauritania border. Not much time for bike maintenance, much less rest for the riders. Then, tomorrows special stage includes the crossing of the Oumaghawaba Erg, only way to Atar. Miscellaneous final comments from G Lundmark: For the competitors it is time to get their road books ready for the 7th stage. The sooner they get done the faster they get to snuggle into their sleeping bags. Tomorrow a 1055 km stage, the longest one in this year's Dakar, awaits the drivers. Surely the riders will then be spread apart. A little past midnight the drivers will be on their way to Atar. "Liaisons like this one are always problematic," exclaims Nani Roma. "You are tired and you need to ride in darkness." After sunrise the riders start on the special in the north of Mauritania. It is 701 kilometers long. Years ago the route from Tan Tan to Atar had to be crossed within two days. Tomorrow the drivers will have to manage this torture in only one day. And it will surely sort the wheat from the chaff. A crucial day is coming up. Last night I was analysing yesterday's special stage, eating Maxim "recovery bars". For complete recovery, listening to blues music is of valid importance. With some sort of self-criticism I chose "It's my own fault", with Johnny Winter. Somebody came and checked the GPS for the first 15 riders, to see if we had hit all check points. Earlier it was not necessary to pass them close, within 3 kilometres used to be enough. I don't know what the rules say now, but I do know I missed two yesterday. Hopefully they didn 't change the rules without informing all riders, but in this competition one has to be prepared for anything. I'm running out of time, because I want to close my eyes awhile before we start on the next transport at 00:55, 345kms to the border of Mauretania. After that there is a 701km long special stage, which will give the last third of the field rubber wrists. Tomorrow will see some action, trust me. Tomorrow I won't be able to write anything myself. Eva will get a telephone report over satellite from me. I'm beginning to miss her. When I hear Cadillac in the Swamps: "My babe she so nice and round, I crazy about my woman." [url]http://www.pgdakar.com/race/2004_dakar/en/dagar/dag_6_en.html[/url] Tom Warr Team Bikermaniac Great Falls, Montana USA [/QUOTE]
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General Moto | Off-Topic Posts
Dakar has started...Yam 450 2 wheel in first!!
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