Off Road Accessory Review

The drama continues on stage 8 of the exciting Dakar Rally. Today it was the bikes and the cars with heavy implications to their hopes of winning the overall Dakar Championship in their division.

In the bikes it was Marc Coma who put a stamp on his overall lead with another stage win today. Francisco Lopez was the early leader on the 508 kilometer stage. Coma over took Lopez and Despres to extend his overall lead.  Paolo Gonçalves Portuguese rider and winner of an earlier stage ended his Dakar today with a heavy crash. Gonçalves broke his collar bone in the crash ending his shot at a top 5 finish. American rider Quinn Cody finished today’s stage in 10th and moved into 8th overall. The 3 time Baja 1000 winner is coming on strong at the end of his first Dakar aboard a Speed Energy Honda. Coma and his motocross boots are now a comfortable 9:19 ahead of Despres as the rally enters Argentina for the final stages.

Nasser Al-Attiyah has taken the lead in the cars on today’s special stage 8. Carlos Sainz was leading late in the stage but got stuck in the sand dunes multiple times in the last 8 kilometers of the event. Sainz had to dig out his VW twice after running 500 kilometers leading the stage. Al-Attiyah gained 6:36 on Sainz in stage 8 to take over the rally lead by 5:14. Sainz held on to second place on the stage with De Villiers in third and Miller in fourth. Peterhansel struggled with punctures again and only managed to finish sixth losing over an hour to Al-Attiyah. With today’s heartbreaking finish, Peterhansel drops to fourth in the overall standings. Red Bull VW now owns all three the podium positions in the car class. American racer Sue Mead in now 33rd in the overall standings in her Ford Raptor. Sue is over 18 hours out of the lead but is having a successful first Dakar as a driver.

Although “The Tsar of the Dakar,” has struggled in some of the stage this Dakar, he absolutely destroyed the competition today. A near perfect run had Vladimir Chagin had him win the stage by 32 minutes over his teammate Kabirov. Ales Loprais struggled today and also lost time to Chagin. Chagin is now again the overall leader by 3:03 ahead of his teammate. Chagin had the fifth fastest stage time out of all classes including bikes!  All 4 VW’s posted faster times than Chagin. Even bike stage winner Marc Coma had a slower time than Chagin!

Today’s stage featured more Red Bull dominance. Nasser Al-Attiyah won the stage over Carlos Sainz by 1:20. Al-Attiyah cut Sainz’s overall lead in half. Al-Attiyah will start tomorrow’s stage 8 1:22 behind Sainz in the overall. Guerlain Chicherit who had the only Mini Cooper in the field withdrew today after a scary rollover. The Cooper was destroyed but Chicherit was ok. Orlando Terranova in his BMW saw a similar fate in today’s stage and also withdrew his entry on stage 7. Both drivers were in the top 10 going into stage 7.

In the bikes Francisco Lopez won the stage 7. Lopez who is from Chile ran a great stage beating Despres by over 2 minutes and Coma by almost 4 minutes. Coma’s lead in the overall is now down to 7:24 over Despres. Lopez is in third over 18 minutes behind Coma. American Quinn Cody is now in 11th place in the overall standings making a good run at his first Dakar with Robby Gordon’s Speed Energy as sponsor. Going into stage 8 with 3 riders within 20 minutes will make for a great finish on stage 13. The gap in some years has been over an hour at this point in the rally.

All competitor will strap on their off road helmets early Monday morning for stage 8 of the Dakar. The 508 kilometer special stage through the Chile coast and sand dunes will have a big impact on the final results.

The first race of the AMA Monster Energy Supercross Series at Anaheim was everything it was built up to be. Although some of the pre-season favorites had to work hard, all of them had good finishes.

Ryan Villopoto won the event after taking the lead from Ivan Tedesco. Villopoto lead the rest of the way unchallenged. This was Villopoto’s first event after breaking his leg last season in a spectacular crash that ended his championship run in 2010.

The crowd went nuts evertime James Stewart made a pass as he worked his way from tenth after a bad start. Stewart was the fastest rider on the track but not by enough to catch the leaders. Stewart finished third and got himself on the podium in his first race back.

2010 double Champion Ryan Dungey finished second. Dungey could not make up ground on Villopoto when the feild strung out at the midpoint of the race. Dungey showed that he is ready to run the for the championship despite the stacked field of challengers.

Chad Reed and his new team finished fifth. The owner rider has a new set of challenges for this season but showed a strong result after a poor start to the main event. Trey Canard had a great start to his supercross career by finishing 4th. Canard got a little extra seat time in the LCQ and made the best of it. Andrew Short on his KTM with Roger DeCoster in his corner finished 10th. Look for the KTM crew to come on strong late in the season.

The Supercross opener was a spectacle of greatness from the pyrotechnics to girls in motocross jerseys, and of course the awesome main event. If Stewart, Villopoto, Dungey, Reed, Canard, and Tedesco can stay healthy this will be the best supercross season of all time!

At the beginning of special stage 6, it appeared that Stephane Peterhansel had control of the stage after his win yesterday. Peterhansel lead through WP7 by less than a minute. During the last 100 kilometers Peterhansel had 4 punctured tires causing him to lose the stage lead. Carlos Sainz stole the stage win from Peterhansel and early challenger Al-Attiyah. Red Bull VW picked up a top 4 sweep in stage 6 with De Villiers and Miller picking up third and fourth. Peterhansel lost a total of 12 minutes on the stage and moves down to third overall 14 minutes behind Sainz. Al-Attiyah takes over second in the overall standings by only 2:42 behind his Red Bull teammate.

In the bike category Portuguese riders Ruben Faria and Helder Rodrigues enjoyed the sand dunes of Chile and took first and second on stage 6. Rodrigues was 50 seconds behind Faria at the finish. Despres was third almost 4 minutes behind, and Coma was 4th 5:20 behind Rodrigues. Coma holds a strong lead on the overall standings still 8:48 in front of Despres. The dirt bike helmets will take to stage 7 on Sunday the 9th with Faria leaving first. Saturday will be a rest day for all competitors.

The Tzar of Dakar Vladimir Chagin has now fallen to 3rd in the overall standings after stage 6 in the trucks. After a fierce battle for the top spot on stage 6 it was Alès Loprais who took the stage win with Firdaus Kabirov second and Chagin third. Chagin lost 9 minutes on today’s stage and is now 19:20 behind teammate Firdaus Kabirov in the overall standings.

After tomorrow’s rest day, the competitors will begin heading south back to Argentina. The rally will end in Buenos Aires on January 16th.

Today’s stage was the same route for all 4 classes. This 423 kilometer stage is unlike the previous WRC style stages in Argentina. No roads means navigation and  true off road driving ability is of high importance.

Stephane Peterhansel took the stage win in the cars. A navigation error by Red Bull drivers Sainz and Al-Attiyah allowed Peterhansel to run away with the stage. The Chile stages will help Peterhansel gain time overall on the two Red Bull WRC specialists. Al-Attiyah was second on the stage by 1:24 and Sainz in third by 3:15. Sainz holds on to the overall lead by over 2 minutes. The trio of drivers are within 3 minutes of each other going into stage 6. De Villiers in fourth place is over 20 minutes out of the lead.

Robby Gordon has retired his Hummer from the event on stage 4. Gordon was disqualified due to his late arrival to the start. Gordon did run stage 4 in the dark but was later informed by the ASO that he was disqualified. The second Speed Energy Hummer is still in the event driven by Eliseo Salazar.

New winner on the bikes relegate Coma and Despres to fourth and fifth on the stage. Portuguese rider Paulo Goncalves took the stage win by over 2 minutes. Francisco Lopez thought he won the stage until officials adjusted Goncalves’ time for assisting downed rider Olivier Pain. Coma now leads Despres in the overall standings by 10 minutes. Goncalves and Lopez are third and fourth. All riders will bring their dirt bike gear to the start gate for tomorrow’s stage 6 including Americans Joanh Street and Quinn Cody.

Today’s Special Stage was short compared to most Dakar Stages. Despite this fact, stage 4 was not short on drama.

In the bikes Marc Coma became the overall leader today by only 2 seconds! Coma and Despres will continue their battle tomorrow in the 423 kilometer special stage tomorrow morning.  Coma looking for his fourth win, Despres looking for his fifth Dakar win!

Carlos Sainz continues to amaze as he won his third stage of the Dakar today. Sainz trailed Stephane Peterhansel early in the stage but was able to make up the time in the last quarter of the short stage. Tomorrow’s special will see Team Red Bull dominate the early grid positions. Sainz in the overall lead, Red Bull driver Al-Attiyah in second, BMW driver Peterhansel in third, Red Bull driver de Villiers in fourth and American Mark Miller also a Red Bull driver in fifth despite his stage 2 crash.

Guess what? Vladimir Chagin beat the motocross helmets off his competition yet again. His overall lead is now close to 2 minutes. Good luck catching this guy. Can we call Chagin the winner yet? Oops. That’s why its Dakar, the best driver doesn’t always win!

American Mark Miller has looked amazing since his stage 2 crash. Look for him to excel during the next stages which are in Chile. Miller is an off road specialist and the next stages are designed for him. American Robby Gordon appears to be out of the 2011 edition of the Dakar Rally. Gordon had a wheel bearing failure and then a communication failure with the team causing him to miss the start of  stage 4. Missing the stage start time is grounds for disqualification.

American Joanh Street has fallen to 11th in the overall standings. Street still has an outside chance at a top five in the overall. Stay tuned to probikehelmets.com on facebook and offroadaccessoryreview.com for more details on the 2011 Dakar Rally!

After the first 3 stages the Dakar has taken the same shape as years past. The top teams, and most experienced riders and drivers are running to the top of the leaderboard.

One of the most impressive runs so far has come from Vladimir Chagin in the trucks. “The Tsar,” won stage 1 as expected. Stage 2 Chagin had trouble and lost time and the overall lead. The bad day did not effect the veteran of the Dakar. In stage 3 Chagin won by over 6 minutes and took the lead right back. Chagin earned the nickname “The Tsar of Dakar,” through his Dakar wins in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2010. Before the 2011 edition of the Dakar Chagin had the record for stage wins with 56. Now 58. Chagin also won 9 of those stages in last year’s Dakar.

Carlos Sainz,  Nasser Al-Attiyah and the rest of the Red Bull entries seem to have the best prepared equipment once again. Sainz and Al-Attiyah are using their equipment and talent to simply out run the field. The two experienced WRC drivers have pulled away from the competition on the rally style stages so far. Stages yet to come will favor other drivers and other vehicles. Despite the challenges ahead, Sainz and Al-Attiyah have maximized their result on stages that favor their abilities. Without a major mistake, the 2 WRC veterans may settle the overall win among teammates.

In the bikes, Marc Coma and Cyril Despres are on top of the leader board. Coma and Despres have been the only Dakar winners in the bike category since 2005. Coma victorious in 2006 and 2009, Despres in 2005, 2007, and 2010. (Dakar canceled in 2008 due to security threats) The 2 KTM riders are now less than a minute apart in the overall standings. Like the car category, these 2 riders may settle the championship among themselves.

The drama of the Dakar has only just begun. Body work, tires, motocross gloves, and 403 dreams of victory will be left on the course between now and January 16th. Do miss a minute of the action. The Probikehelmets.com Facebook page will be updated constantly through each stage with news on each class. Stay informed through Dakar.com, Speedenergy.com, offroadaccessoryreview.com, and probikehelmets.com facebook page.

In Special Stage 3 of the Dakar Rally, the experts of the off road begin to show their talent. Bike, Car, and Truck winners are not surprising at all.

Marc Coma keeps things interesting by winning today’s stage by over 2 minutes ahead of Depres. The multiple time Dakar winner cut Depres’ overall lead to only 14 seconds going into stage 4. Ruben Faria also remains in striking distance of the overall lead trailing Depres by 9 minutes and 38 seconds. American Joanh Street lead the stage for a short while and ended up 11th on the day.

Carlos Sainz remains the overall leader of the Rally by finishing second on today’s stage. Nasser Al-Attiyah won the stage by 25 seconds. Al-Attiyah and Sainz are both experienced on the early stage terrain as they have both participated in WRC events in Argentina multiple times. Stephane Peterhansel finished third. American Mark Miller made a great come back after yesterday’s crash to finish sixth on the stage. Robby Gordon had not finished the stage at publish time. As of WP 12 Gordon was running 14th 25 minutes off the pace.

Vlaimir Chagin asserted his dominance today by winning the stage by over 6 minutes and retaking the overall lead from his teammate. Chagin is nicknamed “The Tsar,” for his dominance in this division.

Stay tuned to offroadaccessoryreview.com as the motocross boots continue to get a beating. A complete wrap up will be available tonight.

Today’s Dakar stage saw high drama for some of the rally’s top contenders. The bikes and cars saw some key players have problems.

However, Carlos Sainz stayed on pace and won today’s special stage and extendedhis overall lead. Cyril Depres also stayed on pace and won stage 2. Depres was also credited with the victory in stage 1 as Ruben Faria was assessed a time penalty for speeding on the connection route.

The biggest change among the leaders was in the trucks. Vladimir Chagin lost the overall lead to Firdaus Kabirov also driving a Kamaz. A rare mistake by Chagin caused his to lose 6 minutes to the new leader. Chagin now trails Kabirov by 22 seconds overall.

The Americans in the car class of the event also experienced troubles on stage 2.  Mark Miller in the Red Bull VW crashed early in the stage but was able to continue. Miller had to stop again later in the stage for 17 minutes of repairs to his battered VW. Miller is now 56 minutes behind Sainz overall in 16th place. Robby Gordon also had mechanical issues that cost him 35 minutes on repairs. Gordon was able to continue but is now a devastating 67 minutes behind Carlos Sainz in the overall standings in 21st place.

American bike racer Jonah Street brought his dirt bike gear across the finish in 7th place holding on to 7th overall behind Depres by just over 10 minutes.

Tomorrow’s route will start in San Miguel and end in San Salvador.  

See real time scoring and updates on Dakar.com, daily summaries on Versus, and daily updates here on offroadaccessoryreview.com.