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Dakar 2020


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Saudi Arabia!!! Dunes? Yes! Controversy? Perhaps!

 

Who’s racing? Who you going to support? For me it’s going to be any American, Laia Sanz and perhaps a few independents thrown in here and there.

 

Neil Hawke is a mate of Llel Pavey and Brake Magazine and giving it a go this time.

 

 

Llel May be racing too, not sure yet.

 

Then my Dakar girlfriend, Anastasia Nifontova, who raced and finished (respectably) last year. She is in love with me too but for some reason hasn’t reached out me yet lol.

 

 

Hoping Garrett Poucher and Skyler Howes come back again. Skyler was on course to finish top 10 before a shoulder injury took him out. Garrett finished well but had one bad day from a mousse failure and might have finished top 10-20 had that not happened. Both are Baja Rally and Sonora Rally alumni friends/teammates.

 

My number 1 fave? Brabec!!!

 

How about you?

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Start of the race tomorrow with clouds of war hanging over them from the recent events in Iraq of an Iranian general and other taken out by a drone strike and Iran's threat of retaliation.  

Another interesting note is the stature this Africa Eco race is getting.  The have decent talent in attendance and claim the legacy of Africa and are conducting theirs at the same time.  Should be interesting to follow as well.

In other rally news, Baja Rally is opening new classes of competition this year with a non-roadbook RallyComp only class (follow the RallyComp arrow) and kind of a big bike gps tour of the route.

Back to Dakar...  and looking at the starting list.  Toby Price at a well-earned number 1.  Nice to see Andrew Short moving up the list at 6th and Brabec (my favorite) at 9th. Laia Sanz (12) I pray she breaks top 10 this year and even takes it all (who knows?).  My man Garrett Poucher (47) I pray gets a top 20 finish which is what he was on part to get last year minus his day 2 rear mousse issue. Petr Vlcek (52) is a perennial favorite and consistent rider.  Mirjan Pol (lady rider; 54) is impressive.  Along with Garrett Poucher is Baja/Sonora race mate Skyler Howes who dazzled last year only to have his injured shoulder take him out late in the race.  Hoping he has better luck this time.  He has top 10 potential.  Neil Hawker (102)  is a friend from Brake Magazine in his first Dakar and I wish him all the best.  Taye Perry (120) out of S. Africa is a very nice looking young lady and I hope she does well. Graeme Sharp (142) is another Baja Rally race mate.

 

Taye Perry

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Good day for most it seems.  Day 1 results for the riders I'm tracking:

Brabec 2nd

Howes 18th! and ahead of even Laia Sanz

Poucher 47th.  Kind of thought he'd finish higher but I'll take it.

Vlcek 60th which is VERY consistent for him and where he usually ends up.  Fantastic rider.  I like to think I could finish 60th on a good day but probably not lol.

Perry at 72nd which is very good for her.

Hawker 79th in his first stage finish ever.  Very happy for him.

Graeme Sharp 92nd.  I think he's capable of better.

 

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Stage 2 done with some interesting switch ups it seems...

Both Brabec and Price finished back 11th and 15th today.

Howes back at 25th but Poucher up to 36th!  Garrett had a 2.5 min penalty yesterday

Vlcek 59th as always which is amazing

Sharp 72nd with a 40 min penalty yesterday for a missed waypoint (kind of a big deal)

Hawker 83rd (first Dakar; featured at Brake Magazine).  He got a 5 min penalty for probably a speed zone violation.

Perry at 109th.  Aw.

 

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Stage 3 done.  Van Beveren crashes:

 

Brabec back on top.

Skyler finished 9th!!!

Garrett 34th

Vlcek 50th!  Really great day for him.

Taye Perry 68th which is very strong for her

Neil at 80th which is fine for his first time.  Consistent.

Sharp at 81.  Hope he can get closer to 60 on one of these stages soon.

 

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Another day, another stage down.  SS4 yielding more impressive results for my peeps:

 

 

The one big event today I think is Honda sealed it for the win.  Price is too far back I think at this point and the Honda riders (Brabec still first overall) are doing very well.  Sunderland actually got 1st today but a 5 min speeding penalty pushed him back to 8th.  Shows you how close this is.

Skyler killed it again today at 9th and 10th overall.  Watch him get a factory sponsorship next year.  There was a blurb on him today at the Dakar site.

Garrett at an amazing improvement of 28th and says he's feeling more comfortable with the speed.  He's a really fast rider but he's had his share of spills and has been riding conservatively before today.  Hope he pulls off a finish in the low 20's.

Vlcek (Wolfey) killed it today finishing 47th.  Not sure of that's a personal best but close.

Here's a HUGE deal: Neil Hawker (rookie) finished 50th!!!!  So happy for him.

Taye Perry 58th!  She must be super stoked.

Sharp at 67th and I'm sure he's proud of that too.

 

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Stage 5 done!

Brabec slips to 4th but still 1st overall

Skyler slips to 18th but only 18 min behind for the day and still 9th overall

Garrett KILLED it today at 28th and now 28th overall.  Very happy for him.

Vlcek (Wolfey) at 51st today which is very good.

Taye Perry at 73rd

Neil Hawker at 77th.

Vid later today

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Stage 6 update

Brabec has opened up a 21 min lead!  Looks like it's Honda's to lose now.

Skyler continues to kill it at 10th today and now 8th overall.  He beat Toby Price today!

Garrett got 26th today putting him at 24th overall.  Exactly where I thought he belonged.  Fingers crossed.

Wolfey killed it today at probably a new personal best of 47th and is now 44th overall!

Taye Perry kicking ass and taking names too at 53rd today and 61st overall.

It's almost like this year's Dakar is easier but then there are just 102 riders left.  I don't know if that's more than in previous years after 6 stages or not.

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Go check out the live cast if you can.  Neil as a Patreon page you should check out with some useful tips too.  If you have $5 or $10 you can spare it's well worth helping out a fellow big bike rider.  Neil's done a few videos for Brake Magazine; one on wheelie-ing your bike that are fantastic.

 

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Very sad day today as it marks the passing of a racing legend, Paolo Goncalves, who crashed and then lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest.  Price stood by his side for an hour and a half.  They've now cancelled stage 8 probably out of mourning and respect for Goncalves is my guess.  Expect some kind of ceremony tomorrow.

Brabec extended his lead to about 24 min.

Skyler was 12th today and 8th overall

Garrett 21st on the day and 24th overall

Wolfey 41st today; 43rd overall.

Mirjam Pol an astounding 42nd today.  Good for her.

Taye Perry at 50 today; 56 overall

 

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After a cancelled SS8 to recognize the loss of Gonzalves, the race is back on with some exciting results!

Brabec finished 3rd but only gave up about 3 min of his lead.

Skyler got 15th but get this... Garrett got 16th!  They must be riding together is my guess.  Long history there of Garrett introducing Skyler to rally raid and training him.  I learned a ton myself but then I'll likely never see the racing end of Dakar lol

Wolfey continues to kill it at 44th and Taye Perry the cute rookie killing it as well at 50th.  

Video later today

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