Spent the last couple weeks watching this spectacle unfold. They might not drive trad hot rods but those men and women have my respect. Racing across NOTHING and then breaking their cars only to have to jump out, fix it and get out of the freakin desert! Nice to see my old Hero Larry Roessler still at it.
Whats even cooler is having a Tivo to record all the stages and fast forward through the commercials! The dakar is the toughest race out there... Awesome. -Dane
when i worked for bmw i was supposed to be a spare on their motorcycle team, but my passport got stolen so i couldn't go.
the above statement is a complete fabrication, but it was a good story to tell drunk girls in mexico when it wass on in the bars
personally i think off-road racing is the best thing goin you can throw as much money at as you want but no matter what there is still the seat of your pants element goin on , nature or locals making booby traps, i went to the baja 1000 two years ago it was the wildest(excluding a millville motorcross natls where people practically burnt the pits down)definatly coolest race i ever went to..
Thirtytwo I've raced at Millville quite a few times and that track kicked my ass every time.I've been watching Dakar a little bit,those racers got my respect!
Paris-Dakar is cool, one of the most dangerous hazards is actually the desert pirates, they hold up the race cars, strip them at gunpoint and take all their money. (most racers don't have 'teams' waiting for them at the next arrival, they carry all their money and equipment on them.)
This year they did cancel one leg of the race because of pirates. I figured that and the camels in the middle of the course would be the two main probs.
That's a bad part of the world for several reason already hit upon - environment & locals. But you start in frogville & end up in Africa - what's the point? Frying pan / fire in my mind. I've been to Dakar - don't care to go back.
The Jalopy Journal
