DAKAR BOLIVIA 2014 .

[GregMember]

Grabbo is out Crash is all the details I can get at the moment.

I hope he is ok

TB

[GregMember]

I have read unofficially but he is in hospital but is ok

I pray this is right, bad luck Ben

TB

[GregMember]

This from the KTM Australia FB page so it is official I guess At least he is ok which is good

KTM Australia
DAKAR »

Ben “Grabbo” Grabham has had a crash in the Dakar and had to be removed from the race. Ben is okay and has been released from Hospital. As soon as we know more we will publish an official release. As always we will pass on your comments of support to Grabbo.

Regards
KTM Australia

Just posted on FB

KTM’S GRABHAM OUT OF DAKAR RALLY

KTM Australia’s Ben Grabham is out of the Dakar Rally after crashing in the fourth stage of the event between San Juan and Chilecito.

The 32-year-old winner of at least 30 Australian titles in various forms of off-road motorcycling encountered a drop-off in thick dust and fell heavily, before being taken to hospital for examination in Argentina where he was subsequently released.

General Manager of KTM Australia Jeff Leisk said the fall was most likely a result of yesterday’s misfortune, in which Grabham – while running third in the stage – was one of four riders to follow a lead competitor down a wrong turn and got badly stuck on a steep mountainside.

The difficulty compounded when one rider crashed heavily, and Grabham and two others waited with the injured rider while he was airlifted to safety.

The chain of events dropped Grabham from 9th outright to 32nd place, and left him many slower riders to pass in dangerous, dusty conditions.

“Ben’s had to ride through a lot of dust today and found a big drop and gone over the front,” said Leisk, himself a former World Motocross Vice Champion. “I’ve received a small amount of information and it looks like he’s hit his head and is pretty battered and bruised. He had to get checked out but seems to have nothing broken.

“Obviously he’s extremely disappointed to have his Dakar end in this manner,” Leisk said. “I was concerned when he had his setback yesterday because it puts the rider in the position of having to take calculated risks to keep moving forward. We’ve all done it – but the most important thing is that he seems okay, so I’m very relieved about that.”

Today’s stage win went to Spanish rider Juan Pedrero Garcia ahead of KTM riders Francisco Lopez Contardo from Chile and Spaniard Marc Coma while in the overall standings Juan Barreda Bort holds a narrow lead over the KTMs of three time winner Coma and Contardo.

2014 Dakar Rally overall rankings after Stage 4:

1. J.BARREDA BORT (ESP) HONDA 15:39:53
2. M.COMA (ESP) KTM 15:43:03 00:03:10
3. F.LOPEZ CONTARDO (CHL) KTM 15:45:05 00:05:12
4. A.DUCLOS (FRA) SHERCO 16:05:48 00:25:55
5. O. PAIN (FRA) YAMAHA 16:09:31 00:29:38
6. C.DESPRES (FRA) YAMAHA 16:21:10 00:41:17
7. D.CASTEU (FRA) KTM 16:22:10 00:42:17
8. J.ISRAEL ESQUERRE (CHL) SPEEDBRAIN 16:26:26 00:46:33
9. J.VILADOMS (ESP) KTM 16:29:07 00:49:14
10. K.PRZYGONSKI (POL) KTM 16:34:45 00:54:52

TB

[WayneMember]

Thanks Guru, I was wondering, thinking that’s why he didn’t make the first checkpoint.

Bugger!

Good to hear he’s OK.

Also good to see a few Aussies around the fifties & Diener around 70th.

Crash

ps. How good does Laia Sanz go? 18th!!

[GregMember]

Crash wrote:

Thanks Guru, I was wondering, thinking that’s why he didn’t make the first checkpoint.

Bugger!

Good to hear he’s OK.

Also good to see a few Aussies around the fifties & Diener around 70th.

Crash

ps. How good does Laia Sanz go? 18th!!

Oh thank god someone was reading the thread I thought I was talking with myself :laugh:

Oh yeah and what about Laia Sanz can ride eh :woohoo: Oh yeah and without sounding wrong she is easier to look at then PTW :whistle:

TB

[Eric SmithMember]

Thanks for the updates TB, I’m reading but don’t feel the need to post as I have nothing constructive to add!

[Dwayne OMember]

Not good to see Ben have such a drama yesterday and the following mishap on todays stage
Good to see he wasn`t badly hurt, tough nut he is !!!

Will have to pin the hopes and attention on these two now,,,

52nd 165 ROBERTS (AUS) KTM
20:58:13 05:18:20 –

53rd 75 O’CONNOR (AUS) KTM
21:15:12 05:35:19 –

Knowing the work Troy has put in, he will be happy so far but will still have the memories of last years Day 5 DNF due to a holed Oil cooler (which is displayed on the wall at his pub) :laugh:

Sadly Mark Davidson(Troy & Ben`s mate) is also out

Keep going boys :woohoo:

[Dwayne OMember]

A link to a vid of our Newy hero Troy O Connor #75 assisting some locals to haul a fellow rider off a steep hillside he had fallen down :whistle:
Listen to the sentinel alarms going off as other competitors pass,,, that would drive you nuts after an hour let alone 2 weeks :laugh:

Even after this Troy is still going in 42nd place overall and the top placed Aussie I believe now :woohoo: :woohoo:

Go Troy Go !!!

[Dwayne OMember]

How about poor Mark Davidson (great friend of Grabbo & Troy that leant them his bike last year for trainng and prep, also made the bike available at Troy`s pub for the Dakar Dinner for all to ogle at) :whistle: :whistle:

Rode 27hrs on Stage 3 and got in with 10 mins to spare before having to get back on the bike to start Stage 4 :S
Steve (Bear) Tunley`s mate is the guy talking with nothing but encouragement to Mark with a tear in his eye as he was already out of the event the day before…..
Stage 4 was also unfortunately the last we saw Mark in the event, having to DNF
He still has a massive ticker to attempt the follow on !!!

[Dwayne OMember]

Only 92 bikes left to start the 6th Day ,, That`s about 82 bikes withdrawn,,, Not even halfway thru the event yet :dry:
They did say it was going to be tougher this year with more challenging navigation and that has been delivered in spades :laugh:

Troy O`Connor best placed Aussie in 47th, 6 odd hrs from MarcComa out the front (Christ those blokes a good)
Allan Roberst not far behind in 51st and 20 minutes behind Troy
Maybe Troy & Allan will help each other along by pairing up,,,
Shane deiner back another 3 hrs in 62nd

Other 3 aussies and also Gary Connell in the Polaris alongside Annie Seale out as well

I think I`ll be up thru the night watching their tracking for this stage :laugh:

[BrettMember]

From FULLNOISE.com.AU

Yesterday KTM Australia’s Ben Grabham suffered a heavy crash in the fourth stage of the Dakar Rally between San Juan and Chilecito, ruling him out of a promising Dakar campaign in which he had run as high as ninth overall after finishing sixth in the second stage of the event.

Due to a heavy head knock he wasn’t available for comment immediately after his retirement from the event, but the champion racer has subsequently surfaced to add a little more detail to the incident.

Although he’s completely devastated by the fact that he will not be riding across the finish line in Chile as a Dakar finisher this year, the three-time Finke Desert Race winner showed he still hasn’t lost his sense of humour.

“I’m a bit sore and sorry for myself as I started in 79th place yesterday and the dust was so bad that even though I was trying to take it easy I clipped a rock on top of a mountain and ended up going over a pretty big drop.” Grabham explained. “The bike and I tumbled close to 100 metres down the mountain!

“I’m pretty sore all over but lucky not to have done worse. My head was knocked a bit silly for the day and the bike was not coming out of where it was without a chopper to lift it out. It took me an 8-hour taxi ride over the mountains to catch back up with the team.

“I didn’t know where I was and neither did anyone else for about 7 hours and to make matters worse, no one around me could speak any English, my phone was flat and I was starting to think I was going to have to live there until I learned how to speak Spanish!” he concluded.

Two other Australian’s have also retired from this years event with both Mark Davidson and Clayton Jacobsen being forced out of the event during the two day marathon stage that claimed Grabham.

Bad luck hopefully he’ll get another crack next year.

[BrettMember]

Can anyone tell me why cyril and a few others would get a 1hr pennalty for
I know a engine change is worth 15 minutes
just wondering????

[Dwayne OMember]

Possibly received outside assistance from someone,
or there is also a button they can hit on the GPS to release the heading to the next waypoint if they are having difficulty finding a point.
I think they can get 3 hits on the button in the event, each time incurring penalty and the fourth hit they are disqualified.
Or something like that :whistle:
Can even get time penalties or disqualified foe speeding in controlled zones :blink:

Troy also received an hour penalty and was reclassified in 47th overall at the start of todays stage.
That put him 4 mins behind Allan Roberts on start time, Deiner was in front of them due to yesterdays stage time.

Coma is flying ahead out front past CP2 and looking strong

[Harold WithingtonMember]

What live feed are you guys watching

[Dwayne OMember]

Heres an example from the sup regs that has an hour penalty..

2) The GPS – Sentinel must be in operation throughout the running of each Stage and must be
connected directly to the battery of the Machine.
The operation of the GPS-Sentinel is the responsibility of the Rider.
If it is noted that the system is not in operation, through the fault of the Rider, the following
penalties will apply:
 1 hour for Riders classified among the first 15 overall, and A.S.O. Elite Riders

[Author]

Posts