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I found this a week ago and forgot about it, Australia is actually well represented this year in the Dakar. This is the first year an Australian bike team has taken it on in such a large scale
Doesnt that look horn, the rear tank holds 19L :ohmy:
Australia’s GHR Rally Team
Jacob Smith #113
Mark Davidson #117
Warren Strange #121
Simon Harslett #181*Aussies that have ridden in the Dakar so far
Simon Pavey…………7 times……………’98 40th, ’99 50th, ’03 dnf, ’04 dnf, ’05, ’06 86th & ’09 7 starts 5 finishes
Mike Hughes…………4 times……………’01 64th, ’05 dnf, ’06 dnf & ’07 125th
Andy Caldecott…….. 3 times……………’04 dnf, ’05 6th & ’06 dnf
David Schwarz……….2 times……………’05 37th & ’09 36th
Andrew Coaker……….2 times……………’98 23rd & ’04 25th
Mark Eland……………2 times……………’05 dnf, ’07 dnf
Andy Haydon………..once………………’98 3rd
Rob Pollard………….once………………’10 38th
Peter Moltmann……..once………………’06 dnf
Andrew Scott………..once………………’10 dnf
Garry Connell………..once………………’10 dnfnot many is it !
So the Aussie placings benchmarks are
Andy Haydon – 3rd on rookie attempt 1998 unheard of result !!!
Andy Caldecott – 6th 2005
Andrew Coaker – 23rd 1998
David Schwarz – 36th 2009 – 2005 3rd 450cc
Rob Pollard – 38th 2010Bike Brand Count:
KTM 62
Yamaha 43
Honda 33
Aprilia 13
BMW 9
Beta 8
Jincheng 3
Sherco 3 (I think this may be 4 though)
Husaberg 3
Kawasaki 3
Bultaco 1
Rieju 1
Some statisticsless than 10% of Dakar 1st time riders finish irrespective of skill level
less than 5% of Dakar 1st time clubman level riders finish
No Aussie clubman level rider has ever finished, 5 dnf’s from 5 starts across 4 riders
the finisher back down in 70th position is usually a national level enduro champion back in his home country or a ISDE Gold/Silver medalist etc etc AND usually has done Dakar at least once before ie the top 70 finishing riders are ALL very expert level riders. eg in 2010 of 88 moto finishers only about 10 were clubman level guys -186 riders started
dnf rate is usually around 50% of all riders
Unklike Safari there are no second chances, fail to complete a stage, get picked up by the sweep truck, hour out on late time etc etc and thats it – pack up, game over, no re starts the next day. The regs are much tougher as well as the riding etc. If Safari ran under Dakar regs this year the dnf rate would have been about 65%Couple this with the fact that Dakar terrain eats engines at an even faster rate than Safari does, the abuse you throw at the motor on a single Dakar stages just to get through would be about a years worth of normal enduro racing wear & tear
Engines;
Competitors (not marathon class) are allowed a total of 3 engines for Dakar (one in the bike and two spares; presented at scrutineering) ALL three are marked by ASO at scrutineering. Modifications allowed are free, except for the main engine cases which must be production units.
Repairs to the engine’s ’top-end’ are free during the event. All interventions to the ‘bottom-end’ (inside the main engine cases) will be considered as a change of engine.
The engines may be repaired during the event on condition that the engine cases marked at scrutineering are preserved.
Once removed and replaced by engine B, the refitting of engine A into the machine will be considered as a change of engine, in the same way as replacement by engine C.
Thats Dakar………..biggest, toughest, hardest, most expensive $$$, etc etc……………the pinnacle
I cant wait to follow this and will update the thread as often as I can
TB
*thanks to various sources including Troy safari carpente @ ADV, and others for some of the above information
4 Shercos Mal, go team Sherco :woohoo: :laugh:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=638805
check this link out its the bloke riding the Bultaco
its a 370cc 2 stroke 1978 model!!!
On the Dakar topic,,,
Get on the GHR site & leave your messages of support for the Team
They depart on XMAS DAY & would be nervous as hell I suspect.I for one wish them well & more importantly a safe raid on the 2011 event :woohoo:
As per normal,,,, I will be watching the action & updates intently.
http://www.dakar.com/2011/DAK/presentation/us/r3_1-news.html
AND
http://ghrhonda.dirtbike.com.au/blog/
Should keep you posted Pete
Plus the daily update & vids on SBS about 6.30 pm
pete the wulf wrote:
Quote:Can someone tell me the best way to follow the Dakar as I would like to keep up to date with it this year.
Thanks PeteHelicopter
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