Paris-Dakar 2016

[Andres125sx]

I´ve just read Peugeot will win this year. Well I didn´t read that, but since Loeb, Peterhansel, Depress and Sainz will drive for them the car should be a piece of sh** to not win...

I think only maturity problems for the new car could ruin their victory. Those four have won:

6 Dakar on cars (5 Peterhansel + 1 Sainz)
11 Dakar on bikes (6 Peterhansel + 5 Depress)
11 WRC (9 Loeb + 2 Sainz)

And I didn´t mention the record Loeb still owns in Pikes Peak because that´s only a race, but the list could go on

http://www.speedcafe.com/2015/12/04/peu ... -revealed/

Some very impressive slow-mo shots here:


Only Al-Attiyah with mini could compete with them I think. Or I´m missing someone? Al-Attiyah said he´s afraid of Toyota but...

[Andres125sx]

Beautiful video



Does anyone get what the japanesse rider said at the end? After 72h on a bike it must be something like "kill me please" but I don´t get it

[SteveRacer]

Sainz, Peterhansel and Despres all drove last year and only 1 of them finished in the top 10. I agree that Peterhansel is the best Raid driver of all time, and Sainz is great. It will be hard to beat Nasser in the Mini. He is really at the top of his game right now in the best car.

[Andres125sx]

KTM tribute to Marc Coma, 10 years racing for them, 5 titles =D>

[Andres125sx]

Sainz, Peterhansel and Despres all drove last year and only 1 of them finished in the top 10. I agree that Peterhansel is the best Raid driver of all time, and Sainz is great. It will be hard to beat Nasser in the Mini. He is really at the top of his game right now in the best car.

Past year it was first attempt for Peugeot. Even before it started, Sainz never was any confident with the car, he knew reliability was far from aceptable

But this season the car evolved a lot, and he said himself reliability still is his main concern, but this year he´s a lot more confident on the car

Hopefully there´re some real battles between manufacturers, because lately there´s no fight at all, there´s always some team dominating

[Andres125sx]

Al-Atiyah said he tried to chase Peugeot, but they´re simply too fast. That must be tough for the current champion and faster car by far last years


I continue in shock with this car, it´s simply amazing, it devours bumps like if they don´t exist. No other car can compete with them. There are some shots from the helicopter with the car cruising at high speed where you can easily see how good the car is absorbing bumps. Compared, even Mini looks like a poorly prepared car for the desert

Depress never was in the fight, but the other three Peugeot drivers will have a tough fight till the end. We will see if Loeb can keep up in second week when navigation is more important or if Peterhansel and Sainz will be the only contenders at the end

[ME4ME]

To be fair Peugeot also got a driver line-up which is second to none.

The car was designed with large suspension travel in mind, so that probably helps a lot on the rough but firm terrain. Also the Peugeot is 2WD, so the terrain suits them nicely. Once (if?) they get to the dunes, the competitive order could change in favor of the Minis.

Anyhow it's pretty exciting to see them so competitive. I'm mightily impressed by Loeb and Elena.

[F1NAC]

Loeb got rolled over 30 km from finish line. Still didn't cross the line. He is out of top 10

[SiLo]

Loeb got rolled over 30 km from finish line. Still didn't cross the line. He is out of top 10

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CYd3rFpWQAAIcx-.jpg

Well that sucks, he was doing so well!

[SteveRacer]

Race is past the half way mark and there is still a close battle for the top 3. If the Peugeots can stay together, Peterhansel or Sainz should be up to the task. They have been having some funky reliability so far. There were some turbo issues, electrical and Peterhansels cars wouldn't start one day. Minis seem to be bullet proof. I feel the type of terrain will dictate the winner. I

[Andres125sx]

Stage 8 (Monday), just before marathon 2 days stage



Loeb did same mistake as Barreda, going too fast. WRC drivers usually make that mistake, it was same for Sainz on his first Dakars.

Barreda mistake is more serious tough, this year it looked like he had finally calm down (he always is very fast until he crashes and have to retire), but he finally did same mistake as always, going too fast and crashing.


Sainz on the other hand looks focused, calmed and still fast. It´s going to be a tough battle between Monsieur Dakar and Sainz..... and maybe even Al-Atiyah could fight for final victory. Mini looks bullet proof while peugeot have suffered some (minor) problems on all his cars, and now they´re on the desert wich is where Mini´s 4WD could make a difference


The race is VERY interesting

[SteveRacer]

Sainz is out of the rally with a gearbox issue. Peterhansel now has an hour lead over Nasser. Its reported that rally style stages are coming the next few days. Something the Peugeots have done well at.

[Joseki]

Sainz is out of the rally with a gearbox issue. Peterhansel now has an hour lead over Nasser. Its reported that rally style stages are coming the next few days. Something the Peugeots have done well at.

They performed great all the time but broke down really too much.

[SteveRacer]

Very similar to when VW entered the Dakar races. Let the Dakar in the early days but soon faded. They had tons of pace but not the reliability to beat the top dog at the time, Mitsubishi Pajero.

[Andres125sx]

Probably that´s the reason they chose 4 top drivers for the team, even if some of them have problems, some other may be lucky and win without any mayor problem.

That one had to be Peterhansel ovbiously, but this is not finished yet...