2022 WRC and Off Road Discussion *includes 'Dakar' *

[Everso Biggyballies]

.
Well, its that time of year again..... DAKAR 2022. is upon us and the start is on 1st January, finishing 14th January.

Nothing much else on in the way of Motorsport at this time of year so I usually follow it, and know others here have done so in the past.

I must admit the fact that it is in the Middle East is just not working for me. Its nowhere near the event it was even when it was in South America, and to me that was a step down to when it used to end at the city that gave the event it's name. Looking at the entries it seems the numbers this year are well down on prior years.... I guess COVID is the cause of that

Anyway, it is what it is. I will post a few links to help with info,

Home page is https://www.dakar.com/en/

Start off with links to the category entry lists.

https://www.dakar.com/en/competitors.
There are links on this page to all the various categories.... Bikes, Quads, Cars, what I believe is a new category, the 'Light Prototypes', plus SSV, Trucks and good to see there is a Dakar Classics Division again this year.

One thing I noticed looking at the Bike entry is the name of former MotoGP rider Danilo Petrucci. It seems most of the star names in Bikes Cars and Trucks are back again.

Scrutineering is happening in Jeddah at the moment.

Videos of the 40 years of Dakar are here: https://www.dakar.com/en/gallery/video/ ... s-of-dakar

There is a Dakar App : https://www.dakar.com/en/mobile-application


Dakar Rally 2022: Route, Location, Date, Everything You Need To Know








A number of Electric cars running, with one being the AUDI RS Q e-Tron Rally for Mattias Ekstrom.

A bit about the Audi Road to Dakar here






Finally there are already showing a live stream link for the podium start on the 1st.Jan. You can set a reminder for when it gors live:




Social media links

https://www.facebook.com/Dakar
https://www.twitter.com/Dakar
https://www.instagram.com/DakarRally

[erwin greven]

thanks for this topic!

[Everso Biggyballies]

thanks for this topic!

This link about your local lads at Team De Rooy in the truck division might be of interest...... https://www.rallytrucks.nl/2021/07/22/m ... m-de-rooy/

Also I see Tim and Tom Coronel are in the car division this year in a machine with a bit more poke than last year. I would love to see him/them do well. Always liked TC.

Toms comments on their 2022 ride....

Tom C.: “I was a bit fed up with the dust of other cars. We had perfect results in the dunes but had not the speed we need for the straights. We had the nagging idea that we could have gone ten places higher. So, we introduce to you: ‘the Century CR6’! Speed will no longer be the problem with the 7.0 lt. Chevrolet V8 engine on board of the Century CR6. The South African-made two-wheel drive buggy has already proven itself, Brian Baragwanath achieved six top 10 positions last year with this car. At the start of the upcoming Dakar there will be a fleet of ten Century’s.”
“This will definitely be the next level, what a pleasure. It steers like a sports car, it’s very responsive and sharp. It does exactly what you want. Because the car is lighter, smoother and more agile than what we were used to and has about 100 hp more, it will allow us to be competitive enough to compete with the sub-top. We can really start thinking now about ten places higher than last year. My expectation is that we can end up somewhere between 15th and 20th place, with an occasional peak to the top 10.”

They are running car #247

More info on their Dakar profile page: https://www.dakar.com/en/competitor/247

[Everso Biggyballies]

A few videos of this years's event and history.

Firstly
Educational Video - The Dakar for Newbies - #Dakar2022. Also goes into the history and some old footage

What is the Dakar? How does it work? Who is competing? What's new on the 2022 edition? If you're wondering why this race is THAT legendary, all you need to do is watch this video

Plus a few short videos on the top entries in each category.


Top Competitors Cars




Top Competitors Bikes & Quad



Top Competitors Trucks




Top Competitors T3 / T4

[Everso Biggyballies]

We already have the first retirement and the event has not yet started.....

Rebellion retires from 2022 Dakar Rally on shakedown after fire engulfs car

Rebellion has been forced to retire its #251 entry from the Dakar Rally after the DXX RD Limited prototype suddenly caught fire during the shakedown.



This was car that was supposed to be driven by Rebellion president Alexandre Pesci and co-driver Stephan Khuni before it was destroyed after being engulfed in flames in a 10.7km shakedown near Jeddah. Both Pesci and Khuni were uninjured.

Rebellion will still have a car running through a second entry driven by Le Mans 24 Hours winner and Pikes Peak record holder Romain Dumas. Romain will be joined by navigator Remi Boulanger in the #215 Rebellion.

TheRebellion team, a former winner in the LMP1 class of the World Endurance Championship, races the DXX prototype inspired by the Peugeot 3008 DKR.

It would have been Pesci's 3rd Dakar start.... he DNF'd last year when he rolled out after problems with broken shock absorbers had plagued the car. He finished 43rd the year before.

Pesci’s retirement is the first non-COVID related exit from this years (well, 2022) Dakar.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Forgot to mention earlier that Sebastian Loeb is entered with the team he often fought against in the WRC - Prodrive. Loeb has joined forces with the British outfit for its assault on the Dakar Rally with the Bahrain Raid Xtreme project. Together with his long-time co-driver Daniel Elena, Loeb will be making his fifth start in the event. He finished 2nd in 2017 but badly wants to add a Dakar win to his CV.
Also running a Prodrive is Nani Roma (who won the Dakar on bikes in 2004, and for cars in 2014)

I think I read somewhere the Prodrive cars are running on Biofuel.



Odd looking car.....

[erwin greven]

We already have the first retirement and the event has not yet started.....

Rebellion retires from 2022 Dakar Rally on shakedown after fire engulfs car

Rebellion has been forced to retire its #251 entry from the Dakar Rally after the DXX RD Limited prototype suddenly caught fire during the shakedown.

This was car that was supposed to be driven by Rebellion president Alexandre Pesci and co-driver Stephan Khuni before it was destroyed after being engulfed in flames in a 10.7km shakedown near Jeddah. Both Pesci and Khuni were uninjured.

Rebellion will still have a car running through a second entry driven by Le Mans 24 Hours winner and Pikes Peak record holder Romain Dumas. Romain will be joined by navigator Remi Boulanger in the #215 Rebellion.

TheRebellion team, a former winner in the LMP1 class of the World Endurance Championship, races the DXX prototype inspired by the Peugeot 3008 DKR.

It would have been Pesci's 3rd Dakar start.... he DNF'd last year when he rolled out after problems with broken shock absorbers had plagued the car. He finished 43rd the year before.

Pesci’s retirement is the first non-COVID related exit from this years (well, 2022) Dakar.

Damn.... Was rooting for them.

[Everso Biggyballies]

One thing I noticed looking at the Bike entry is the name of former MotoGP rider Danilo Petrucci.

COVID-19 scare threatens Petrucci’s Dakar debut

.... and now a COVID Scare has threatened his participation. Not all bad news though.....

Danilo Petrucci has reportedly been cleared to make his Dakar Rally debut after a COVID-19 scare on the eve of the event.

Danilo tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, casting doubt on his participation in the event.

However, maybe the initial test result was a false positive reading, as he has since tested negative and is reported to have received medical clearance to participate in the endurance rally, according to gpone.com.

Hope the reports are true as I was looking forward to seeing how he goes..... I dont recall any other MotoGP rider, certainly not from the top class, taking on the Dakar. Certainly not one who was active in MotoGP the prior year. Maybe it was a bit of a sweetener from KTM for dumping him.... he rode in MotoGP for KTM Tech 3 this last season, (but has not had his contract renewed for 2022) and is riding a Tech 3 Factory KTM in the Dakar.

Giniel De Villiers also tested positive last week as he was about to depart South Africa to travel to Jeddah, but has now been cleared to take part after returning negative tests in recent days. Kris Meeke was apparently on stand-by to substitute for De Villiers in the Toyota entry if required. Fortunately for Toyota De Villiers was cleared.
(Meeke struggles to finish a short little WRC event in one piece so for Dakar he would have no hope of finishing. )

[Everso Biggyballies]

Just reading that as well as the COVID scare that Petrucci has gone through this week his preparation has also been a bit tough....

He managed to fracture his ankle as he was doing training exercises on the Dakar bike and had to fly home to Italy for treatment. He seems to brush it off as a minor setback but he admits he cannot run on it..... After completing several weeks of navigation with Jordi Viladoms, sporting director of KTM's rally structure, he injured his ankle after a jump while training in Dubai.

‘I had to fly home because I injured my right ankle. It was painful but it doesn’t jeopardize my participation in the Dakar, as it is a small fracture. I can’t go jogging yet, but I’ve been riding a bike and continuing my training plan without any major problems’, Dani said before continuing:

– I was riding in the middle of the dunes and I was going slowly because I was off the track, that is, in deep sand. After a small jump came a bigger one, and I crashed the bike into the landing with violence. It was the strong pressure I exerted on the footboards that resulted in the fracture of the right peroneus and ankle. Fortunately, I don’t need to have surgery. What I have to do is keep the ankle moving, but with little pressure applied to the top. That’s why I can’t run. But otherwise I do my normal training.

His participation in the Dakar has now been officially confirmed..... it was as we thought, a false positive as that night he undertook a super sensitive hi precision blood test that showed him all clear.

[Everso Biggyballies]

We already have the first retirement and the event has not yet started.....

Rebellion retires from 2022 Dakar Rally on shakedown after fire engulfs car

Damn.... Was rooting for them.

All is not lost for the Rebellion President..... well it is in terms of any likely good result for the team, but Romain Dumas has stood aside.....

Rebellion boss takes over Dumas' car after Dakar shakedown fire

Rebellion President Alexandre Pesci will contest the 2022 Dakar in his teammate Romain Dumas’ DXX prototype after his own car caught fire and was totally destroyed during the shakedown....

Le Mans 24 Hours winner Dumas has now offered his #215 buggy to Pesci to ensure the Rebellion team owner can be present on the starting grid for the 44th running of Dakar on Saturday.

Pesci will be joined by his usual navigator Stephan Khuni for the event.

And Dumas moves into a new entry.... driving the ex Al-Attiyah Toyota

Although Pesci will now pilot Rebellion’s sole remaining DXX buggy, Dumas will also be able to take part in Dakar following a last-minute deal to race the Toyota Hilux with which Nasser Al-Attiyah won the Hail Rally in Saudi Arabia earlier this month en route to the FIA Cross-Country Rallies World Cup. It seems Al-Attiyah is an Ambassador for Rebellion and he has pulled a few strings in Toyota.

All four factory Toyota drivers are competing in this year’s Dakar rally with brand new cars built to T1+ regulations, making Al-Attiyah’s previous chassis available to Dumas.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Here is a live Twitter feed for the podium start.
Im not convinced it is live although the live stream youtube link posted at the end of the opening post shows an identical picture.

I thought they had started much earlier.... like c7.00 am local. They are only +3 on GMT so it doesnt really tie in. Maybe that was 7am start for the bikes was just the road section.... any way, the link

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1OyJADqLeMNGb


Here is the youtube live stream link again as well. It does show as being live, or at least the red live button on the y/t box is lit up.

[erwin greven]

Thanks for the link! Watching now! Bc of the lockdown, I will be at home for at least another week. And maybe two.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Had to smile as they are in the middle of the desert and it looks like it is raining. not belting down but certainly enough to make the windscreen wet..

Edit: Just looked at the weather for Jeddah today and indeed it is forecast for rain today.

[Everso Biggyballies]

This is potentially unwelcome and unpleasant news. Unpleasant potentialy because the circumstances are at present uncertain, but I am sure more details will be announced when known.....

Dakar organiser issues warning alert after Jeddah car explosion

The organiser of the Dakar Rally has issued a warning statement on the opening day of the marathon following a road car explosion in Jeddah.

The 44th edition of Dakar Rally kicked off from Saudi Arabia's financial hub on New Year's Day with a short 19km Prologue won by Toyota driver Nasser Al-Attiyah from Audi's Carlos Sainz Sr.

But attention was quickly diverted at around 18:30 local time by an official press release, issued by organiser ASO, which issued a safety alert for the 3,500 or so inhabitants of the touring camp.

It follows an explosion outside the Hotel Donatello on 29 December, in which five of the six inhabitants of a support vehicle for Team Sodicars were unharmed.

A first statement issued by ASO on 30 December stated that it was aware of the incident, and explained that the driver - latterly named on France 4 as Philippe Boutron - was being treated in a hospital in the Red Sea coastal city.

ASO promised to investigate the incident and to pass on more information when available, saying it was in constant contact with the local authorities to "implement all necessary measures to ensure the full safety of all Dakar 2022 participants and fans".

A second communication followed on Saturday, explaining that Boutron "suffered serious injuries to his leg and had to undergo surgery" and is being readied to be repatriated to France.

"His vehicle was brought to a sudden halt by a sudden explosion, the origin of which is still unknown at this stage," read the statement.

Boutron, president of the French Ligue 2 football club US Orleans, was registered to race a buggy entered by Team Sodicars. This was to be his ninth Dakar participation, after finishing 33rd in 2021.

ASO is investigating the incident with the Saudi police, who have not yet ruled out if it was "a malicious act".

The Dakar organiser has decided to further reinforce the security that had been in place since its premiere in the Arab country in 2020 - and which had already been reinforced for this edition.

"The entire route, the hotels and the bivouacs will therefore benefit from a significant increase in security," said the ASO release. "In this context, we ask you to observe the greatest vigilance."

https://www.autosport.com/dakar/news/da ... h/7051965/

In the meantime best wishes for a full and speedy recovery to the person injured, Philippe Boutron, and hopefully this turns out to be some form of mechanical failure that caused the explosion rather than any "malicious act."

[Everso Biggyballies]

Anyway getting back to the event....
Dakar 2022: Al-Attiyah tops Prologue as Audi makes strong start

Toyota’s Nasser Al-Attiyah topped Saturday’s Prologue for the 2022 Dakar Rally, as Audi’s electric RS Q e-tron challenger made a strong start to its competitive debut with Carlos Sainz Sr.

On a terrain with similar characteristics to those that the competitors will encounter throughout the first week of the race, 2021 runner-up Al-Attiyah completed the 19km Prologue section located between Jeedah and Ha’il in 10m56s as he kick-started his bid for a fourth Dakar win to add to previous successes in 2011, 2015 and 2019.

The Qatari driver, giving the new Toyota Hilux its Dakar bow, took the top spot from fellow three-time Dakar champion Sainz, who finished just 12 seconds off the pace in the leading Audi entry.

However, while the 2010, 2018 and 2020 winner was able to show the raw speed of the new Audi on the opening day of the rally-raid, his team-mates encountered a less successful outing.

Defending and 14-time Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel dropped 1m12s to finish 14th, ahead of 2016 World Rallycross champion Mattias Ekstrom in the third Audi.

Brian Baragwanath was a surprise third for the Century Racing marque, leading Toyota’s Henk Lategan and WRC legend Sebastien Loeb in the leading Prodrive-built BRX Hunter.

Competing with new co-driver Fabian Lurquin, following his split with long-time navigator Daniel Elena, the nine-time WRC champion clocked a time of 11m33s in his heavily-revised Hunter T1+.

Local driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi was sixth in an Overdrive-run Toyota, just two seconds clear of the second BRX car of 2014 winner Nani Roma.

Factory Toyota driver Giniel de Villier, who risked missing the rally after an earlier positive COVID-19 test, finished eighth ahead of Jakub Przygonski and his Orlen-sponsored Mini buggy.

Orlando Terranova ensured all three Prodrive cars finished the top 10 with a time of 11m57s.

With its previous star drivers Peterhansel and Sainz having left for Audi, the X-raid Mini team failed to log a single finisher inside the top 15, with Yasir Seaidan its top runner in 17th.

Further back, Sainz's Extreme E team-mate Laia Sanz was provisionally classified 43rd in her first Dakar appearance in the cars category, the ex-KTM motorcycle rider having signed a deal with X-raid to drive a Mini All4 Racing.

After the 595km liaison to Ha'il, the top 10 finishers will get to choose their starting position for the 334km special stage on Sunday, with Al-Attiyah having the final say on his starting position.

https://www.autosport.com/dakar/news/da ... t/7049320/

The good news for Sainz fans (yes I am one of them) is that the Audi Electric "e-Tron" car finished up there and close to the Toyota, the event favourite. Sainz had said that he feared late BoP type restrictions had, as he had stated, had unfairly nobbled the cars potential and speed. Early days yet of course with just the prologue completed, but at least it is not as bad as Sainz had portrayed it.