Suitcase of Courage

Dakar 2008: Canceled

The 29th edition of the Dakar Rally has been canceled by its organizers, the Amaury Sport Organization, on the eve of its start in Lisbon. The Tour de France organizers, at the encouragement of the French foreign ministry, were forced to cancel one of their biggest events in light of recent terrorist activities in former French colony Mauratania. Apparently bike racing in Europe and truck racing in Africa are both shaky prospects if you want to start organizing events.

This is a sad day for motor sport. The Dakar, Baja 1000 and the like are some of the final few truly adventurous undertakings left in a world where Formula One drivers whine about taking their traction control away.

According to the Dakar website however, the race should be back in 2009 better than ever. Here's to hoping they're right.

Dakar 2008

    While most of the SofC sporting world is taking a much deserved break, a certain group of motor-racing's hardest competitors are gearing up for what may be the most grueling race in the world. Despite the threat of Al Qaeda terrorists in Mauritania the Dakar is set to kick off January 5th in Lisbon, Portugal.
    On the start list is a diverse group of competitors ready to battle the desert trek. At the front of the race we should expect to see former WRC champion Carlos Sainz looking for his maiden victory behind the wheel of a VW Touareg. Looking to make life harder for the Spaniard will be French garagiste Jean-Louis Schlesser in his home made Ford powered buggy, World Touring Car star Yvan Muller, former F1 backmarker Tiago Monteiro, and former World Cup ski racer Luc Alphand.
    Of course, all these drivers better be checking their mirrors for the rough and tumble driving style of Robbie Gordon in his earth-fucker Hummer. We'll be watching for some classic fender banging action from the Nascar star.
    Stay tuned for what is sure to be quite the adventure. When else do you start a car race knowing with some certainty that it'll involve hostage situations, armed escorts, and of course, huge air off massive sand dunes in the middle of the Sahara?
    To wet your appetite here's a little refresher on Robbie's tips for passing at Dakar.

French put the Paris in Dakar

The Dakar finished up Sunday afternoon with a stage around the capital of Senegal.

Showing once again that the French are the masters of "raids" the tricolor was flying above the top three podiums spots. Stephane Peterhansel and Luc Alphand both put in extremely measured drives in the manner of compatriot Alain Prost, neither winning a stage but winning the championship.

Jean Louis Schleisser put in perhaps the most "french" drive of them all though, showing brilliance at times, like his victory early in the event, but doing it all behind the wheel of a Ford powered buggy he built himself in the back of his chalet.

Two Americans were in the top ten, with Mark Miller and Robbie Gordon fourth and tenth. Coincidentally, Robbie Gordon also won the "most unfrench" competition in his monstrouoooos 'Ummere. Extra points could so easily have been won though with the simple addition of "America: Fuck Yeah!" blairing from loudspeakers mounted on the roof and a straight Stars n' Stripes paintjob instead of the lairy energy getup.

It was Mitsubishi's seventh straight Dakar win as thousands of people once again flocked to BMW and VW showrooms to gawck at the fast yet fragile German trucks.

Dakar Update: Sainz's Late Race Blitz

Carlos Sainz is having a bit of a late race renaissance in the Dakar Rally winning to two successive stages as the Rally progresses through Africa ending in Dakar on Sunday. The Spainard's Red Bull Volkswagen team has lost far too much time in the last days to even be in the running for the overall victory. Sainz now sits in 9th place overall, one place behind Robbie Gordon who has fought back from a lowly 77th place.

Mitsubishi, who struggled early in the Dakar, fought back against the mighty Volkswagen and now lead 1-2. Mitsu leader Stefan Peterhansel is now within a few short hours of taking his 9th Dakar victory. His multi-talented teammate Luc Alphand is just 11 short minutes behind in second place with former Dakar winner Jean Louis Schlesser following in 3rd place overall. Qatari Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah who won stage 9 in his BMW is in 4th with American Mark Miller 8 minutes behind in 5th.

In the two wheeled category, KTM rider Marc Coma who dominated the early stages of the Rally, crashed out after he got lost on stage 13. In his crash, he suffered a mild injury and was flown by helicopter to safety. Before the crash, he had a comfortable 52 minute lead over now leader Cyril Despres.

With two stages remaining, the Rally moves from Tambacounda to Dakar. The final race on Sunday will be a 16km super special stage around Senegal's famous Rose Lake (or as the locals call it Lac Rose).

Dakar Week 1: Highlights via OurTube

- In the first half of Rally Dakar, we began with the two local boys Carlos Sousa and Carlos Sainz taking most of the limelight through the Portugese Stages and into Africa.

- Stage 3 saw Spanish Rider Marc Coma in the KTM extend his motorcycle lead when the rally reached into more difficult parts of the African terrain. Stage 4 marked tragedy as rookie Dakar Motorcyclist Elmer Symonds looses his life across at the 140km mark in a particularly dangerous section of the stage.

- Super-Yank Robbie Gordon in the Hummer got a slow start in the Dakar, only to pick up the pace in spectacular fashion across the more straight-line pieces of Africa. Notice in this video of how the French commentators pronounce both Gordon's name and also the word "Hummer". It's not pretty.

- Through the fast and rugged sections of Mauritania, there was a tight mix of competition between Sainz, Sousa, Giniel de Villiers, Luc Alphand, Gordon and former rally winner Jean-Louis Schlesser for the stage 6 win. Gordon took the stage; Sainz stayed in the lead.

Today in Stage 7, Sainz eventually had to reliquish his overall lead to VW teammate Giniel de Villiers and one time leader Carlos Sousa lost his co-driver in a sandstorm.

The Pope weighs in on Dakar

The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, slammed the Dakar today for being "a bloody race of irresponsibility." They went on to say, "the trail of blood which grows longer from year to year on the route of the race ...underscores the undeniable component of violence that lies behind every attempt to export Western models to human environments and ecosystems that have little to do with the West."

...Was this supposed to be some sort of Jon Stewart type humour thingy? Because they pretty much described Christianity there, not the Dakar Rally. Export western models? You mean like the crusades, the bible, colonialism, missionaries, racism, and just about everything else religion has had to do with in history? Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me.

Dakar Day 5: Gordon Storms the Stage; Sainz Keeps Overall Lead

American Robbie Gordon won the longest and fastest Dakar stage today as the rally entered into Mauritania. With a seriously determined effort across the 394-km desert, Gordon has clawed himself back from 77th to 15th place overall in the standings, yet still nearly 4 hours behind leader Carlos Sainz in the VW. Even though Gordon is driving the most ostentatious vehicle on the car market (which I call the Earth Fucker), his non-factory backed budget is a fraction of the Manufactuers'. Gordon's H3 is fitted with an image sensor to capture video throughout the race which you can see on his video podcast or here on the Micron site.

Back at the front, Carlos' lead took a sizeable hit today with teammate Giniel de Villiers taking 25 seconds to end up a little more than 3 minutes behind Sainz's overall lead. Dual-sport athlete Luc Alphand sits in 4th overall only 24 minutes adrift of Sainz.

Today in SOC dual-sport heroes: Luc Alphand

The Dakar Rally rolled on today with VW continuing their domination of the top three spots. On the extended podium (fourth) sits Luc Alphand, someone who deserves a little face time on the Suitcase of Courage. Why you ask?

Born in Courcheval, France, Alphand started his pro sports career as a ski racer making his debut in 1984 on the Aspen Mountain World Cup. It would take 10 years for him to win a race but when he finally did the medals came pouring in. Between his first win in Val D'Isere and his retirement from skiing four years later he would win the World Cup overall three times running in 95, 96, and 97 with 12 World Cup wins.  By 1998 he had conquered skiing to the point of wanting a new challenge.

Time for motor sports. Since 1998 Luc Alphand has become a regular in Rally Raids all over the world. He has won Dakar thrice, 1999, 2002 and 2003, placed on the podium twice more, and won a variety of other less known events. On pavement he has raced 24 Hours of Le Mans four times in the GT3 class, driving Porsches, Ferraris, and this year, a Corvette. This year should prove to be his best chance yet to crack the top ten.

With all that free time he has also set records in endurance jet-ski racing (we had no idea it existed either) winning a race from France to Corsica and one around Cape Horn.

No matter how you look at it, Luc Alphand is pretty much at the top of the cool wall for Suitcase of Courage.

Dakar update: Where motorsport is still dangerous

Dakar's competitors raced over 400km through Morocco today in the fourth stage of this dangerous rally. Jean Louis Schlesser scorched the competition in his Ford powered buggy beating rally leader Carlos Sainz by eight minutes. Fortunatly for the Spanish WRC champ he remains comfortably in the overall lead with a nice VW team bolster behind him in second and third. He'll have to keep on his toes though as today once again reminded us that the Dakar (and your life) can be lost in a second's bad luck.
South African motorcycle rider Elmer Symonds died today in the event marking the 49th fatality in Dakar's history. Contrast that with the spotless safety records of most modern racing and you see that Dakar really is a different world. Its amazing that so many heros from other races spend their retirment battling the elements in Africa. For those that succeed the Dakar represents the ultimate endurance racing achievment, but Symond's death today reminds us of the risks inherent in doing so.

From Autosport:

Overall standings after stage 4:

Pos Driver           Make            Time
 1. Sainz            Volkswagen      9h17.11
 2. De Villiers      Volkswagen      +  1.55
 3. Sousa            Volkswagen      +  7.20
 4. Roma             Mitsubishi      + 11.44
 5. Masuoka          Mitsubishi      + 12.49
 6. Alphand          Mitsubishi      + 16.10
 7. Schlesser        Schlesser-Ford  + 18.20
 8. Chicherit        BBMW            + 18.28
 9. Peterhansel      Mitsubishi      + 24.01
10. Miller           Volkswagen      + 41.54

Dakar: The Little Panda That Could

To counter Robbie Gordon's Dakar Hummer, former WRC Champ Miki Biasion is braving the African elements with a Diesel-powered Fiat Panda 4x4. Because of extra safety equipement and a massive 42 Gallon tank (it's range could be over 700 miles), it weighs in at a hefty 3,100lbs. After stage 3, Biasion sits in 146th place, one spot behind his Fiat teammate.