Dakar Rally starts tomorrow

To me the real hero's are the bike riders, they are the ones that do it realy tough. I may have changed to a Prado now, but I still follow the Pajero boys when it was the Dakar.

R.I.P Andy Caldecotte, South Australia's 41 yo Dakar Hero from the great SE Community of Keith.

Cheers

Stephen

I ride as well, Yes you are right they bike guys would be shagged at the end of each day thats for sure!!!!

Must admit I even had a laugh a couple of years ago , when the Nissan team went missing . 3 trucks all broke and they camped together in the desert till help came .

Glenn.

You do realise Mitsubishi has retired the Pajero name in Dakar racing.

This years race vehicle is a quad turbo diesel "Lancer"

Geoff

still some 'Pajeros' running.........go Pajero :)

Those new Lancers - I want one, quad turbo V6 Diesel, what a way to go.

Cheers
Stephen

Racing. We all benefit technically.
Stuart.

Gramps would you like a glass with that w(h)ine, or perhaps a cheese platter????

Is that the best you could think of. Must be a slow day up there.

Implementation of Dakar Actions programs, developed in collaboration with SOS Sahel, will continue during 2009. The idea is to ensure successful completion of a certain number of projects initiated by the local population in the fields of sustainable development, agriculture, reforesting and reinforcement of dunes. These efforts will be continued.
There are two sides to most coins...Dakar in Africa is still helping in the countries that it used to race in and in South america they are becoming involved in the work of the Un techo para mi país (A roof for my country) association.
They dont just willy nilly drive through countries killing the local population !

And I'm sure the families of the victims are very happy with this trade off. Sure.

Ahhhh..... Maybe a name change from Gramps to Gripes is in order


Cranky ole bugger....hahahahahahaha


Happy New Year


Regards

lol. Everything has a down side Willem And there is always someone that finds it....

Willem,

It's Grumps to you LOL. Happy New Year.

I see the Forum denizens are showing their usual tolerance for differing opinions.

Yes Gramps.....but you forgot GO PAJERO!!!!!! 12 times winner :)

I guess Pajero owners need something to have bragging rights about, even if it is only by name.

Anyway, the Lancer is apparently replacing the Pajero for this years' Dakar. Cool, I might go and buy a Lancer and do the Simpson :-D

entrant 429 in a Patrol quotes

" I THINK I will be able to finish the rally"

Never a truer word spoken!! LOL

Very true Gramps. They run these spectacular offroad events in 3rd world countries where environmental concerns & safety precautions are thrown out the window. It's almost like they think the locals are in some way expendable! Sure they support the communities & inject a few needy dollars but they wouldn't get away with running these same events in an Australian or US desert. It's no wonder the locals are out there shooting at them & disrupting the events.

Cheers Craig..........

Craig,

Glad someone else can see through the bull. There's a reason they don't keep an accurate count of the 'civilian' casualties. Last I heard, it was more than twenty, nine of whom were children.

As per your reply, I guess they're expendable so long as a few couch potatoes can get their jollies.

You mean not like this Craig? But I do sympathise with you on the rich and poor thing.


australian safari


http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=

Cheers

Richard

Some of you are right candidates for joining up with the Rev Fred Nile or Harold Scruby to start a crusade against whatever is the flavour of the day.

This couch potato is going to enjoy every Race Update he can fit in!



Cheers

No worries Spud LOL

"You mean not like this Craig?" Richard correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the Australian Safari races through towns at full speed with little regard for the public like the Dakar or Baja races. One can only hope the new location has a few more precautions in place for the locals as it's a great TV event.
Cheers Craig............

When I watched the 2007 Dakar all the vehicles were restricted to I think 50kmh through villages and built up areas. This was monitored by GPS I think.
I love the Dakar and it's been a long wait for this one so I say bring it on.
Stuart.

No you are right Craig.. it was my first time I got a chance to post a Video like and it worked the second time...

Cheers

Richard

Hey Gramps and Crackles,

So what is it that you two think the competitors should do for fun instead of the safari, slot cars maybe ??

Pezza

Personally I don't give a rats what they do. They can go back to playing in their own sandpits for all I care.

This annual farce kills innocent bystanders virtually every year it is run. Of course the organizers are loathe to keep an accurate tally as that would focus too much of the wrong type of attention. The last time this 'event' was run, two children were killed by some dopes in a support vehicle.

This race is not run on a 'closed' or 'supervised' course. Primitive, by our standards, people are going about their normal lives then are swamped by hundreds of bikes, cars, trucks etc etc racing through their villages, tracks and countryside.

As Craig pointed out, why is it that the serious competitive stages are only run in Third World countries where life is cheap by our standards? Simple, very few questions are asked, there are no real safety precautions for the mostly unsuspecting populace and the 'politicians' who rule these states are very amenable to the right offers.

We even have the ridiculous situation of a dead rider being termed a 'hero'. Hero !!!! What for? He was just a teararse bike rider killed while plying his trade. Nothing special. He did'nt save anyone. If that's the criteria these days for being a hero, we bury/burn thousands of them EVERY day.

Just think how any of you would feel if you lost a loved one to one of these idiots. Yeah, I'm sure you'd just say "That's the way of the world and when is the next episode?"

I reckon anyone who dies doing there job is a hero. Unless they were in the SS or something.

Hey Grumps,

You calmed down yet ya cranky ol' bugger ? LOL

Think you will find that a major contributing factor to the deaths of the locals was the lack of common sense and safety practices by themselves.
No-one "races through the villages" there is a 50kph speed limit through villages for both race and support vehicles, and normal speed limits elsewhere other than special test sections, all monitored via satelite tracking.
As for "primative, by our standards", and "serious competitive stages are only run in Third World countries " the australian safari is run along exactly the same guidelines as the dakar, as are many other desert style rallies around the world including Dubai and USA.
The safety of locals and spectators of the dakar are no different to that of the world rally championships, hill climbs like Pikes Peak, the isle of mann or any other style of racing not on a closed curcuit.
Are you suggesting that all countries should ban all types of motor racing that is not on a closed curcuit ?
As for your thoughts on "heroes" and bike riders, I don't classify them as "heroes" but I do look up to them with a good deal of respect. I agree they usually are given the " hero" tag only by the glorifying media and by those following that particular sport.
No matter what you classify them as they certainly are not your 'average Joe', or "teararse bike rider", they are still people that have climbed to the top in their chosen sport and deserve the respect for doing so.

Cheers
Pezza