DAKAR RALLY 2014 - TRUCK & QUAD CATEGORIES RESULTS ROUND-UP

Graham King reviews and rounds up the 2014 Dakar Rally

Week 2 of the Dakar from Salta, Argentina to Valparaiso, Chile via the Andes mountains and the Atacama desert, saw a dramatic battle for the truck category lead, while a local hero dominated the quads.

Read the Rest Day update here

Truck category overall leader after Stage 6: Gerard de Rooy (Iveco)

Week 2 stage winners:

Stage 7: Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz)
Stage 8: Andrey Karginov (Kamaz)
Stage 9: Karginov
Stage 10: Ales Loprais (Tatra)
Stage 11: Karginov
Stage 12: Gerard de Rooy (Iveco)
Stage 13: Loprais

Gerard de Rooy might have led the event at the start of Week 2, but it was dominated by the Kamaz of Andrey Karginov. A string of indifferent stage times by de Rooy allowed Karginov to take big chunks out of the gap to first place.

A loss of nearly 16 minutes on Stage 11 dropped de Rooy down to second, promoting Karginov into the lead. De Rooy fought back over the next two stages, but couldn't quite do enough, ending the rally just 3mins 11secs behind first time winner Karginov. Kamaz now has 12 Dakar triumphs to its credit.

Karginov's teammate and 2013 winner Eduard Nikolaev was safe in third all week, but not in a position to trouble the leaders. Dmitry Sotnikov and Anton Shibalov ensured Kamaz held four of the top five positions at the finish.

After losing their two Wildcats early in Week 1, the Race2Recovery team's attention turned to getting its Renault truck to the finish. It took a Herculean effort with only half the power of the leading teams, often running close to the time limit and overcoming suspension problems. But the crew of Mark Cullum, Chris Ratter and amputee Daniel Whittingham finally crossed the line 49th out of the 50 finishers.

Top 5 runners after Stage 13:

1st Andrey Karginov/Andrey Mokeev/Igor Devyatkin
Kamaz Master Kamaz 4326 - 55h00m28s

2nd Gerard de Rooy/Tom Colsoul/Darek Rodewald
Team de Rooy Iveco Torpedo - +3m11s

3rd Eduard Nikolaev/Evgeny Yakovlev/Vladimir Rybakov
Kamaz Master Kamaz 4326 - +1h34m52s

4th Dmitry Sotnikov/Vyatcheslav Mizyukaev/Andrey Aferin
Kamaz Master Kamaz 4326 - +3h22m10s

5th Anton Shibalov/Robert Amatych/Almaz Khisamiev
Kamaz Master Kamaz 4326 - +4h37m25s

Quad category overall leader after Stage 6: Sergio Lafuente (Yamaha)

Week 2 stage winners:

Stage 7: Ignacio Casale (Yamaha)
Stage 8: Casale
Stage 9: Sebastian Husseini (Honda)
Stage 10: Sergey Karyakin (Yamaha)
Stage 11: Casale
Stage 12: Casale
Stage 13: Casale

With pre-event favourite Marcos Patronelli's dramatic exit during Week 1, the quad category was anyone's for the taking. But Ignacio Casale comprehensively stamped his authority during the second half of the rally.

Casale had been third on the Rest Day, but a strong win on Stage 7 promoted him to the lead. The previous top two, Sergio Lafuente and Rafal Sonik dropped to second and third respectively. Casale pulled the gap out, Lafuente just about staying in touch while Sonik dropped further and further out of contention.

Lafuente retired on Stage 11 leaving Casale virtually uncatchable, but that didn't stop him claiming the last three stages, taking his tally of wins to seven, more than anyone else on the whole event. Casale crossed the line in front of a home crowd 1hr 26mins clear of Sonik.

Top 5 runners after Stage 13:

1. Ignacio Casale - Tamarugal XC Rally Team Yamaha Raptor - 68h28m04s
2. Rafal Sonik - Sonik Team Yamaha Raptor - +1h26m49s
3. Sebastian Husseini - Maxxis Dakar Team Honda TRX700 - +5h40m24s
4. Mohammed Abu-Issa - Maxxis Dakar Team Honda TRX700 - +10h07m11s
5. Victor Gallegos Lozic - Tamarugal XC Rally Team Honda TRX700 - +10h23m41s

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DAKAR RALLY 2014 - BIKE CATEGORY RESULTS ROUND-UP

Graham King reviews and rounds up the 2014 Dakar Rally

Week 2 of the Dakar from Salta, Argentina to Valparaiso, Chile via the Andes mountains and the Atacama desert, saw one man assert his dominance on the rally.

Overall leader after Stage 6: Marc Coma (KTM) Read the Rest Day Update here

Week 2 stage winners:

Stage 7: Joan Barreda Bort (Honda)
Stage 8: Cyril Despres (Yamaha)
Stage 9: Marc Coma (KTM)
Stage 10: Barreda
Stage 11: Coma
Stage 12: Despres
Stage 13: Barreda

Throughout the second week of the Dakar Rally, second-placed man Joan Barreda Bort did all he could to overcome his deficit to leader Marc Coma. But despite adding three more stage wins to his account (for a total of five), there was nothing he could to stop Coma edging ahead.

On Stage 12 the wheels almost literally came off Barreda's challenge when he broke the steering on his Honda. He struggled to finish the stage several hours behind the winner, Cyril Despres. Despite winning the short final stage, Barreda could only salvage seventh overall, almost three hours behind the winner.

Five-time winner Cyril Despres managed a recovery of sorts from a first week blighted by endless problems on his unproven Yamaha. Having been outside the top ten on the rest day, he set three fastest times to finish fourth overall, albeit over two hours behind.

Barreda's trouble left Coma nearly two hours clear of Jordi Viladoms who had held third all week having displaced Alain Duclos on Stage 7. Viladoms couldn't afford to be complacent about his position however, with only a slim margin over Oliver Pain. But Pain couldn't do quite enough, so the order remained unchanged at the finish.

That left Coma to cruise to his fourth Dakar triumph, continuing KTM's unbroken run of victories that stretches all the way back to 2001.

Top 10 runners after Stage 13:

1. Marc Coma - KTM Red Bull Rally Factory Team KTM 450 Rally Rep - 54h50m53s
2. Jordi Viladoms - KTM Red Bull Rally Factory Team KTM 450 Rally Rep - +1h52m27s
3. Olivier Pain - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Yamaha YZF450 Rally - +2h00m03s
4. Cyril Despres - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Yamaha YZF450 Rally - +2h05m38s
5. Helder Rodrigues - HRC Rally Honda CRF450 Rally - +2h11m09s
6. Kuba Przygonski - Orlen KTM Rally Factory Team KTM 450 Rally Rep - +2h31m46s
7. Joan Barreda Bort - HRC Rally Honda CRF450 Rally - +2h54m01s
8. Daniel Gouet - Tamarugal XC Rally Team - Honda CRF450 Rally - +3h10m34s
9. Stefan Svitko - Oraving Slovnaft Team KTM 450 Rally Rep - +3h50m10s
10. David Casteu - Team Casteu KTM 450 Rally - +3h58m09s

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DAKAR RALLY 2014 - CAR CATEGORY RESULTS ROUND-UP

Graham King rounds up and reviews the 2014 Dakar Rally

Week 2 of the Dakar from Salta, Argentina to Valparaiso, Chile via the Andes mountains and the Atacama desert, might have been a two horse race, but there was still plenty of drama.

Overall leader after Stage 6: Nani Roma (Mini) Read the Rest Day Update here

Week 2 stage winners:

Stage 7: Carlos Sainz (SMG)
Stage 8: Nasser Al-Attiyah (Mini)
Stage 9: Stephane Peterhansel (Mini)
Stage 10: Al-Attiyah
Stage 11: Orlando Terranova (Mini)
Stage 12: Peterhansel
Stage 13: Giniel de Villiers (Toyota)

Week 2 of the 2014 Dakar Rally quickly became a battle of two Minis between long-time leader Nani Roma and 11-time event winner Stephane Peterhansel.

Peterhansel had battled through a litany of problems during the first week to lie third overall on the rest day. He resumed his fight back on Stage 7, displacing fellow X-Raid driver Orlando Terranova from second. He gradually chipped away at Roma's lead as the week wore on, closing to just 2mins 15secs at the end of Stage 10.

At that point X-Raid boss Sven Quandt decided that Roma's and Peterhansel's pace was too fast and, not wanting to risk a clean-sweep of the podium now that Nasser Al-Attiyah had pushed his way into third, ordered his drivers to hold station.

Both Peterhansel and Al-Attiyah did as they were told on Stage 11, falling back from Roma but the plan went out of the window on Stage 12. Peterhansel took the stage win from Al-Attiyah and Roma, the top three seperated by less than six minutes. That put Peterhansel in lead by a scant 26 seconds. After thousands of kilometers of on-the-limit driving, the rally would go down to the wire.

Carlos Sainz's testing event came to an end on Stage 10. Various issues had stymied the two-time World Rally Champion's campaign during week one, leaving him sixth overall. He took his second stage win on Stage 7, not that it got him back into the top five. He finally crashed out three days later on a road section in Stage 10. Sainz and co-driver Timo Gottschalk were okay, the car was not.

But back to the lead battle on Stage 13. Giniel de Villiers took his only win of the rally from Krzysztof Holowczyc on the short, 157km run to the finish at Valparaiso by just 23 seconds. Al-Attiyah was safe in third overall so his deficit of 4mins 51secs to fourth-placed de Villiers didn't matter. So all eyes were on Roma and Peterhansel. In the final reckoning on a close run stage, Peterhansel dropped just over six minutes to Roma on Stage 13, making Roma the 2014 Dakar champion.

Whether or not Peterhansel gave Roma the win will be endlessly debated. But the records will show that Roma, bike category winner in 2004, is now a two-time Dakar champion. Which will be all he really cares about.

Top 10 runners after Stage 13:

1st Nani Roma/Michel Perin
Monster Energy X-Raid Team Mini ALL4 Racing - 50h44m58s

2nd Stephane Peterhansel/Jean Paul Cottret
Monster Energy X-Raid Team Mini ALL4 Racing - +5m38s

3rd Nasser Al-Attiyah/Lucas Cruz
Qatar X-Raid Racing Team Mini ALL4 Racing - +56m52s

4th Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz
Imperial Toyota Hilux - +1h19m07s

5th Orlando Terranova/Paulo Fiuza
Monster Energy X-Raid Team Mini ALL4 Racing - +1h27m44s

6th Krzysztof Holowczyc/Konstantin Zhiltsov
Monster Energy X-Raid Team Mini ALL4 Racing - +3h55m42s

7th Marek Dabrowski/Jacek Czachor
Orlen Team Toyota Hilux - +5h34m25s

8th Christian Lavieille/Jean-Pierre Garcin
Haval Rally Team Haval H8 - +5h35m50s

9th Martin Kaczmarski/Filipe Palmeiro
Lotto X-Raid Team Mini ALL4 Racing - +6h58m12s

10th Vladimir Vasilyev/Vitaliy Yevtyekhov
X-Raid Team Mini ALL4 Racing - +6h59m34s

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DAKAR RALLY 2014 - CAR CATEGORY REST DAY UPDATE

There was a script for this year's Dakar Rally, but after six stages and a day or more of flat-out driving, no-one seems to have read it. The event has thrown up many surprises between Rosario and Salta in Argentina, but seems to have settled down at the mid-point.

Stage winners

Stage 1: Carlos Sousa (Haval)
Stage 2: Stephane Peterhansel (Mini)

Stage 3: Nani Roma (Mini)

Stage 4: Carlos Sainz (SMG)

Stage 5: Roma

Stage 6: Peterhansel

The form book said Stephane Peterhansel should walk away from the front, but he wasn't even in the top five after Stage 1. Carlos Sousa took a surprise win in the unfancied Haval - he said the heat in the un-air-conditioned CAR spurned him on: he wanted to get out! The X-Raid Minis of Orlando Terranova and Nasser Al-Attiyah rounded out the podium, than less than a minute behind.

Sousa dropped out of contention on Stage 2 with a blown turbo. Peterhansel took his first stage win, moving into the overall lead. Carlos Sainz was close behind in his SMG Buggy, followed by the Imperial Toyota of Giniel de Villiers. Sainz ended the day second overall, with Al-Attiyah third.

Peterhansel endured a torrid Stage 3, picking up six punctures as he cleared the road. Nani Roma capiltised, winning the stage and taking the overall lead. Roma's teammate Krzysztof Holowczyc and Toyota man Leeroy Poulter finished third. Terranova finished fourth, vaulting past Al-Attiyah into second overall as Sainz failed to make the top five.

Sainz fought back on Stage 4 to take the win, claiming the overall lead from Roma who lost 14 minutes on the stage. Peterhansel and Al-Attiyah were some way back in second and third. Roma displaced Terranova from second overall, while Al-Attiyah remained third.

Sainz dropped out of contention on Stage 5, getting lost and incurring a one hour penalty for missing a way point. Roma picked up his second stage win, in front of de Villiers and a distant Robby Gordon, enduring yet another trying event in his brand-new Hummer. Roma, Al-Attiyah and Terranova all moved up one place in the overall standings to first, second and third respectively.

Peterhansel managed to grab his second win on Stage 6, with only a narrow margin over Al-Attiyah in second and Terranova in third. Despite finishing the stage down in sixth, Roma retains a half-hour lead heading into the second week. Terranova lies second, while Al-Attiyah having fallen to fifth after a one hour penalty. Peterhansel has moved up to third, 33 minutes down, maintaining the all-Mini podium.

Unfortunately for Roma, 30 minutes is not much of a margin when there's still seven stages to go through Bolivia and Chile. And the Andes to cross.

Sadly both of the Race2Recovery Wildcats retired after Stage 2. Navigator Philip Gillespie lost the chance to repeat his record of being the only amputee to finish the Dakar when the head gasket blew on his and driver Ben Gott's car. Tony Harris's hopes of becoming the first amputee driver to finish were dashed after an end-over-end roll. He and co-driver Quin Evans made it to the end of the stage, only for the mechanics to discover a large crack in the rollcage. The team's Renault race truck is still in event, albeit last over 250 hours behind after (many) penalties. It'll still be a massive achievement if they finish.

Top 10 runners after Stage 6

1. Nani Roma - Monster Energy X-Raid Mini ALL4 Racing - 22h11m28s
2. Orlando Terranova - Monster Energy X-Raid Mini ALL4 Racing - +30m30s
3. Stephane Peterhansel - Monster Energy X-Raid Mini ALL4 Racing - +33m23s
4. Giniel de Villiers - Imperial Toyota Hilux - +40m54s
5. Nasser Al-Attiyah - Qatar X-Raid Mini ALL4 Racing - +1h22m35s
6. Carlos Sainz - Red Bull Rally SMG Buggy - +1h59m38s
7. Marek Dabrowski - Orlen Toyota Hilux - +1h59m39s
8. Pascal Thomasse - MD Rallye Optimus Buggy - +2h21m08s
9. Krzysztof Holowczyc - Monster Energy X-Raid Mini ALL4 Racing - +2h28m57s
10. Adam Malysz - Orlen Toyota Hilux - +2h43m13s

By Graham King

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DAKAR RALLY 2014 - BIKE CATEGORY REST DAY UPDATE

There was a script for this year's Dakar Rally, but after six stages and a day or more of flat-out driving, no-one seems to have read it. The event has thrown up many surprises between Rosario and Salta in Argentina, but seems to have settled down at the mid-point.

Stage winners

Stage 1: Joan Barreda Bort (Honda)
Stage 2: Sam Sunderland (Honda)
Stage 3: Barreda
Stage 4: Juan Pedrero Garcia (Sherco)
Stage 5: Marc Coma (KTM)
Stage 6: Alain Duclos (Sherco)

The smart money was on a battle royale between Marc Coma and Cyril Despres. It hasn't quite turned out that way.

Joan Barreda Bort claimed his first win of the rally on Stage 1, with Coma and Despres within touching distance in second and third. The pair fell to ninth and tenth respectively on Stage 2, won narrowly by Briton Sam Sunderland from 'Chelico' Lopez and Barreda. Those positions were reversed for the overall podium.

Barreda took Stage 3 honours. Despres and Coma claimed the remaining podium places, the overall order matching the stage order. Juan Pedrero won Stage 4 on the French Sherco machine, while Lopez took second and claimbed to third overall. Third on the road moved Coma up to second overall, the delayed Despres dropping out of the top five.

Coma finally won his first stage of the event on Stage 5, well clear of Jordi Viladoms and Kuba Przygonski. Coma took the overall lead as issues for Barreda demoted him to second, a long way back. Lopez maintained third, but well out of touch. Mechanical problems dropped Despres further out of contention.

After three top five stage times earlier in the week, Alain Duclos took Sherco's second win of the event on Stage 6. He moves up to third overall after Lopez crashed out. Coma finished the day second, extending his lead over Barreda who crossed the line fourth. Michael Metge annexed the bottom step of the podium for the stage. Despres dropped out of the overall top ten.

Coma looks comfortable with a lead of over 42 minutes, but he will know there is still a very long, very challenging way to go yet.

Tragically, Stage 5 was marred by the death leader amateur rider Eric Palante, who was competing in his 11th Dakar Rally. The 50 year-old Belgian's body was found by a clear-up crew at kilometer 143. The cause of his death is currently unknown.

Top 10 runners after 6 stages

1. Marc Coma - Red Bull Factory Team KTM 450 Rally Rep - 23h08m00s
2. Joan Barreda Bort - HRC Rally Honda CRF450 - +42m17s
3. Alain Duclos - Samsung Factory Sherco 450SR - +1h00m58s
4. Jordi Viladoms - Red Bull Factory Team KTM 450 Rally Rep - +1h08m09s
5. Jeremias Israel Esquerre - Mapfre Speedbrain 450 Rally - +1h33m28s
6. Olivier Pain - Factory Team Yamaha 450YZF Rally - +1h43m08s
7. Kuba Przygonski - Orlen Factory KTM 450 Rally Rep - +1h49m59s
8. Helder Rodrigues - HRC Rally Honda CRF450 - 2h01m24s
9. David Casteu - Team Casteu KTM 450 Rally - 2h12m05s
10. Daniel Gouet - Tamarugal XC Honda 450 - 2h17m26s

By Graham King

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DAKAR RALLY 2014 - TRUCK AND QUAD CATEGORIES REST DAY UPDATE

There was a script for this year's Dakar Rally, but after six stages and a day or more of flat-out driving, no-one seems to have read it. The event has thrown up many surprises between Rosario and Salta in Argentina, but seems to have settled down at the mid-point. 

Truck category stage winners

Stage 1: Ayrat Mardeev (Kamaz) Stage 4: de Rooy
Stage 2: Gerard de Rooy (Iveco) Stage 5: Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz)
Stage 3: Andrey Karginov (Kamaz) Stage 6: Pieter Versluis (MAN)

Of all the categories in the Dakar, the trucks are following the script most closely. Gerard de Rooy took the overall lead after a strong win on Stage 2 and has stayed there ever since, helped by another win on Stage 4.

As expected, de Rooy's main competition has come from the Kamaz team, three of its drivers picking up a stage win each. Going into the rest day, Andrey Karginov lies second overall, with Eduard Nikolaev third, despite not winning a stage.

The only man to break the Iveco/Kamaz hegemony so far is Pieter Versluis, who took a surprise win on Stage 6 in a MAN having been well out of contention all week. His winning margin of just over a minute did little to reduce his seven hour deficit, though.

De Rooy holds a slim buffer of just under half an half going into week two. He had a similar margin this time last year when his turbo blew. He won't be taking anything for granted.

Top 5 runners after Stage 6

1. Gerard de Rooy - Team De Rooy Iveco Torpedo - 23h14m27s
2. Andrey Karginov - Kamaz Master Kamaz 4326 - +29m05s
3. Eduard Nikolaev - Kamaz Master Kamaz 4326 - +1h07m42s
4. Dmitry Sotnikov - Kamaz Master Kamaz 4326 - +1h22m35s
5. Hans Stacey - Team De Rooy Iveco Trakker - +1h34m44s

Quad category stage winners

Stage 1: Ignacio Casale (Yamaha) Stage 4: Casale
Stage 2: Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) Stage 5: Sergio Lafuente (Yamaha)
Stage 3: Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) Stage 6: Sonik

Perhaps the biggest shock in the entire event so far came from the quad category on Stage 3. Pre-rally favourite Marcos Patronelli took the overall lead on Stage 2, but then dramatically crashed out the next day, being forced to bail off his machine before it went down a deep ravine.

In Patronelli's absence, stage winners Ignacio Casale, Rafal Sonik and Sergio Lafuente have been disputing the lead, pulling a very long way ahead of the everyone else in the process.

Having reached the top five on Stage 3, Lafuente now leads the rally with Sonik second and Casale third. Separated by only 24 minutes, the quads will have the closest battle for the lead next week.

Top 5 runners after Stage 6

1. Sergio Lafuente - Uruguay Team Yamaha Raptor - 29h22m20s
2. Rafal Sonik - Sonik Team Yamaha Raptor - +22m18s
3. Ignacio Casale - Tamarugal XC Yamaha Raptor - +24m04s
4. Sebastian Husseini - Maxxis Honda TRX - +3h18m54s
5. Mohammed Abu-Issa - Maxxis Honda TRX - +5h27m02s

By Graham King

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2014 Dakar Rally Preview

Graham King previews the 2014 Dakar Rally

The Dakar Rally gets under way for the 34th time this weekend. The 2014 route takes the 434 competitors nearly 5,000km through Argentina, Bolivia and Chile over two weeks. Honours for cars, bikes, quads and trucks are all up for grabs.

First run through Saharan Africa in 1979, the rally was forced to abandon its traditional home after the 2008 edition was cancelled due to threats of a terrorist attack against the rally. The Dakar moved to South America in 2009 and has gone from strength to strength.

So, who is in contention for victory this year?

CARS

It would be brave to bet against Stephane Peterhansel taking his third straight win in the Monster X-Raid Mini. With 11 Dakar victories to his credit (five in cars, six on bikes), the Frenchman knows exactly how to win the event. Something he demonstrated last year, biding his time while his rivals fell by the way-side, then pushing on to the finish.

But Peterhansel faces a lot of competition, not least from within his own team. 2011 winner and WRC regular Nasser al-Attiyah looks likely to be the main threat, in his debut in a Qatar-sponsored Mini. Fellow X-Raid drivers Nani Roma, Orlando Terranova and Krzysztof Holowczyc have the speed, but perhaps not the consistency, to win.

Elsewhere, 2010 victor and two-time WRC champion Carlos Sainz debuts a brand new, two-wheel-drive buggy. The Red Bull SMG team is bidding to become the first 2WD winner since 2000. American Robby Gordon will be hoping that his Hummer's enormous speed will finally be backed up with the reliability to get him to the podium for the first time since 2009. That year's winner Giniel de Villiers has been around to pick up the pieces for the last two years, finishing on the podium in his Imperial Toyota Hilux and should be there-or-thereabouts again this year. It's also worth keeping an eye on Ford Racing's new Ranger, with lead driver Lucio Alvarez.

British interest centres on the Race2Recovery team, manned partly by injured Forces personnel. The team endured a torrid race in 2013. Two of the team's three cars dropped out, while a support car was involved in a crash with a taxi that left several team members injured and two locals dead. During the second week, both service trucks broke down terminally, but despite everything the team managed to get one car (which suffered continual overheating) across the finish line. Navigator Corporal Philip Gillespie became the first amputee to finish the Dakar, achieving the team's goal. 2014's two car effort is led again by Captain Tony Harris, navigated by Quin Evans. Ben Gott returns to the team, with Cpl. Gillespie on the maps.

BIKES

The bike section is likely to be dominated by Marc Coma and Cyril Despres. Frenchman Despres took his fifth win last year, while Spaniard Coma had to sit the event out with a shoulder injury. Coma looks like the favourite on paper, as he bids for his fourth win and KTM's 13th in a row. Despres is looking for a record-equalling sixth win, but has switched from his usual KTM to an unproven Yamaha.

Coma's works Red Bull KTM teammates Francisco Lopez, Ruben Faria and Jordi Viladoms will be in with a shout at the podium. Honda men Joan Barreda Bort and Helder Rodrigues, Despres' factory Yamaha partner Olivier Pain and KTM privateer David Casteu shouldn’t be discounted either.

TRUCKS & QUADS

Russia's factory Red Bull Kamaz team locked out the truck category's podium in 2013, led by Eduard Nikolaev. He and teammates Ayrat Mardeev and Andrey Karginov all return this year, but their mounts have brand-new engines. Will they have the reliability to claim Kamaz's 12th Dakar victory?

2012 winner Gerard de Rooy (he of the bright orange car transporters) led much of the 2013 rally before the turbo blew on his Petronas Iveco. With reliability, he could again be a major thorn in the Russians' side. As might his teammate, 2007 victor Hans Stacey. The Tatra-mounted pair of Ales Loprais and Martin Kolomy, and MAN man Pieter Versluis are also likely to be in the mix.

Argentinian hero Marcos Patronelli won the quad category by nearly two hours last year. Barring disaster, you can pretty much guarantee a similar performance this year. Ignacio Casale, Rafal Sonik, Sebastian Palma and Sebastien Husseini will fight amongst themselves for the remaining podium positions. Chileans Casale and Palma will be particularly keen to finish well in front of a probably deeply partisan home crowd.

The Dakar Rally starts on Sunday. I'll keep you updated throughout the event.

Graham King

Image source: Dakar.com

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