Dakar 2010 – After the Fact

From the 1st January to the 16th January the 2010 Dakar Rally thundered it ways across South America, travelling a massive 9,030 kilometres through Argentina and Chile, and it was the first time I’ve have been able to follow the full event thanks to:

1) Actually remembering when it was on for once

2) The daily highlight shows on British Eurosport

Dakar 2010 Kicking up the sand Credit: boston.com

The Dakar Rally has been something that has always interested me, and really who wouldn’t find the idea interesting? Man and machine tested to their limits as they battle their way across some of the most demanding terrain this world has to offer, and at the same time some of the most stunning. As an event which only occurs once a year though, the Dakar can easily slip by you if you aren’t paying attention, well I find that to be the case anyway. Though the Dakar Rally is a big event in the motorsport world, it is not something you are ever likely to see mentioned in mainstream media in Britain.

Thanks to a little heads-up on the internet marvel that is Twitter several weeks before the end of 2009 I was actually aware of when the 2010 Dakar Rally started, and thanks to the coverage on British Eurosport I was able to keep up to date with what happened on each stage. Eurosport did of course advertise their coverage as live coverage of the Dakar Rally 2010, which was perhaps slightly miss leading as you might think they meant live coverage of the actual stage each day, but they did actually say “Live from the bivouac” and that turned out to be a better way of covering the Dakar than covering the stages live I think. What Eurosport offered was a live highlights show from the rallies bivouac (camp) each night at 10pm UK time, so that they could offer you live interviews and a look behind the scenes of what goes on in the bivouac where all the competitors and teams camp and do repairs after the day’s stage was complete. On top of the great insight from the bivouac the Eurosport live Dakar show also covered highlights from the day’s stage and considering that a Dakar stage doesn’t have a totally defined course, and it covers hundreds on kilometres I’m not exactly sure how well live coverage from an actual stage would work. The only thing I could say against the Eurosport coverage was really that it wasn’t long enough, 45 minutes each day really isn’t enough to fully cover all that happens on a Dakar stage so the focus was always on the top competitors in the cars and bike classes.

Dakar 2010 That is what you call a hill! Credit: boston.com

As for the rally itself? Well the headlines have been dominated by Volkswagen who took the top three spots in the car class as was expected really, though the BMW’s did look promising and come next year they may give Volkswagen a major challenge. The Dakar was as challenging as ever though, and stage five showed just how dangerous it can be. One thing is for sure though, I won’t be missing it next year!

Risk Fate

Anyone who is involved in motorsport knows that there are dangers involved in it, and as someone who has followed the motorsport world as far back as I can remember, I still find it troubling when I see someone getting injured during a motorsport event. In 2009 those risks where highlighted very clearly with the tragic death of Henry Surtees during a Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch after being struck on the head by a loose wheel from a fellow competitors car after it had crashed, and that event was followed only a week later by the life threatening head injury which Felipe Massa suffered during qualifying for Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Stepping into 2010 and the motorsport world starts it off with the Dakar Rally. One of the biggest events on the motorsport calendar and without a shadow of a doubt one of the most demanding as it travels 9,000 kilometres through Argentina and Chile, over some off the most unfriendly environments in the world. The Dakar this year started off under a shadow as a spectator was unfortunately killed when a car went of-course, though the spectator was in a position which had been identified as being unsafe it still goes to show that the competitors aren’t the only ones who have to be aware off the risks. As the Dakar continues to thunder across Argentina and Chile it is expected that competitors will be forced out of the race with vehicle troubles or from injuries sustained during accidents, but those things are all part of the package and anyone taking part in the Dakar who doesn’t expect to hit some sort of problem at some point over the 9,000 kilometres will quickly get a rude awakening.

Even with knowing how demanding the Dakar Rally is though, it is hard not to wonder how fate can be such a harsh mistress when you hear the story of the Italian KTM rider Luca Manca. On stage five on the Dakar Luca Manca stopped to give his rear wheel to fellow KTM rider Marc Coma who had suffered from a massive tyre failure and was having to wait for a support truck to arrive so he could get a spare. As a result Luca lost time on the stage which dropped him back down the overall standings as he was the one left waiting for a spare wheel. Stage six then saw Luca on the attack trying to make up lost ground and after only 10 kilometres of the 418 kilometre stage he came of his KTM bike and suffered a fractured skull. After be flown to hospital he was reported to be a life threatening condition and was to be kept in a coma for five days. Luca is now in a stable condition thankfully, and hopefully he will make a full recovery and we will see him back on the Dakar Rally in 2011. Good deeds don’t always go reward it seems.

Risk is all part of the game. When you mix humans and machinery you always have to be aware of the chance of something going wrong, be it human error or a technical failure, or simply just fate saying it is not going to be your day!