Posted on 01/07/2007 7:37:17 AM PST by Fierce Allegiance
NASCAR is to auto racing what the WWF is to wrestling.
There are about 185 cars racing IIRC. About 30% are out already, and they just barely got past Morroco, and into the dunes.
NOw, that's racing!
What channel will this be covered on?
Last year I believe it was OLN, which is now called Versus.
Yes, it's on Versus. They are covering it WAY better than years past, with the European feed, just like SPEED used to do.
It's on 6:30 pretty much every night.
Check out some of the video links, cool stuff!
It's exciting stuff. I love road rally races. I'll be tuning in for the VS. broadcasts.
Going out to eat tonight, but I will record it! Thanks!
After 10 stages of racing, and only one fatality on the Dakar Rally, American Robby Gordon is running 8th overall with one stage win in the cars, and Chris Blaise is in a very impressive 4th place overall on the bikes.
Go Robby!
I recorded it for the first time last night and watched it after I got the little one in bed. Great stuff!
As a side note, my wife was in the other room but picked right up on the accent of her fellow South African, Giniel de Villiers.
So if it starts in Portugal, how do they drive across the Straits of Gilbraltar?
I thought about tht possibility. There was a really good SA bike rider who retired last year, Alfie Cox.
I love the SA accent. I know you know what I mean.
BTW, could you imagine racing one of those trucks? I drove trucks before college, but couldn't imagine running 120 mph through the desert, etc, and getting one totally airborne like they do.
Ferry. The race is broken up into liason (non-timed portages, if you will) and timed specials. They are only on the road 8-18 hours a day. It's not as if they drop a green flag in Lisbon and the first one to Dakar wins. ts much more heavily organized.
All cars must be road-legal and registered for travel on all the roads in each country they visit.
Sorry, I'm used to NASCAR and Indy where the green flag drops and you race until something blows, you end up in a fireball, or someone gets the checkered flag.
I understand. This is nearly 6,000 miles, though, spread out over about 16 days.
The webiste linked upthread is pretty good, nt greatthough, at explaining it.
If you get a chance, try to check out some of the coverage on Versus (used ot be OLN) at 6:30 Eastern time each night. It's usually prety impressive.
I've heard of Alfie Cox. He used to race at Kyalami which is just a few km. from my sister-in-law's house.
As an interesting side note, my wife is related by marriage to Paddy Driver, who is a retired bike and Grand Prix driver. I believe he used to race Nortons.
I know what you mean about the accent. Too bad the Mrs. has lost hers!
Driving one of those trucks must be unbelievable!
I've never driven a truck that size, but can you imagine the beating a driver's body must take?
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