So the first minute or so of this video is an amazing snapshot of what the Dakar is really all about. The guy and his bike are there alone. He’s in a specific bike category that isn’t allowed support (I believe only life threatening events supersede this). They leave at 5 in the morning; get back in 5 to 12 hours depending on whether they had a good day; then fix and prep their bikes themselves at night with no engineers and maybe grab 2 to 5 hours of sleep before they go again.
It’s proper grit.
There’s also a bit later on where a fuck ton of trucks got stuck in a huge sand basin overnight. I think the day before, one truck went over the top thinking it was just another dune, then loads of them followed his line and none of them could get out. =)
Also I have to say, despite a clear design flaw in their suspension which has cost them tons of time overall, the Audi eTron cars - which are a brand new electric concept this year - have made a huge and historic mark on motor sport. All three of their cars have stage wins (and each stage is near enough the length of a WRC event distance) this year against traditional cars and biofuel ones as well.
I haven’t seen electric beat combustion over that kind of distance before. I think the way it charges is still something that needs work but honestly I think it’s the first real spark of the end times for petrol based motorsport.
Another ten years and we’ll more and more be preserving that noise (and maybe even the smell) with sim racing.
The video’s well worth a watch even if you don’t follow rallying; it’s the best taster of the Dakar I’ve seen for a while and I’ve been following these highlight videos since the race started.
I will say though, the presenter is the literally the most annoying pun obsessed twunt of his ilk. If you don’t find yourself involuntarily shouting “fuck off” a couple of times then I doff my cap to you.