Saving up for......

If only!!



and definitely NOT one of these silly things...

Dakar ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!hahahahaha

Those "silly things" sure float over the dunes though. Rather extricate an X-Raid Mini from the sand than De Rooy's monster Iveco!

Good point, but they are HORRID!!

"Horrid!"

Notice the tyres aren't agressive in any way on that Mini, more like road tyres. Whereas I've noticed Robby Gordon's Hummer and several other competitors have mud tyres fitted. This really doesn't make any sense as all they do is dig their way down into soft sand. Any idea why?

Last time I saw gordon's Hummer it was upside down so did not matter how aggresive the tyres are!

Fortunatley both crew members ok.

Apparently he drove into a steep sand bowl, the nose dug into the soft sand and flipped the vehicle end over end. All pretty much slow motion so no damage to crew or vehicle, but still frustrating as he lost a lot of time before being stuck back on all fours.

Still not out of contention as there is a way to go yet ... plus one of the Minis is out, so you never know.

At least it saves wear on his tyres, he can use them again next year.

Who do I complain to? Dakar coverage was atrocious. Due to over-runs in the schedule because of the snooker and tennis, only saw about 60% of the total coverage - and that was only that high because I was recording Dakar Live during the day and in the evening, all the following programmes to the Dakar Rally regular slot. Even then the snooker or tennis could take up the next slot too!

"We never leave a live sport" is the official Eurosport line. Well in that case don't put Dakar programmes on following sports that have the potential over-run ... twats!!!

Often they missed out the trucks, this is my favourite, particularly when two race side by side on a track wide enough for one, scrub everywhere.

Likewise, and that must go for so many. I passed Jan de Rooy once on a dusty track in Mali or Mauritania, he must have been taking it easy as he has 1,000hp to call on - twin engines, twin turbos on each engine! After a couple of blasts on the air horns, had to wait until he indicated left or right, then I knew which side was safe to pass. My life was in his hands as I couldn't see a damn thing, total red dust storm. In those situations you have to be patient and wait, as doing your own thing can easily result in meeting up with a donkey and cart head-on mid manoeuvre - not to be recommended.