Born in the scorching sands of Africa, motorsport’s ultimate endurance event will once again test the mettle of some of the world’s bravest drivers next month. Its late creator described it as “a challenge for those who go, a dream for those who stay behind” — and the Dakar Rally has lost none of its daring appeal since moving to South America three years ago. On Saturday, 430 vehicles cars, motorcycles, trucks and quad bikes — will line up on Buenos Aires’ Avenue of July 9 to begin a 15-day trek through the Andes mountains and Atacama desert into northern Chile, then back down into Argentina. The race has been contested since 1978, after Frenchman Thierry Sabine lost his way during the previous year’s Abidjan-Nice rally. Sabine was so captivated by his experience in the Libyan Desert that he sought to create an event where competitors could enjoy such a stunning setting, and the Paris-Dakar rally was born – a grueling 6,000-mile route from France to Senegal. Read More→
South African off-road racing legend and KTM ‘supremo’ Alfie Cox has once again set his sights on the world’s most famous off-road motorsport event … the Dakar rally. Alfie together with his good friend Juergen Schroeder will be racing a South African prepared Nissan Navara over the tortuous 9500km 13 stage course through South America. This is very much an international collaboration between South Africa based Alfie Cox Racing and German based PS Laser Racing who are the key sponsors. Not only will Alfie and Juergen be tackling the hardest rally in the world but they will also be challenging themselves to make a difference in their support of the Cipla Miles for Smiles Foundation. Through their efforts they hope to raise funds and awareness of under-privileged children afflicted with facial deformity. Joining them on this goodwill crusade will also be Iain Stevenson, a KwaZulu Natal based wireless communications entrepreneur who is meeting his ‘Everest’ as he tackles his first Dakar on a KTM motorbike supplied and prepared by Alfie. Read More→
Puro Off-Road wishing all true Off-Road fans, supporters and desert racing competitors a Merry Christmas and peaceful Holidays! Season Greetings to our dear friends in Mexico, Germany, Holland, Southafrica and the USA.
Armin Schwarz Newsletter – I wish you all a wonderful Christmas celebration and a perfect start into the New Year. My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you who supported us during 2010 and helped make the year so successful. With our sensational overall victory at the San Felipe we turned heads in the USA and really stirred up the media. For this and all the night shifts I want to say a very special thanks to my teammates at All German Motorsports! The outright victory gives us incredible motivation for 2011 and our huge project – the AGM Trophy Truck! The Trophy Truck for 2011 is already taking shape. Our AGM team with Martin Christensen at the helm is working closely with Mike Jules, the owner and race car designer at Jimco chassis specialists. Both Mike and Mark are geniuses in their fields and Mike is always willing to listen to our ideas. Read More→
Robby Gordon will continue to represent Toyo Tires and its Open Country products in legendary international races such as the Baja 500, Baja 1000 and Dakar. Gordon’s team features the new SPEED Energy/Toyo Tires livery and will be a major presence at each race. Leading the charge for Toyo Tires in desert racing, Gordon has competed on Toyo Open Country M/T-R tires since 2005. He has delivered several victories for Toyo Tires including the company’s first Baja 1000 win in 2006, the first Dakar stage win in January of 2007 and our first SCORE Overall Championship in 2009. Gordon has also captured numerous SCORE desert racing victories over the last five years and in 2009, he finished third overall in the grueling Dakar. Read More→
When is a Hummer, not just a Hummer? When it’s tricked out for racing by NASCAR driver Robby Gordon’s crew. Robby Gordon heading to South America for the 2011 Dakar Rally. A TV interview with Robby Gordon prior to shipping out the Speed Energy Hummers for the Dakar Rally Raid. Team Dakar USA showed that they a serious contender in the Dakar and could compete with the best off-road teams in the world if there are no technical challenges. Also more VW Motorsports pre-race logistics. On December 10 Volkswagen Motorsport employees carefully monitored how three of the four 228 kW (310 hp) desert prototypes were loaded and securely lashed onto special open containers. Read More→
Without Aral and BP the Volkswagen train would not roll a single metre during the Dakar Rally. In January Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E), Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D), Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) and Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) and their four new Race Touareg 3 rely on fuels supplied by the internationally active company, which numbers among the partners in Volkswagen’s “Dakar” program. The two Race Trucks also entered in the competition are supplied with the same fuel, while the remaining chase vehicles are supplied from public fuel stations along the route. Before Volkswagen fights again in 2011 for victory in the world’s toughest desert rally using Aral Ultimate Diesel fuel, the products start a long journey. The liquid energy is transported by sea to South America. “Since transport between Argentina and Chile is prohibited, every country is supplied by ship,” Read More→
Mini All4 racing X-raid team and Pewano Team Volvo XC60 CC release exciting news for Rally Raid fans. The Dakar 2010 will see a Team Xraid entrance with the all new All4 Racing Monster Energy Mini driven by the all French rally crew of rally pilot Guerlain Chicherit and co-driver Michel Périn in January’s 33rd Dakar Argentina-Chile rally Raid. The new MINI All4 Racing will form part of X-raid’s seven-car Dakar team – the largest ever entered by a team in the 33-year history of the world’s most famous off-road rally – and the third of three vehicles running on the event under the Monster Energy X-raid Team banner. Read More→
A event summary by Armin Schwarz. Baja 1000: Tough Race Luck, Fascination undiminished. Lady Luck was not particularly on our side for the Baja 1000 (18/19 November). After 900 kilometers, I handed our AGM Buggy over to my friend and teammate Martin Christensen ranking third in our class. But, despite all his experience, Martin’s race ended abruptly with a “G-Out”. Basically, a “G-Out” is an ‘off’, but that doesn’t adequately portray the whole drama: The rear suspension bottoms out on a steep rock ledge, the Buggy kicks up its rear like a wild Mustang, which usually ends in a roll. Martin managed to avoid the worst, the crew and the Buggy were luckily not seriously hurt. But, despite our bad luck the Baja is still my passion. It’s one of the last great adventures that you can experience in a race car. I wrote down my memories of two days during the pre-run. Let me give you a little idea of the desert’s fascination, and the adventures and of Baja California. Read More→
