You'll no doubt get this after I've landed, but what the heck...We're currently 29,000 Feet over Baja, I can't tell, but that might be San Felipe? (See photo)
At 539 mph This 767 is the smoothest and fastest prerunner I've ever been in in Mexico. Ah, just 10 hours left till we land in Santiago, Chile- glad I forgot to pack anything to read. So to bring you all up to speed on the Dakar race...
"The Dakar" began roughly 30 years ago as the "Paris to Dakar Rally". It's an off-road rally race where hundreds of motorcycles, ATVs, cars, trucks, and support vehicles compete in daily stages that take place over a two week period. The entire race covers something like 9,000 km, but unlike in the Baja 1000, the competition stops each night, and all of the competitors, race vehicles, support crews, and aircraft all come together to "camp" for the night in one location. They call this massive roaming camp site a bivouac. And every night we setup the bivouac in a different place. The next morning each competitor gets a new route map (GPS navigation is not permitted) and they race the day's course, called a "stage" or "special". In many ways the race is a lot like the Tour de France bicycle race, which makes sense, as the Dakar is organized by the same French group that does the Tour de France, known as the A.S.O
Traditionally the Paris to Dakar race ran from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal. Over the years, the route varied, and the race's start and finish lines changed locations. Generally the race began In Europe, and ended in Africa somewhere.
Last year the race was scheduled to run from Portugal to Dakar, but as many of you know, the event was canceled the day before the start due to a terrorist threat made toward the event itself.
So instead of seeing the entire race last year, all I had were the first three days of preparation before they sent me home.
For 2009 the AS0 moved the Dakar race to South America. This year's race began on January 3rd in Buenos Aires, Argentina and is making its way across the continent to Valparaiso, Chile where I'll meet up with it.
On January 10th, the Dakar racers get a "rest day" to repair their vehicles, rest, and plan the second half of their race.
Volkswagen has graciously paid my way to fly down to Chile, and meet up with the race. I'll be embedded with the team in one of VW's 3.0L diesel-powered Touaregs. The Touaregs were prepped by VW for Dakar chase use. The "service cars" as they are called are fitted with full roll cages, race seats, an extra fuel tank, BFG All-Terrain tires, and Fox Racing shocks.
I'll be in service car #805 and I think it's possible for you to track our vehicle via the satellite transponder that's fitted to it at www.dakar.com. I know you can track the actual race vehicles, but I never got a chance to confirm if you could track the service cars too? Hopefully my emails will keep you up to date.
Volkswagen has entered four "Race Touaregs" in this year's Dakar. The Race Touaregs are purpose-buit race cars that feature chromoly tube chasis and carbon fiber bodies. I got a chance to ride in one last year, and the best way I can describe them is to say they are like off-road F-1 cars.
They're not high-horsepower brutes like our American Trophy Trucks, but they are nimble, have four-wheel drive, and most importantly- feature 280hp (VW's claim) compound-turbo 2.5L diesel engines. Volkswagen hopes to defeat Mitsubishi's dominant multi-vehicle race team (that have also switched to diesel this year), but BMW and Robby Gordon's Hummer team are also in the hunt for the overall victory.
Of Volkswagen's four Race Touaregs, (car numbers: 301, 305, 307, and 308) I am particularly interested in the #308 car driven by an American off-road racer named Mark Miller.
Mark has made a name for himself racing motorcycles, Pro Trucks, and Trophy Trucks over the years in the U.S. and Mexico. He drove one of GM's Vortec Trailblazers in the Baja 2000, and just raced Volkswagen's Audi V-12 powered Touareg race truck at the Score Baja 1000 in November.
My thumbs are beginning to hurt (keep in mind I'm writing all of this on my Blackberry!) So I'll send another update later.
- David