I watched most of the Dakar rally except for the final day in Buenos Aires which was missing from the batch torrent. I know the final day isn't competitive but it was still mildly disappointing not seeing it.
The most notable thing about moving the rally to South America was the number of enthusiastic spectators. They seemed to be everywhere, even in places that looked like it was the middle of nowhere! I could theorize about why the Africans didn't pay much attention to the rally but that's a subject for another post.
The rally had some seriously difficult stages. The first week was supposed to be easier, but stage two was one of the worst. The Atacama was truly amazing. The enormous size of the dunes and the "sharp" crests, created problems for struggling. The fact that several stages were shortened and one was cancelled completely tells the tale of difficult the conditions were.
It was scary how Carlos Sainz when out. The road book didn't seem to indicate that there was a 6 meter drop into the gully they were suppose to cross, so he basically drove off a small cliff! While they getting medical attention in the gully, another car almost went off the same cliff. If it had not stopped in time, it would have landed on Sainz car. I don't even want to think about how bad that could have been.
I'm looking forward to next year's race. The route is here and it looks like they will making two passes through the Atacama. That's just nuts!
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