GHR Honda Team Site & Blog
Dakar 2011: Day 09
Pics: Days 8 & 9
Jan 12th
Some pictures in from the crew covering the last 48 hours.
Tiring work!
Mark Davidson and Jake Smith playing tourist.
GHR clowns...
Clear skies and mountains are a recurrent theme here in Chile.
Another Pacific sunset.
It's hard to guess which way is up with this carcass!
Simon and the The 11 metre tall Mano del Desertio in the Atacama Desert.
Mark Miller's Touareg in service.
The spaceframe construction on these means the rear metalwork under the body is solely for storage.
Seriously tough front end construction on these though!
Race seat removed from #304.
More Aussies!
More sky and more mountains!
First wave of the mass start on Day 9.
They're off! The first 10.
Jake Smith right in centre of shot as he launches off into the desert.
The second wave disappear into the Atacama wilds.
Jake on some of the mining roads mid stage.
More spectators out in the Atacama.
Nalu's Luke McNee gets the shot!
Luke back at work...
These guys have a seriously fun job chasing the field from the air.
Eduard Nikolaev flies past in his Red Bull Kamaz. The trucks were last out into the stage.
Day 9: Copiapo > Copiapo
Jan 12th
A quick update on the end of Day 9.
Jacob Smith started in the second wave of the mass-start of the loop though the Atacama Desert dunes and finished the day 30th on stage, 00:22:57 behind stage winner Jonah Street. He took it relatively easy in the 235km special to ensure he completed it without crashing or getting lost.
Nearing the end he happened upon front running Helder Rodrigues whose Yamaha had run out of fuel. Only 3km from the end of the stage, Jacob allowed Rodrigues to draw fuel from his #113 bike. Jacob was in no position to win the stage so the small amount of time lost seemed inconsequential. What did become an issue was the significant three hour time penalty applied to Jacob ‘s overall race time which now sees him drop to well below where he should be in the standings. It’s worth noting that the penalty has nothing to do with Jacob’s actions in the stage.
The team are currently working with the ASO and are appealing for the removal of the penalty. If successful, it will see Jake go back to a more appropriate 27th overall, but no decision will be made until tomorrow at the earliest.
More as it comes to hand, but in the meantime you can watch the action from the stage at http://player.sbs.com.au/dakar/#/dakar/highlights/highlights/playlist/Dakar-Stage-9-Bikes/.
Visitor Comments