Dakar 2013: Pictures from Lima

Jan 5th

Posted by admin in Dakar 2013: People

Time for some more pictures from Lima.

The boys hired a driver for two hour tour, visiting the start area and scrutineering zone just to get their bearings. Historical sites tell part of the the story of Lima. There are some grand old buildings but plenty not so grand also. The GHR bivouac in Lima was quite comfortable. Instead of camping in a foot of dust with everyone else they took over the whole Melia Lima hotel. Management arranged a photo shoot for themselves, the underground carpark was the comandeered as pits and whenever the truck needed space all the other teams had to move their cars.

Simon, Pete, Rob, Todd and Jake playing tourists at what will be the starting point of the Dakar.

Lima: architecture old and new.

Lima: one hell of a view down the coast!

Lima: colonial architecture in a city of nearly 9 million people.

Lima: colonial cityscapes.

Lima: three people in this tiny taxi.

Lima: when you have a race truck you need a good tow vehicle.

Lima: not a good start for this competitor.

Lima: home away from home.

Lima: the boys out and about.

Lima: getting to know the local police, for good reasons.

Lima: main road to the warehouse holding the team container and air freighted bikes.

Lima: where to park the new GHR truck? Out the front of course.

Lima: the crew have been eating well courtesy of the local pasta house, and yes it is fresh.

Lima: but some habits die hard. The ubiquitous golden arches.

Lima: the GHR Bivouac. Instead of camping in a foot of dust with everyone else they took over the whole Hotel.

Lima: GHR reserved parking and hotel management.

Lima: the Dakar crew briefing. Hard work but someone has to do it.

Lima: the night before Dakar! Glen, Brett, Todd, Paul, a charitable local and Warren.

After the riders briefing there was total chaos. No taxis could be found. What do you do but pull over a local and give them some team stickers and a bit of cash. He did it just to help out and pulled of some radical moves in grid lock traffic including a u-turn across six lanes of traffic to deliver the boys home to the Melia. Just an example of the atmosphere over here.

Dakar 2013: People, Dakar 2013: Places

Dakar 2013: Preparations

Jan 4th

Posted by admin in Dakar 2013: Preparation

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Pictures are starting to come in from the boys as they settled into life in Lima and commenced the final preparations before scrutineering. The truck needed to be located along with the support car and shipping container, the bikes collected from the freight terminal and everything packed in the truck. All of the navigation gear and graphics were fitted to the bikes and quad before they were all fed through scrutineering one by one.

Pictures from Todd Smith:

Official beer. Very important!

View from the ceremonial start.

The GHR war room. From left: Rob, Glenn, Simon and Jake.

Pictures from Pete Wilhelms:

The GHR service truck.

The bikes made it safe and sound.

Rob and Jake starting to unpack.

Todd Smith and his bike assembled ready to go.

The boys assembling another bike.

The container has been located.

The GHR service car.

Inside the GHR service car.

Fitting the rack units to the truck for the first time.

Final checks on the equipment.

Ready to go!

Graphics applied and final assembly done before scrutineering.

Paul Smith and quad.

Dakar HQ and scrutineering awaits.

Paul Smith sizing up the competition.

Pictures from Glen Grundy:

Scrutineering is all about waiting your turn. I think it was 5 hours for Glen.

Glen running through scrutineering.

Navigation gear all in place.

Pictures from Brett Cummings:

Paul and Todd going through documentation. Fellow Aussie Rod Faggotter in the background.

Glen's bike in foreground, Brett's behind.

Off to scrutineering!

A hive of activity at Dakar HQ.

A long time in the planning, but it's now official. Brett Cummings, #89.

Pictures from Paul Smith:

Look out Dakar, Smitty's here.

Paul's office view for two weeks.

The GHR service truck all fitted with racks, Armourboy cases and Rolacases.

Ready for service, the GHR support car.

Paul's TRX700XX quad at scrutineering with Todd's CRF450X.

Dakar 2013: Preparation

Dakar 2013: Packing

Jan 1st

Posted by admin in Dakar 2013: Preparation

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The mechanics never know what they are going to encounter each day when the competitors roll into bivouac, so it’s critical that no time is wasted looking for gear. This meant that every single tool, part or consumable has to have it’s own special place and be accounted for on running checklists. Building the new system has been a huge undertaking to build, but removes the need to unpack the container and completely repack all the gear as was the case in 2011. All the heavy gear was shipped from GHR in Mittagong at the end of October, and delivered to Lima, Peru.

: Rolacase and Armourboy cases installed

: Rolacase and Armourboy cases installed

: Rolacase and Armourboy cases installed

: Dakar engines built and run in

: Engines built and run in

: Engines built and run in

: Bikes packed and ready for shipping

: Rob starting to pack his spares

: Armourboy cases will carry all bulky tools and spares

: Armourboy cases filling up

: Modular racking systems

: Modular racking systems

: Modular racking systems

: Armourboy case filled with spares

: Small components being packed in Rolacases

: Head mecahnic Simon Wade with his creations

: Nearly ready to go!

: Armourboy cases

: Rob packing his Rolacases

: Armourboy cases

: Rolacases

: Honda oils ready to go

: Just some of the stockpiled tyres

: Racking frames in production

: Modular racking frames

: Snug fit in the container

: Warren Strange looking the part in his very white tshirt

: Weighing the Armourboy cases

: Bagged wheels and tyres atop the racks

: Cases everywhere!

: Loading the tyre bags

: Second layer of racking in place

: Bike stands

: Rob’s is this big

: Simon’s is this big

: Simon is not impressed

: Paul Smith’s Dakar quad

: Nearly full!

: A job well done

: Setting off on the first leg of the long trip to Lima

Dakar 2013: Preparation

Dakar 2013: New partnerships with GHR Honda

Jan 1st

Posted by admin in Dakar 2013: Preparation

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Once again it is Dakar time, and GHR Honda want to acknowledge some new partnerships for 2012-13.

A small army of mechanics and support crew work relentlessly behind the scenes to keep riders and machines in action at Dakar. None of this is possible without thorough planning and safe carriage of all tools, spares and equipment. The planning stage began many months before the personnel gathered in Peru this week.

After GHR’s 2011 Dakar campaign, it was clear that a larger truck was required and the faithful MAN truck used that year was sold to one of GHR’s new supporters – the Coconut Car Racing Team sponsored by the Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort. Another larger truck was sourced through a contact in Europe and a new strategy devised for transport of the heavy equipment and spares. This time around the team chose to build special modular rack units that could be prepacked at home and installed as complete units in the truck body in Peru.

All the gear based in Australia had to be inventoried, sorted and packed into some form of recepticles and it was earlier this year that Australian businesses Armourboy and Rolacase offered support with their specialised equipment cases. Armourboy’s utility cases have provided the team with a standardised case system for bulky items and tools, while the Rolacase “multiple storage systems” have solved the problem of keeping small parts and spares safely organised in portable units. These two systems were integrated into the rack design. This new delivery system will not only save valuable time in the days immediately before the start of the event but also reduce the set up and pack up times each day the service crews need to move.