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Road to Dakar ...

SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn

13
Joined
Nov 30, 2010
Location
San Francisco, 94102
Moto(s)
KLR, K75s, TR7V, FXSB
Name
John A.
BARF perks
AMA #2917550
got two Dakar 2023 qualifying "Road to Dakar" rally raids goin' on this week:

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The Africa Eco Rally ... tracking webpage for the Africa race is here.

no yanks in the Africa Eco Rally, since the Yokahama Sonora Rally is also this week, October 17th - 22nd, 2022, starting in the historic city of Hermosillo ending in the traditional home of Sonora Rally, San Luis Rio Colorado.

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The Sonora Rally is cool, since it's USA riders getting ready for the 2023 Dakar in Saudi Arabia, but the really cool rally this October is the Africa Eco Rally, because it's in Africa, the classic venue for the Dakar Rally back in the day, and since I'm pretty sure it has classes for race bikes over 450 cc.

and, in a little over 2 months, we'll be able to watch the 2023 Dakar, w00t! :ride
 
fun Africa Eco Rally preview vid ... looks like Mr Tarrés will be campaigning a Yamaha T7:

[YOUTUBE]yMq6tulnb34[/YOUTUBE]

and also looks like Mr Tarrés is being helped by Dakar legend Mr Jordi Arcarons, who won 27 stages on bikes like the DR Big, Cagiva Elefant 900, Yamaha YZE 850T, KTM LC4 and KTM LC4 660R, over 17 years from 1988 to 2004 ...
 
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So in on this.

These guys are real humans facing a huge challenge and so much respect of the effort given by me.
 
looking like the Yamaha T7 makes a fine race bike.
Mr Botturi and his T7 taking today's stage in the Africa Eco Rally ... :ride

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Stage 2, Africa Eco Rally:

[YOUTUBE]T11otzlin4c[/YOUTUBE]

Mr Howes remains in first place after two stages of the 2022 Sonora Rally ...

the big newz today is that the Sonora Rally will be an official part of the World Rally Raid championship in 2023, bringing international motorcycle rally racing to North America again. :party
 
SFMCjohn said:
Mr Howes remains in first place after two stages of the 2022 Sonora Rally ...

the big newz today is that the Sonora Rally will be an official part of the World Rally Raid championship in 2023, bringing international motorcycle rally racing to North America again. :party
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That is awesome...!!! :thumbup
 
budman said:
That is awesome...!!! :thumbup
Click to expand...

that's very cool, isn't it? :thumbup
the Sonora Rally has been traditionally a little anti-spectator, so I'm hoping that in 2023 when it's part of the official World Rally series, they may have to make some small allowance for we rally raid fans ... :laughing:ride

Mr Howes continues to dominate the Sonora Rally, nearing the end of today's stage at speeds approaching 100 mph on his factory Husky 450 Rally race bike:

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in sad news related to how fast the fast guys go, Mr Armindo Neves from Portugal, racing an SWM RS 500 R based racebike, lost his life on yesterday's Africa Eco Rally stage:

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Portuguese motorcyclist dies in Africa Eco Race

godspeed, Mr Neves ... :rose
 
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:rip Armindo

Skylar be ripping...!
 
budman said:
:rip Armindo

Skylar be ripping...!
Click to expand...

he had another good day today, in the BIG DUNES, winning the stage, again, and dominating the competition, apparently.

opening a stage (as Mr Howes did today), is usually a disadvantage, because the first bike needs to navigate carefully, while those following can follow the stage-opener's track, and so can ride a bit faster than the guy in the lead. here's a fun tid-bit about how Mr Howes dealt with that problem/disadvantage in the Sonora Rally's big-dunes stage:

I just figured out Skyler's strategy.

He lays down a fresh track, which everyone seems to be following. But he makes sure to take a path that everyone else will struggle with, i.e. instead of looking for the easy way, he takes the hard way.

That's taking his slight advantage in the dunes, and multiplying it to extend his advantage. It's been a half hour since he won the stage, and still nobody else near the finish!
Click to expand...

pretty cool rally strategy--if you're a good enough rider/racer to make it work. :ride
 
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here's an example of why North America will be such a cool place for a
World Rally event in 2023 ...

the pic shows 14 miles of the big dunes the Sonora Rally racers had to negotiate today on a single compass heading ... gives us a little bit of a flavor for just how big they are:

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:ride
 
SFMCjohn said:
he had another good day today, in the BIG DUNES, winning the stage, again, and dominating the competition, apparently.

opening a stage (as Mr Howes did today), is usually a disadvantage, because the first bike needs to navigate carefully, while those following can follow the stage-opener's track, and so can ride a bit faster than the guy in the lead. here's a fun tid-bit about how Mr Howes dealt with that problem/disadvantage in the Sonora Rally's big-dunes stage:



pretty cool rally strategy--if you're a good enough rider/racer to make it work. :ride
Click to expand...

Awesome... love it...!! :thumbup
 
‘nother example of Mr Howes’s superior rally tactics on today’s Sonora Rally stage, which is seeing a second day of huge dunes:

Mr HogWild on ADV.com said:
Follow the leader, no matter which way he goes!
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Click to expand...

you can see Mr Howes choosing to open a route over more difficult terrain. He has a big, big overall lead, despite having to open the stage the last few days … :ride
 
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