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Fox Racing Shox Dominate Dakar Rally Stage 8 as MAGNALDI is Victorious!

• Miller SETS 2nd Best Time in Difficult Terrain
• Robby Gordon Out of Dakar Rally – Unless?
• Chris Blais USA KTM Red Bull Claims 2nd in Moto’s – Best Ever Dakar Performance

1-9-2006

Nouakchott – Total: 568km/ 340.8 miles:
Thierry Magnaldi, driving a Schlesser-Ford buggy, claimed his second stage victory in this edition of the Dakar Rally. Magnaldi’s performance was well-received in the United States, more specifically at the headquarters of Fox Racing Shox in Santee, California.

“The Schlesser cars have really performed well in the most difficult stages of the race. However, it’s still a long way to the finish line,” said Fox Manager – Todd Tenbrok.

Magnaldi’s Schlesser-Ford buggy entered the toughest stages of the Dakar Rally and has performed well utilizing finely tuned Fox Racing Shox 3.0 Triple Bypass and Coilovers. Jean-Louis Schlesser drove his own buggy to a ninth position to secure his top ten overall standing heading into stage nine.

Magnaldi’s Fox Racing Shox equipped Schlesser buggy beat the 2005 Dakar Rally Champion - Stephane Peterhansel by 6 minutes 52 seconds claiming a dominant victory in the North African desert for both Magnaldi and Fox Racing Shox.

Stage eight consisted of two very short liaison’s with a long 304.8 mile special section that include navigation through several massive canyons and then a very long dune section that tested the stamina and determination of the world’s top racers.

There is no race without drama and the buzz in the Dakar Rally camp was all about Stephane Peterhansel and his dominating Stage 7 win over the world’s top teams. In fact, it has been reported that Dakar officials removed the chip from the GPS unit of last year’s champion for review of his stage 7 performance and his stage win was being reviewed by race officials.

At the completion of stage 8, based on the unofficial stage 7, Stephane Peterhansel is the new overall leader of the Dakar Rally over Mitsubishi teammate – Luc Alphand.

Driving the #309 Volkswagen Touareg 2, American off road champion, Mark Miller, set the pace early with a blistering speed that no other teammate could match. Miller said, “The second best time is incredible, particularly as we drove seven kilometers in the wrong direction together with Giniel! At the start we saw Carlos stuck in a river bed, but the ground was too soft to help him. Later Jutta waved us by, as she had only just freed herself. The final kilometers were great fun."

Miller’s grand performance in Stage 8 places him in 8th position overall.

Volkswagen Motorsports Director – Kris Nissen explained, “We were hit hard today. Although we are still in the leading group with third and fifth positions the gaps have grown significantly. Mark Miller proved that the Race Touareg 2 is also equally competitive on the most difficult of subsoil with second fastest time."

For American off road racing champion, Robby Gordon, this year’s Dakar Rally may be finished. After crashing into the face of a sand hill in the middle of the North African sand dunes, his Jim Beam/Toyo Tires Hummer H3 suffered damage to the entire front end including the radiator, tube work, as well as suffering from a hurting clutch in his Albins transmission. Gordon limped the Hummer H3 to the start of Stage 8; however, Dakar Rally officials deemed him one hour late to the start line and refused to allow him to begin the stage. Numerous sources have reported that US representative to the ASO, also Gordon’s co-driver, Darren Skilton, will meet with officials regarding Gordon continuing in this race.

Many teams in this year’s Dakar Rally have dropped out of the race after the last two very difficult stages. Through Stage 8, a total of 148 cars, trucks and motorcycle competitors have succumb to the brutality of the 2006 Dakar Rally and its 9,043 kilometers or 5,425 miles of off road racing.

Baja Racing Champ Chris Blais Claims 2nd in Stage 8:

Baja racing champion, Chris Blais chased down Frenchman David Casteu in Stage 8 hoping to take the stage win, but fell just 2 minutes and 13 seconds short of winning yet another very difficult section of the 2006 Dakar Rally.

Riding his KTM 660 Rallye for USA Team Red Bull KTM, Blais finished ahead of 2005 Dakar Champion, Cyril Despres, by a slight margin of only 4 seconds and beat overall leader, Pujol by over four minutes as he cruised to a dominating stage performance at the Dakar Rally.

American Jonah Street, riding for the Rally Pan American KTM team, finished in 27th position with a time of 7 hours, 19 minutes in Stage 8.

American Andy Grider, teammate to Chris Blais on the USA Team Red Bull KTM contingent, suffered a frightening crash in Stage 7 that took him out of the Dakar Rally. Originally, it was reported that Grider had fractured his femur during his Stage 7 accident. Grider was airlifted out by Dakar Rally Medical Team to their mobile medical station and then flighted to a hospital in the Canary Islands. Examination and x-rays in the Canary Islands determined that Grider had not broken his femur as initially reported.

Grider’s wife, Annie met the American off road motorcycle racing champion in Lisboa where he was confined to a wheelchair. Grider’s grandfather wrote on www.Race-Dezert.com a description of his crash explaining, “Andy's description of the "launch" was that it was the highest "get-off" he'd ever had. He remembers looking way down at his bike flipping and then seeing blue sky and a fifteen-foot (more or less) drop to the ground.

He was doing only 40mph or so, but his auto-map roll had stopped functioning and he was having to adjust it by hand. He looked down for a moment and hit the sand obstruction just after that.

He's extremely disappointed. Every night after the Stages, physicals (including blood samples) are given and he was in great shape. All his signs were superior. No IVs (common for many of the riders) were necessary and he felt that he was in great shape to finish the Rally.”

In 67th position, riding a KTM for the SSC Team, James Embro continues on his quest to finish the prestigious event. Not far behind is American Mike Krynock riding for Rally Pan American and sitting in 71st position overall.

112 motorcycle teams are still in this year’s Rally and hope to make it to the finish line after completing half of the race.

Pos	Num	Drivers	Nat	Make/Model	Team	Time	Gap to 1st
1.	8	David Casteu	F	KTM 660 Rallye	Gauloises KTM France	5:55:55	0:00:00
2.	9	Chris Blais	USA	KTM 660 Rallye	Red Bull KTM	5:58:08	0:02:13
3.	1	Cyril Despres	F	KTM 660 Rallye	Gauloises KTM France	5:58:12	0:02:17
4.	3	Isidre Esteve Pujol	E	KTM 660 Rallye	Gauloises KTM France	6:02:53	0:06:58
5.	2	Marc Coma	E	KTM 660 Rallye	KTM Repsol - Red Bull	6:03:57	0:08:02
6.	10	Andy Caldecott	AUS	KTM 661 Rallye	Red Bull KTM	6:04:42	0:08:47
7.	55	Helder Rodrigues	P	Yamaha WR450	Vodafone Banco Cetelem	6:05:46	0:09:51
8.	34	Janis Vinters	LV	KTM 525 EXC	SAF Moto Team Riga	6:07:19	0:11:24
9.	21	Jordi Viladoms	E	KTM 660 Rallye	Red Bull KTM	6:08:11	0:12:16
10.	7	Jean De Azevedo	BR	KTM 700	Petrobras - Lubrax	6:09:47	0:13:52

Motorcycle Update Courtesy of Dakar.com

After yesterday's triumphant orange day with three KTM Repsol riders in the leading positions of the special and the overall, today's stage heading from Atar to Nouakchott crowned a member of the blue KTM-Gauloises team. David Casteu captured his first ever success on a Dakar while his injured team mate Cyril Despres gained time on the event leaders.

All had predicted yesterday's stage as being the most eventful of the Euromilhoes Dakar's first week, but this 7th stage had its lot of surprises and upsets. Navigation, even more than on the previous day proved to be crucial. David Casteu (KTM -- n°8) riding alongside team mate Cyril Despres (KTM -- n°1) made the best of an almost perfect day, finding the necessary way-points and flying over the dunes.

A newcomer in the KTM-Gauloises team, Casteu had one mission today: to take good care of his French compatriot Cyril Despres, who had seriously injured his shoulder two days ago, and take him safely to Nouakchott where both would enjoy a well-deserved rest day. That's exactly what he did. Both men managed a decisive move at km 280 when they easily found a way-point while the front group including Coma and Esteve took a wrong direction and struggled to find the GPS check point.

The former privateer who finished 13th of last year's event clocked the fastest time at CP2 before capturing his first ever success. Casteu beat USA's Chris Blais (KTM -- n°9) by 2'13". The 25-year-old American managed his best ever performance in a Dakar. Third was Cyril Despres who was taking it easily until the first check-point (18th over 11" adrift) resting his shoulder, before making the right move when it really mattered. The title-holder finished 2'17" behind but gained time on his Spanish rivals: over 2' on Esteve and close to 4' on Coma. Despres still remains well behind the race leaders and seemed to have forgotten his shoulder worries but was complaining about a wrist tendonitis.

Indeed in the overall standing Marc Coma (KTM -- n°2) can enjoy a 6'23" lead on Esteve (KTM -- n°3), 11'49" on De Gavardo (KTM n°4) and 26'54" on Despres.

Pos	Num	Drivers	Nat	Make/Model	Team	Time	Gap to 1st	Penalty
1.	2	Marc Coma	E	KTM 660 Rallye	KTM Repsol - Red Bull	30:49:20	0:00:00
2.	3	Isidre Esteve Pujol	E	KTM 660 Rallye	Gauloises KTM France	30:55:43	0:06:23
3.	4	Carlo De Gavardo	RCH	KTM 660	KTM Repsol - Red Bull	31:01:09	0:11:49
4.	1	Cyril Despres	F	KTM 660 Rallye	Gauloises KTM France	31:16:14	0:26:54
5.	6	Giovanni Sala	I	KTM 660 Rallye	KTM Repsol - Red Bull	31:33:48	0:44:28
6.	10	Andy Caldecott	AUS	KTM 661 Rallye	Red Bull KTM	31:36:49	0:47:29	2:00
7.	5	Pal Anders Ullevalseter	N	KTM 660 Rallye	Scandinavia	32:01:33	1:12:13
8.	8	David Casteu	F	KTM 660 Rallye	Gauloises KTM France	32:10:36	1:21:16
9.	7	Jean De Azevedo	BR	KTM 700	Petrobras - Lubrax	32:17:27	1:28:07
10.	9	Chris Blais	USA	KTM 660 Rallye	Red Bull KTM	32:17:56	1:28:36
11.	14	Alain Duclos	F	KTM	KTM - Toni - Togo	33:32:18	2:42:58
12.	12	David Fretigne	F	Yamaha WR450F 2-Trac	Yamaha Motor France/Ipo	33:40:37	2:51:17
13.	11	Michel Gau	F	KTM 660 Rallye	Gauloises KTM France	33:50:01	3:00:41
14.	19	Jacek Czachor	PL	KTM 660 LC4	Orlen Team	34:14:30	3:25:10
15.	85	Thierry Bethys	F	Honda 450 CRFX	--	34:38:15	3:48:55
16.	55	Helder Rodrigues	P	Yamaha WR450	Vodafone Banco Cetelem	34:40:54	3:51:34
17.	20	Michel Marchini	F	Yamaha WR450F	HFP Off Road	34:41:55	3:52:35
18.	16	Miran Stanovnik	SLO	KTM 660 LC4	Miran Stanovnik	35:01:38	4:12:18
19.	34	Janis Vinters	LV	KTM 525 EXC	SAF Moto Team Riga	35:15:27	4:26:07
20.	42	Jonah Street	USA	KTM	Rally Pan America	35:32:36	4:43:16

 

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9 Chris Blais – blaisracing.com
23 Andy Grider - griderracing.com
42 Jonah Street - rallypanam.com
98 Mike Krynock - rallypanam.com
99 Charlie Rauseo - rallypanam.com
180 Kevin Heath - KevinsMidLifeCrisis.com
242 Scott Whitney / Duane McDowell - HogWildRacing.com
309 Mark Miller - Mark Miller – USADakar.com
335 Robby Gordon / Darren Skilton - robbygordon.com
354 Ronn Bailey / Herve Cotel - vanguardracing.com

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