Monster Energy's TEAM Dakar USA Arrives to Portugal for Dakar Rally

Flash Gordon Set To Rock Africa and Kill The Rabbit!

Visit Robby Gordon's You Tube Channel for the latest video updates!

Lisbon, Portugal . (January 3, 2007)

Monster Energy and Robby Gordon Off-Road arrived to the capital of Portugal in Lisbon in search of victory at the famed Dakar Rally.

The attitude among this hot shot team is all about putting the Monster Energy HUMMER H3 on the podium at the finish line in Dakar some 18 days from today.

The Dakar Rally, arguably the world’s most demanding and grueling motorsports event, will start Jan. 6 in Lisbon, Portugal and end Jan. 21 in Dakar, Senegal – 6,500 miles and seven countries later.

The 19-person TEAM Dakar USA managed to arrive to this capital city intact after two grueling long flights. Robby and his dad, Baja Bob Gordon, along with two other crew members flew ahead to Belgium where they took possession of the team support trucks and caravanned from Belgium through France into Spain before crossing the border into Portugal and arriving to port city of Lisbon.

The majority of the team flew out of Los Angeles International Airport on New Year's Day after a short celebration bringing in the New Year at the LAX Sheraton Hotel.

Facing two long flights, team members sequestered themselves with their IPODS for the trip across North America and the Atlantic Ocean.

Wednesday was spent loading and packing the enormous support trucks with supplies from the 31 boxes of equipment and gear shipped to Belgium along side the support trucks. The HUMMER H3 race truck was reportedly still in quarentine with the expected release on Thursday, January 4.

Robby Gordon, the NASCAR Nextel Cup Driver and Team Owner, is fresh off a triumphant victory at the challenging SCORE Baja 1000. Traversing the rugged Baja Peninsula for over 1000 miles, the versatile all-around race car driver never looked back once he positioned his Trophy Truck in the lead. Gordon piloted the Trophy Truck for the first 700+ miles before turning over the driving duties to his young gun team driver, Andy McMillin, who raged across the finish line in downtown La Paz, Mexico just as the sun was coming up over the gorgeous Sea of Cortez. Gordon's win at the prestigious SCORE Baja 1000 not only put him back on top of the competitive desert racing world, but he gave his tire sponsor, Toyo Tires, their first ever victory at the SCORE Baja 1000.

The SCORE Baja 1000 is the longest point-to-point off road race in the world, but the Dakar Rally is the longest mileage of any professional off road race on the planet.

Making history in 2006, Robby Gordon provided the historians with the first ever American four-wheel competitor to capture a stage victory in the difficult Dakar Rally. However, several stages later, Gordon suffered a meeting with a clump of camel grass that ended his day when he suffered a broken radiator. That combined with navigation issues of the support crew and a nagging axle problem, Gordon missed the official finishing time at Stage 8 and was an official "Did Not Finish" DNF according to ISO Officials.

Learning from the mistakes of his initial foray as a team owner/driver at the Dakar Rally, Gordon has recruited what could be considered one of the top American off road teams of all time for this year's Dakar Rally.

Recruiting from the heart of America's tough off road desert racers, Gordon has selected a team that is second to none. The 19-person team consists of multiple off road desert racers who have all captured racing championships and / or have been part of teams that have dominated in the harsh deserts of North America.

The road to the 2007 Dakar Rally has not been easy as Robby Gordon Motorsports continues to operate racing efforts in three different series, as well as expanding into a fourth series in 2007.

Robby races in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, SCORE Desert Series, DAKAR Rally and recently signed Travis Coyne to campaign the #77 Monster Energy Trophy Truck in the SCORE Desert Series, as well as the PRO Comp sponsored - Pro-2 Truck in the CORR Series, Championship Off Road Racing for the 2007 season.

Maintaining a busy schedule and finding time to race with a fierce competitive spirit has never been difficult for the man they named long ago, "Flash Gordon."

Stay tuned for the latest on the efforts of Team Dakar USA from Africa. DIRTnewz will bring you the latest updates direct from reporters staged with multiple teams involved in the Dakar Rally.

In addition to Monster Energy, Robby Gordon Off-Road is supported by Hummer, Chevrolet, Pro Comp and Toyo Tires.

About Monster Energy

Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it surf, motocross, off-road, skate, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the flavors – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault and the new Monster/ fruit juice hybrid called “Khaos.” Robby Gordon digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterenergy.com