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Dakar 2021

By The Inquisitor,
in Pro Motorcycle Racing

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Grand Master

eastreich

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Sunderland is potentially in the drivers seat for the massive stage 11, if he can catch the Hondas in front of him he still has a chance.  He will have Walkner in front of him to pace off of, so he doesn't have to read the roadbook as critically and can focus on speed.  Kevin, Ricky, and Joan won't do the team thing as ALL of them have a shot at winning it.

KTM has to have something worked out with Skyler to help out Sunderland.  They just have to.  Like, say, a signed contract for a supported 2021/2022 ride waiting in Jeddah...

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Oregon lightweight moto

Wait until you tell people what the wp on his suspension used to stand for. 

deanevo
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Some great moto footage.

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Grand Master

firffighter

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, eastreich said:

Sunderland is potentially in the drivers seat for the massive stage 11, if he can catch the Hondas in front of him he still has a chance.  He will have Walkner in front of him to pace off of, so he doesn't have to read the roadbook as critically and can focus on speed.  Kevin, Ricky, and Joan won't do the team thing as ALL of them have a shot at winning it.

KTM has to have something worked out with Skyler to help out Sunderland.  They just have to.  Like, say, a signed contract for a supported 2021/2022 ride waiting in Jeddah...

Unfortunately Sam isn't as fast as the Honda boys in the 2nd part of the Dakar terrain.  He excels in the dunes, but Ricky is unbelievably fast in the terrain they're in now, although some dunes for stage 11 make things interesting.  Shortened stage 11 as well. 

It would be an unbelievable victory for Ricky to come from over 20 down in the 2nd half and have back to back titles. 

Edited by firffighter
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Grand Master

firffighter

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Laia Sanz now sitting in 20th overall in here 11th Dakar! Now that's impressive and she's been recovering from Lime Disease. 

Also really fun to see Knighter out there. 

Really wish Short would have had a full run at it this year. He was poised to do some damage with the big boys.

Yamaha looks to have some work to do with only 1 factory rider left and mechanical issues for the other factory bikes. 

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Grand Master

eastreich

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2 minutes ago, firffighter said:

Unfortunately Sam isn't as fast as the Honda boys in the 2nd part of the Dakar terrain.  He excels in the dunes, but Ricky is unbelievably fast in the terrain they're in now.  

It would be an unbelievable victory for Ricky to come from over 20 down in the 2nd half and have back to back titles. 

With how the ASO has now shortened up Stage 11 removing a bunch of the dunes and putting in the neutralization zones in the middle of it, I think it may be harder for Ricky to get away from Kevin.  Sam is screwed with the cutting back of the dune kms.  Ricky is going to need Kevin to make a navigational error (although that is easily possible), and Sam needs both Hondas to implode.  If Kevin can catch Ricky right away and latch onto him, there isn't much he will be able to do.  Ricky is going to have to pin it to win it, right out of the gate but that is something he is one of the few that can on the terrain that will start the stage.

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Grand Master

eastreich

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1 minute ago, DPete said:

Ricky took the lead today by 3+min

Won the stage by 3 minutes. 

He is second overall, just about a minute behind Kevin.

Since Kevin will start behind him tomorrow, Ricky has to try to break away from everyone while breaking trail.  If Kevin can catch him and then just follow he will put a lot of time on Ricky in the overall.

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Grand Master

OUTERLIMITS

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2 hours ago, firffighter said:

Ricky definitely has the speed and if pushed, he'll have a shot, but pushing hard can really bite in the Dakar. 

Quintanilla was just behind Price in time at end of 2019 and pushed it.

 

That was a hard landing.  Very sporting of that other rider to roost on him and the guys helping him on his way out.

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DPete

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3 hours ago, eastreich said:

Won the stage by 3 minutes. 

He is second overall, just about a minute behind Kevin.

Since Kevin will start behind him tomorrow, Ricky has to try to break away from everyone while breaking trail.  If Kevin can catch him and then just follow he will put a lot of time on Ricky in the overall.

OK my bad, I must have misread

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Woodschamp

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Posted (edited)
21 hours ago, eastreich said:

Sunderland is potentially in the drivers seat for the massive stage 11, if he can catch the Hondas in front of him he still has a chance.  He will have Walkner in front of him to pace off of, so he doesn't have to read the roadbook as critically and can focus on speed.  Kevin, Ricky, and Joan won't do the team thing as ALL of them have a shot at winning it.

KTM has to have something worked out with Skyler to help out Sunderland.  They just have to.  Like, say, a signed contract for a supported 2021/2022 ride waiting in Jeddah...

Stage 11       *Barreda has dropped out 

96B13292-D12A-48BB-90CA-710000E1D58E.jpeg

Edited by Woodschamp
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Grand Master

firffighter

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26 minutes ago, Woodschamp said:

Bummer .. none of the factory Yamahas finished

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKEq2O8hanA/?igshid=11e4lhp9qbzcs

Seems they have gone backwards since the legend rode. 
 

 

552255A8-CFB7-4806-B079-E7BCDF73C569.jpeg

They were actually on the verge of winning the thing 2 years ago when Van Beveren's engine blew while he was the overall leader.  

It's actually strange since the Yamaha motors are renowned for their reliability,  but, obviously these are not stock engines and Dakar is a completely different animal when it comes to testing bike's and the components.  

I am glad to see success with Honda and it helps fuel some rivalry with KTM for the future. 

Actually,  sounds like Walkner from KTM made a comment about Joan Boredda missing the fuel stop as some sort of team tactics.  Unfortunately, it wasn't anything like that and apparently he was suffering from confusion as a result of a concussion. Oh well, Walkner apologized and it's a long difficult race and tempers are going to flare from time to time.  

Great race this year, stunning scenery,  and, as always,  drama along the way. 

Edited by firffighter
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