McRae ProDakar Buggy 2010 Dakar

Update 12.54: Chris and Tim passed CP5 and are heading to the finish. There is 180 kilometers left, so they should be able to get their in time. They still have nine hours left to reach the finish.

Update 0.15: Both Chris and Coronel reached checkpoint two. 55 cars already passed the 355 kilometers point, so looking at the standings of Chris and Tim at the previous point, they should reach the next point any minute if there are no problems.

Update 19.19: Chris and Coronel are both passed 141.0 km. Coronel in 38th place and Chris in 58th place. It seems Coronel is struggling with a problem between 141.0 km and CP3 (227.0 km), already 51 drivers have reached CP3.

Update 16.32: Coronel already passed the first checkpoints and is now in place 45 (which means he gained 19 places at this moment). Chris on the other hand did not reached the first checkpoint yet.

Update 11.07: Both Coronel and Leyds starting times are announced.
67 (347) Coronel T. 010h10′00″
75 (369) Leyds C. 010h18′30″

Today the McRae buggies will have to face the longest stage in the Dakar. A stage with starts in Iquique (where the special stage ended yesterday) and will end back into Antofagasta (which we already know from stage 6). With 600 kilometer of special stage this stage will be an exhausting long drive. With a great deal of different kinds of terrain, it will be challenging.

Dakar.com says:

641 km are on the menu of stage 7 including 600 km (!) against the clock, i.e. the longest stage in this 32nd edition. No chance of boredom however for the contenders who will have to face the most versatile route of the Dakar this year. The stage will start with 40km of sand dunes; then contenders will hit brittle or even very brittle terrain and even a 3km “Salar” (salt flat) they will need to cross and where it will be hard to drive faster than 10 km/h!… Other peculiarity of stage 7 is the neutralization of the race at km 177 for a 50-km liaison on asphalt to drive around a natural reserve. The contenders will start racing again at km 227, with a fast track cut off by windy sections and some off-track on rocks… In a nutshell a particularly varied menu with a lot of spicy parts just before the rest day, which allowed the organizers to push the end to 6:00PM the next day so that a maximum number of contenders would have the opportunity to reach Antofagasta within the time limits and go on with their rally raid.

Starting times are yet to be announced, so we try to keep you up to date.

Dakar.com

Dakar.com

Today’s route is from Antofagasta to Iquique. The buggies started around nine o’clock this morning and did not arrived at the finish yet (at this moment). Tim had a jammed clutch after 107 kilometers of racing, he repaired the clutch and could continue. After which he twice broke a belt, the last one in the middle of the dunes. He was about 15 kilometers away from the bivouac. He is doing everything to reach the bivouac, but the buggie is getting stug in the dunes again and again. Every time he is moving a few meters. Pascal Baars and Chris are about 25 kilometers away from him. They had a lot of delay, because of a jammed clutch by Chris as well. We needed two hours to fix the clutch. The sweeper truck already passed, but both of the gentlemen signed no to come with. It’s obvious that Chris and Tim are doing everything to keep in the race.

At this moment Tim is accompanied with some other participators, among which the truck of Rally Raid UK. Pascal is driving along with Chris and have the coordinates to pick Tim up if necessary. So they slave away through the last dunes before they reach the bivouac. The last ordeal is an immeasurable descent to the finish, which last for three kilometers. We made some pictures by daylight, where you can see this immense drop. We hope to meet Pascal, Tim and Chris here in the bivouac anytime soon.

Tomorrow there is the last tough trial, before we can take a rest for a day.

Update: Tim arrived in the bivouac at 01.30h and drove along with some other competitors, because Tim only had one headlight left.

Update 9.47: What seemed to be an easy end of the stage for Tim, became more difficult than expected. Tim had a jammed clutch. Dakar.com does not display the arrival times for Tim and Chris, so I am not sure about that at the moment.

Update 23.59: Coronel is almost at the finish, he is now in 61st place (at 393.0 km). Chris is nearby CP2.

Update 22.17: As it seems Chris had problems with a broken clutch and is now going on.

Update 21.28: Coronel already passed CP2 (at 252.0 km). He did this in the 65th position, around 2h43 behind the leader. Leyds did not pass the 153.0 km point and probably is struggling with problems. He already lost three hours to Tim. I hope to get updated on this.

Update 17.35: At the first waypoint at 68.0 km Tim came through in position 52, about 23 minutes behind the leader. Leyds on the other hand, has not arrived at this point.

A new day for the McRae buggies to test the McRae in difficult circumstances. With a very long, 418.0 km, special this will be a good test for the buggies.

Both Chris and Tim are still in the race and did considerably well yesterday. Tim start at place 55 around the clock of 11h42′00″. Chris starts 18 minutes later at 12 o’clock.

Dakar.com about stage 6

598 km are on the menu for stage 6 of which 418 km against the clock that will still make contenders suffer with challenges like managing the efforts deployed and many pace changes. Indeed, after facing a first third of the special stage off-track, the contenders will be able to “let their horse(power) loose” on broad and fast tracks before facing an erg of some 50 km towards the end of the stage. Finally the contenders will end the special stage with a vertiginous and spectacular drop of about 3km on a sand slide… an unforgettable finish to get right to the Iquigue bivouac where the finish line has been set without any liaison afterwards.

Dakar.com

Latest Update

Today we had a long special through the Atacama desert, the highest and most dry desert in the world. Tim drove without any problems till about 450 kilometers. After that the clutch jammed and he couldn’t repair it. After calling Pierre in the Netherlands and some assistance of the Afrajateam race truck, Tim continued. The pictures are made on special stage 5. After the finish there was still a liaison to drive, which was about 100 kilometers.

On that part the the belt from the driving mechanism broke. Again a Dutch truck came to rescue. Jan Lammers towed Tim to our service-truck, were the belt was fixed.

At this moment (around 24.00h) Chris is almost at the finish of the special stage riding along Pascal Baars. Chris has problems with the dynamo, but the finish is in sight.

Up to the stage of tomorrow.

Update: Chris just arrived at 2 o’clock in the morning.

Update 23.45:Tim has crossed the finish line in 53rd place. Chris just passed the control in km 339 in 72nd place.

Update 21.15: Tim is stopped with a transmition problem.

Update 21.00: Tim Passed Km 399 in 44th position. Chris also just passed km 244 in position 77.

Tim Coronel has passed check point 244 and is in position n 47 1h 41 minutes behind the leader.
Tim and Chris had been riding together pas check point km 138. But at checkpoint 187 Tim passed alone. This leads us to believe that Chris had had a spot of bother as he passed the same checkpoint 1H 30 mins later.

Both buggies made it to the first waypoint (53.0 km) on the Dakar.com live-track. Chris is about four minutes faster than Coronel is at this moment.

46 (369) Leyds C. +00h13′21″

61 (347) Coronel T. + 00h17′04″

Update at 123.0 km

43 (369) Leyds C. +00h35′19″

61 (347) Coronel T. +00h49′07″

Update 138.0 km

57 (369) Leyds C. +00h59′11″

58 (347) Coronel T. +00h54′31″

Posted by Bas ter Stege

Due to the absence of an internet-connection, this is an update on the last two days of the rally. Although I am not sure which day it is. Are we living on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday?

The 4^th of January we drove from La Rioja to Fiambala. The mechanics worked all night long to prepare the buggies for the next stage. Because the mechanics did not sleep at all, we decided that I would drive in the F350, Alvin the Audi and Norbert the 6×6, so that the guys could sleep on the way. In transit we stopped to change a driving shaft of Mauro’s buggy and although the service-team was pretty wrecked, they were up and running instantly.

When we arrived in Fiambala, hardly any of the competitors where in, which assumed that this had to be a really hard stage. A stage which became a true battlefield for the buggies. The service-team had the possibility to sleep for a few more hours, because this was going to be a really long night…

Due to the problems with the driving mechanism Dees, Mauro and Kasih had to give up after hours of struggling. Unfortunately their adventure ended way too soon. Too bad for the rookies, but nothing to say, because it is and stays a new project with the risk of unexpected problems. In a short period of time they gained a great deal of experience and will surely participate in the next edition of the Dakar rally. Also Jurgen en Kees had to forfeit. Kees spend the night in the dunes.

Tim had problems reparing the belt on the driving mechanism at kilometer 107.0. But fortunately he ran into José Lopez, who fences off the go-kart track. This sympathetic Spanish guy towed Tim to the service-team, where he arrived at two o’clock in the morning. Chris arrived at half past four together with Pascal de Baar, who tried to help the buggies for hours.

The mechanics worked through the night to get the McRae’s of Chris and Tim ready for the next stage and succeeded.

After finishing the McRae’s the belongings were packed again and a part of the crew left for a long liaison through the Cordillere, a 100 km long passage at an altitude of above 4000 meters. The highest point of the Cordillere is on 4750 meter, where we had to change air filter. The 4×4 service truck was staying in Fiambala to collect the buggies from the dunes. After a long and tiring drive, but really beautiful, the team arrived in Copiapo, a place in the middele of the sanddunes in Chile. The stage of today was not that hard and both buggies arrived in time. Tim had to be towed again on the liaison, because he had run out of fuel.

Tomorrow there will be a heavy stage heading to Antofagasta. But to be honest, everyone already had his/her tough moments. Fortunately the team spirit is high and we keep each other alive. Otherwise Pascal and the crew of the T4 does!

Pictures coming soon.

Translated by Bas ter Stege

It seems both Tim Coronel and Chris Leyds have finished. Starting times are

62 Coronel T. 010h16′30

73 Leyds C. 01h29′30

Dakar.com says the following about todays stage:

68 km are on the menu of stage 5, of which 483 km against the clock, i.e. the second longest special stage of this 32nd edition of the Dakar. On the agenda are the foothills of the Atacama Desert that will offer contenders a varied route alternating between fast sections and boulder sections with e.g. the crossing of two very “rocky” off-road sections and the discovery of the Chilean fesh-fesh – a particularly soft terrain that feels almost like flour. Riders and drivers are in for a long day and their main aim will be to spare themselves and their machines in this first “truly long” endurance-focused special stage of the 32nd Dakar.

Image by dakar.com

Image by Dakar.com

Posted by Bas ter Stege

Our Friend Chris Leyds was feared missing as he disappeared of the Radar screen. His number had not appeared in the dakar website in the control page at check point 38. But he has been spotted by the Service truck by CP2. We feared the worst, but Chris is like a cat, he always lands on his feet.

Coronel has finished stage 4 in 62th place, 2h05′01 behind the leader Robby Gordon (according to live tracking)

Chris Leyds on the other hand, has not passed the first checkpoint at 38.0 km and there is not anything known about his status at this moment.

Posted by Bas ter Stege

Only the McRae’s of Chris Leyds and Tim Coronel are still participating in the Dakar 2010 Edition according to the service team of ProDakar.

The circumstances in the third stage were really, really bad for all the drivers. The service team wanted to pick up Hanggoro and Koolen, but the service truck was technically not able to drive back into the desert.

As it seems Hanggoro, Koolen, Beffie, Castelnuovo and Van Den Goorbergh are out of the rally.

Good luck to Tim and Chris today in a new difficult stage.