2007 Dakar Daily by Scott Cox dakar@resmarket.com
Thursday-Friday January 11-12, 2007
IN HIS OWN WORDS:
Chris Blais reflects
on his performance:
5th overall Stage 5.
from dakar.com
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"It was a good day for me. I thought I had ridden well, but I still lost 14 minutes. I made a slight navigational mistake just before CP2. It was a stupid way to lose time. After the night without assistance, I was obviously worried about the state of the bike. By the time I got here, the rear tire was completely bald. Today, I was thinking of Elmer Symons while I was riding. He was a good friend and often came to see me. It's really bad. He'd been talking about doing this race for five years. With Cyril (Despres) and Marc (Coma) we spoke to all the riders to tell them to be really careful, to follow the road-book instructions and not to leave the right track, especially in the morning with a full tank and tiredness from the night before. It's something that we professional riders should also keep in mind." |
Stage 6 - Thursday 1/11/07
Tan Tan - Zouerat
414 km liason - 394 km special - 9km liason - 817 km TOTAL DISTANCE
Stage 6 according to www.dakar.com -- Navigation by heading
"Here's the longest stage of the rally - by the end of the day, almost a thousand kilometres will have been clocked up! To set off on this long preliminary liaison leading to the Mauritanian border, you have to get up extremely early in the morning. Then you need to apply yourself to navigation by heading and off-road, yet more techniques for drivers and co-drivers to get to grips with again. At this stage in the rally, just one piece of advice: play for economy."
Blais steps up again: 4th overall after Stage 6
Last night I had a chance to speak via satellite phone with Dr. Edwards. While elated with Chris's vibrant health, his great performance on the bike, and moving up the ranks to 4th overall going into Stage 7, he was concerned that the weather will continue to deteriorate and they are now faced with rally racing's worst combination: a long, tough stage and zero visibility due to blinding sandstorms.
"Chris is doing awesome and we could not be happier with his condition." Said Edwards. "He's alert and not showing signs of fatigue that the other riders are suffering from at this point in the Dakar. On the other hand, the sandstorm we're getting hit with right now is brutal. We are in for a tough day tomorrow!"
Stage 7 - Friday 1/12/07
Tan Tan - Zouerat - Atar
4 km liason - 542 km special - 34km liason - 580 km TOTAL DISTANCE
"The stage according to dakar.com -- 580 km, including 542 km against the clock, are on the menu for the seventh stage, including sand, sand and more sand, on the tracks and off-track on the dunes. There will also be camel grass and a few fast sections. In fact, it is one of the most varied stages of this 29th edition, but probably one of the most difficult. Experience in the desert will once again be primordial, and in this domain, the Mitsubishi drivers will be favourites..."
Late breaking news early Friday morning from Stage 7
Still too early to tell but it appears that the special test has been cut short today and the rally will divert to paved roads to the next bivouac. The reason? Tremendous sandstorms and low visibility.
It also appears, according to early communications that Chris stopped his ride today to assist a fallen rider. Here's the scoop from dakar.com:
2:45pm -- After attending to and waiting with Spaniard Jordi Viladoms, who fell today and broke an arm, American Chris Blais might have his metered time rectified.
Add these websites to your Dakar reading list:
www.resmarket.com/dakar Daily Dakar report archive
www.dakar.com official website for the 2007 Euromilhoes Dakar Rally
www.blaisracing.com Chris Blais' website
Header photo by J. Van Oers courtesy KTMimages.com
CHASING DAKAR: GET THE BOOK!
What's it take to do the Dakar? Find out on the pages of CHASING DAKAR, the handbook that gives you an inside line on adventure and rally racing written by guys who've been there: Dr. Johnathan Edwards M.D., with multi-time Dakar and Baja veteran Scot Harden
www.ChasingDakar.com
Reports submitted by Resource Marketing, Encinitas, California 92024
Tel 760-436-9937 / Fax 760-436-3711
Contact: Scott Cox dakar@resmarket.com
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