Dakar 2018

Dakar 2018 begins January 6 in Lima, Peru, and ends January 20 in Cordoba, Argentina, with the middle stages in Bolivia. TV coverage will be on NBC Sports (USA) and Sportsnet (Canada). Broadcast times are not yet available, but last year’s coverage in the USA was a short review of the action the day following the actual racing. Check online at http://www.dakar.com/en/ for all the news and details.

It's On!



STAGE DATE START AND FINISH BIKE/QUAD AUTO/SXS TRUCK
Total | Special Total | Special Total | Special
1 Saturday, January 6, 2018 Lima / Pisco 273 km | 31 km 273 km | 31 km 273 km | 31 km STAGE 1
2 Sunday, January 7, 2018 Pisco / Pisco 279 km | 267 km 278 km | 267 km 279 km | 267 km STAGE 2
3 Monday, January 8, 2018 Pisco / San Juan de Marcona 504 km | 296 km 504 km | 296 km 504 km | 296 km STAGE 3
4 Tuesday, January 9, 2018 San Juan de Marcona / San Juan de Marcona 444 km | 330 km 444 km | 330 km 444 km | 330 km STAGE 4
5 Wednesday, January 10, 2018 San Juan de Marcona / Arequipa 774 km | 266 km 934 km | 268 km 934 km | 268 km STAGE 5
6 Thursday, January 11, 2018 Arequipa / La Paz 760 km | 313 km 760 km | 313 km 760 km | 313 km STAGE 6
- Friday, January 12, 2018 La Paz REST 1
7 Saturday, January 13, 2018 La Paz / Uyuni 727 km | 425 km 727 km | 425 km 671 km | 369 km STAGE 7
8 Sunday, January 14, 2018 Uyuni / Tupiza 585 km | 498 km 585 km | 498 km 561 km | 381 km STAGE 8
9 Monday, January 15, 2018 Tupiza / Salta 755 km | 242 km 755 km | 242 km 755 km | 242 km STAGE 9
10 Tuesday, January 16, 2018 Salta / Belén 797 km | 373 km 797 km | 373 km 797 km | 373 km STAGE 10
11 Wednesday, January 17, 2018 Belén / Fiambalá / Chilecito 485 km | 280 km 747 km | 280 km 747 km | 280 km STAGE 11
12 Thursday, January 18, 2018 Fiambalá / Chilecito / San Juan 723 km | 375 km 793 km | 523 km 793 km | 523 km STAGE 12
13 Friday, January 19, 2018 San Juan / Córdoba 907 km | 424 km 929 km | 369 km 929 km | 369 km STAGE 13
14 Saturday, January 20, 2018 Córdoba / Córdoba 286 km | 120 km 286 km | 120 km 286 km | 120 km STAGE 14

"The Experience Known as Dakar"

https://www.dakar.com/en/overall-route

OM

My provider shows that coverage starts tomorrow on NBCSN. I've set my DVR up to record all new episodes.

I saw the intros this evening. I miss the original “Paris-Dakar”.
OM

Omega Man said:

I miss the original “Paris-Dakar”.
OM

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Gary - looking at the US State Department warnings (https://travel.state.gov/content/tr...aveladvisories/mauritania-travel-warning.html), it seems like Paris-Dakar is a thing of the past.

Anyway, the present race looks interesting:

Yeah, geopolitical crap is the reason I heard when it first went “bad”. I think one of those trucks would be jus about right for Boston traffic.
OM

Thanks for posting this . I have always enjoyed this and find it somewhat inspiring (sitting in my recliner).

Omega Man said:

Yeah, geopolitical crap is the reason I heard when it first went “bad”. I think one of those trucks would be jus about right for Boston traffic.
OM

Click to expand...

During the last year of the Paris-Dakar in Africa, the race organizers had to rent a huge Russian Antonov airplane, load the entire event inside and flew over the areas where they were having trouble with terrorism.

imo, it's better in South America... the people actually welcome the event.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/598753.stm

What incredible scenery this year! A shame the competitors won't see it...unless they're broken down. Sure seems like this has been a test of machines and bodies more so this year than last. Big retirements...from 35 to 50% in some classes. It really, really is hard on everything.

https://www.motorsport.com/dakar/news/dakar-2018-walkner-scores-ktm-s-17th-straight-win-997695/

KTM rider Matthias Walkner has secured victory in the bike category of the 2018 Dakar Rally.
Walkner finished Saturday's 120km final stage 5m38s behind the pace-setting Honda of Kevin Benavides, which was enough for the Austrian to claim a maiden Dakar win for himself and a 17th consecutive triumph for KTM.

Runner-up to teammate Sam Sunderland last year, Walkner won only one stage en route to the overall honours in 2018.

But it was that very stage – the January 16 run from Salta to Belen – that proved crucial to his aspirations.

The Austrian was one of two frontrunners to avoid getting badly lost and losing lots of time on the day, and inherited a huge lead when rival Adrien van Beveren of Yamaha fell and dropped out due to injury.

Walkner managed his advantage from that point onwards and ended the rally 17 minutes clear of Benavides, who topped Saturday's test to record his first and only stage win of the 2018 event.

Dakar 2016 champion Toby Price was a minute behind Benavides in the stage and completed the podium of the marathon 23 minutes behind fellow KTM rider Walkner.

Their teammate Antoine Meo and privateer Gerard Farres made it four KTM riders in the top five.

Final standings:

Voni -

I wish you had included "Spoiler Alert" at the beginning of your post! I'm still watching the race on DVR.

OK, just caught up. So the Dakar is not over?? There's another stage today...at least on TV.

Another question...on some of the stages, there are multiple timed sections connected by something else. On TV, they show the timed sections as solid red lines while the connector is red-yellow dashed line. What's going on in the connector section?

I took it as an overall route with “specials” along the way......bonus points for the “specials”.
OM