Motorsport
Cox ready for Dakar Rally
2009-12-29 10:41
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Buenos Aires - In four days competitors will line up for the start of the world's most gruelling test for man and machine, the 2010 Argentina Chile Dakar Rally.
In that line-up will be South Africa's Dakar legend, Alfie Cox, and his German co-driver and team owner of PS Laser Racing, Jürgen Schröder. Cox left South Africa early on Boxing Day, after spending Christmas with his family.
"Our car is very competitive. I have a lot of confidence that we can perform well this year," said Cox before his departure. "We saw last year that Nissan Navaras finished fourth and fifth, so I look forward to a great event. Our car was released by the Argentine customs and is now checked through by the technical team. We are awaiting tyres from Overdrive, so everything is under control at the moment. We are very excited about this race. We share the T4 Overdrive Race Truck from Belgium with Krzysztof Holowczyc (Poland) who finished fifth last year, and Alexander Mironenko (Russia). Glyn Hall's technical team do our repairs and services at the overnight points and the rest day in Chile."
"We start in 28th place amongst the cars, which is not a problem, but it would have been very convenient to be higher up in the order on the first few days. The speeds will be high, the dust intense and the chance of making a mistake in the poor visibility, very high. I expect a very stressful first few days, but this is Dakar and we are ready for it. The race is divided into three sections - race up to the Atacama, the desert and the return from the Atacama. The secret is to build up a good position before we reach the desert, and that is why I expect a tough beginning," said Cox.
Other South Africans competing in the 32nd Dakar Rally are VW's Giniel de Villiers, who won the race last year, also co-driven by a German, Dirk von Zitzewitz. The third South African, Ralph Pitchford is co-driver for Mark Miller (USA) in another VW Touareg. They finished second overall last year.
There are lots of changes in the motorcycle category. KTM has dominated the Dakar over the last few years with a slogan "The Desert is Orange". However, the race organisers ASO have changed the rules this year, taking aim at KTM's dominance and forcing that company's withdrawal from the event. A number of independent KTM riders will line up on the starting grid with their 690cc machines, but they have been forced to fit air intake restrictors limiting their power output. That reduces their power to that of the new specification 450cc bikes which the organisers want as the new Dakar limit. As a result of the new rules, David Fretigne (France) on a 450cc Yamaha, who finished third in last year's event, will definitely be a favourite. Aprilia has started the production of a new 450cc desert machine for the Dakar, and BMW are building 450cc machines specifically suited for the event. Other manufacturers involved are: Honda, Husaberg and Husqvarna.
The skill, knowledge, navigation ability and endurance of the two former winners Marc Coma (Spain), and Cyril Despres (France) should outsmart the 450cc riders, but with the lower power, it will definitely be very exciting to see what is about to happen to the competition amongst the motorcycles.
With 28 quad entries the competition will inevitably be very fierce, and one wonders what South African riders like Vicus van Deventer would have achieved if they still competed, now that this is no longer an experimental class, but an independent racing class. Josef Machachek (Czechoslovakia) is definitely the favourite on a Yamaha.
Russia has dominated the T4 truck category over the past few years, with the Kamaz trucks of Firdaus Kabirov and Vladimir Chagin completely out-driving the opposition. Will the five days in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest on the globe, again benefit these two teams, or can a Tatra, Ginaf, MAN, Iveco, Mercedes, Renault or Hino surprise everyone to take the top step of the podium this year?
Cox and Schröder are very excited about the event which starts on Friday 1 January in Buenos Aires and they look forward getting out on the road once all the ceremonies are over. Dakar 2010 is almost under way - nervousness is starting to build and the excitement and adrenaline is mounting for the world's most demanding cross-country rally.