The VW Touaregs take first, second and third in the 2010 Dakar Rally.
Ok, the photo doesn’t have anything to do with us beyond that we both race VWs, but with this being the off season for off road racing in the U.S., I switched to watching the Dakar Rally in South America. Versus had great daily coverage, courtesy of Toby Moody and his production team, but Eurovision set the standard for all off road coverage with its daily coverage. Dakar organizers also set the standard for social media integration during the race. And VW had its iPhone app. Boston.com reprised their 2009 photo essay with a spectacular series of shots from this year’s event.
Bob reports that the engine will likely be close to finished with the rebuild by the end of the week or first part of next week. We run the engine pretty much non-stop at 6,000 RPM. When we rebuild it, I’m confident it will go to 6,011. The rain has kept us from getting much done, but once we get the transmission issue sorted out and the rear skid plate dialed, we’ll be ready to race.
With Dakar done, I’m following Marathon Rally and looking forward to Rallye Aicha des Gazelles in March. Nine days, no GPS, sat phones or support trucks. And you navigate with compasses and maps printed in the 1950s. I’m thinking, “Ok, where’s the fun part?” All that aside, the one U.S. team is Emily Sturges Miller and Wendy Fisher. Social media by Miss Motor Mouth, aka Michelle Naranjo. This is what it will be like:
