The gloves are off for the 2010 Dakar Rally as all 361 competitors and their crews left the haven of La Rural to put on a show of force for the fanatical Argentine crowd.
The focal point of the day’s action was the Obelisco in downtown Buenos Aires as the bikes, cars, trucks and quads were all individually introduced to the 300,000 rally enthusiasts gathered in the city.
With 20 lanes of traffic converging on the Obelisco during a normal day you can regularly watch some white knuckle driving in the area. The taxi drivers of Buenos Aires pride themselves on being able to squeeze their yellow and black cabs through the narrowest corridors of uncertainty.
On New Year’s Day, however, the roads were closed to the public and it was the turn of the vehicles competiting in the 2010 Dakar Rally to tear along the main avenue of 9 de Julio.
It maybe only in its second year of staging the Dakar but the city of Buenos Aires already feels like home to the famous race. The Argentine public are motorsport mad and the fans were crammed 10 deep at the railings to see the action.
A few locals I spoke to said that although they were the worse for wear after their New Year’s Eve celebrations, they would not have missed the start of the rally. Instead, they simply carried on partying from the night before.
This year’s race crowd even made it on to the motorway heading out of Buenos Aires and cheered the riders as they left the city on the road to Colón for the official start of the race.
The first stage of the 2010 Dakar will take the riders through three Argentine provinces as they travel just under 700km to Córdoba. There will also be a 250km special stage.
The early part of the route the riders will take is not a million miles away from the path taken by Argentine General José de San Martín. El Libertador played a crucial part in gaining independence for both Argentina and Chile so it’s fitting that he should have a connection with the race as the countries celebrate their 200th year of freedom.
Cyril's new support
Runner-up on the bikes last year, Cyril Despres is hoping to reclaim his crown from Red Bull KTM team-mate Marc Coma. But Cyril had to admit though that his preparations for the race has been far from ideal. The Frenchman was forced to make a late substitute when his support rider James West took longer than expected to recover from injury.
Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Photofiles
“Despite having no concrete plans for the Dakar, Rubin had maintained his fitness levels and came to us ready to race. He proved this when he joined us for a couple of big ‘end of Dakar preparation’ workouts at the high-altitude gym we had set up in the Grandvalira ski station.”
Daily Dakar Daiquiri Moment: Robby reaches for the skies
Shortly after the presentation of Giniel De Villiers in his Red Bull Volkswagen had kick started the day’s action in the car class, it was the time for another crowd favourite to take centre stage. Robby Gordon became the first US driver to win a stage of the Dakar back in 2005. Back then he was riding for Red Bull Volkswagen but these days he’s in a Hummer H3.
After a quick word from the podium, Robby hopped back in his beast of a machine along with his co-driver Andy Grinder. Instead of rolling down the ramp on to 9 de Julio he took the crowd and the organisers, by surprise and he reversed back the way he had came. A roar worthy of the Richter scale went up as the Hummer pelted back up the ramp at top speed and propelled a full three metres into the air.
Gordon’s airborne stunt gave the crowd a massive lift and has now set the standard for the thrills and spills ahead in the coming stages. Next in line was Carlos Sainz but his was an altogether more modest performance. Perhaps having crashed out while leading last year, he wants to keep his machinery in perfect condition.
For more info, visit the official Dakar Rally website, the Volkswagen Motorsport site or Twitter along with driver Mark Miller.
iPhone users can also follow all the Dakar action with Volkswagen Motorsport’s free Dakar Rally app.
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