Too bad the race is entirely in Saudi Arabia. Sand, sand and more sand. For me the luster is off, just like F1.
At least the NBCS highlights package is better this year. Taking Leigh Diffey out of the equation makes it 100% better already. BHW
My buddy Ross Branch was 2nd yesterday on the bikes. Stage win last year lets hope he can repeat it! Overall he's now in 3rd. Another friend of mine Brian Baragwanath is in 5th in the cars. He's switched from ATV's to cars. Seriously impressive competition this is...I've ridden with both (bikes and quads), crewed for Ross a few times, I'm fast on a quad, can get around on a bike. Ross is ridiculous. Impossible to think how one could be much faster than him but they're out there! Brian on the quads also seriously fast, I could just about keep up with him but I lacked stamina for sure.
Say what you will, the video and still images of the cars across the Saudi sand are amazing. The visual has a lot of impact. The drivers and crews may have a different opinion on the sand of course, but the roots of this event mainly conjure up memories of cars streaking across desert sands. Paris-Dakar and Rally of the Pharaohs events were originally called "Desert Raids". BHW Image Unavailable, Please Login
Apparently Prodrive pushed Sebastien Loeb to split from his historical co-driver Daniel Elena (with whom Loeb won all his victories and titles) as they consider his mistakes were the main problem in Dakar 2021 - so expect Loeb enter Dakar 2022 with a Prodrive car and another co-driver. Whether it will allow them to win remains to be seen.