What can we say about today? Well, today proves that no matter how much money you have, how well prepared you are or how professional your team is, there is always a learning curve leading up to a win. The Monster HUMMER was the fastest beast on the road today, but fell victim to a kinked fuel hose. Once again, the giant is felled by a mouse of a problem. They managed to keep their 8th place position overall though, and the confidence level is high that they will win the remaining stages.
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Team Dakar USA press release after the break
Stage 10 Report: Nema to Nema
The 366 km special loop from Nema to Nema was perfect terrain for the Monster Energy Hummer. The big bumps and single tack played perfectly to the Hummer’s impressive suspension package and that showed as the Hummer, which began the stage in the 11th starting position, cleared the first check point in the lead. A pinched fuel system breather hose ruined the day when the Hummer H3 was never completely fueled up due to a faulty reading. Gordon and navigator Andy Grider ran out of fuel towards the end of the stage and managed a 23rd place finish, yet managed to maintain their eight place ranking in the overall classification.
Robby Gordon’s quotes following stage 10
“We really had a great run going. The track was perfect for the Hummer and we really felt like we should have won the special. It seems like fuel issues have been the story of our Dakar. First we got bad fuel in the early stages and then yesterday a faulty reading on the fuel meter once again ruined a stage for us. It’s really a shame because we came to Dakar believing we could win this race and the way we have run I really think we could have. Overall our preparation has been really good and our team this year is gaining experience that I’m sure will pay off in the future. Our goal is going to be to try to finish this thing on as many high notes as possible. There are four stages left and we are going to try win them all.”
The Dakar Rally can be seen on the Versus Network in the United States. In addition Team Dakar USA has teamed up with Micron to provide daily video updates that can be seen on RobbyGordon.com. To see all the videos from the 2007 Dakar Rally visit youtube.com/rgm7
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