Dakar 2016

[makinen_fan]

A lot of mud!

[kubiczech]

Carlos is driving in anger!!! ... between wp3 (where he had his problem) and wp7, he made up 2 minutes on Loeb


edit: according to Peugeot Sport Twitter, his problem was: "engine stopped" ... he lost 13 minutes

[Mirek]

Maybe they opted for 2wd simply because their feared direct class confrontation with X Raid...seeing their crap '15 proto and the need for an almost new car in '16 it makes more sense...

That's some serious tinfoil hat theory.

Without Chile's desert stages and with such bad weather they could end in another disaster campaign. Let's hope not, Peugeot drivers and technicians deserves better.

They have been clearly fastest in the mud today.

[Mirek]

Sebastien Loeb has made it true - he won his first ever Dakar leg!

[N.O.T]

Loeb 2.23 ahead at the finish.

[rage82]

Sebastien Loeb has made it true - he won his first ever Dakar leg!

That's a thing not many people maybe were expecting. Happy for him! Let's see if he can keep his momentum.
Not so bad stage time for Mikko in his first Dakar though.

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[MartijnS]

Pons I guess!

https://www.facebook.com/dakar/video...type=2&theater

[Rally Power]

That's some serious tinfoil hat theory.

You should be more informed before throwing 'tinfoil hats' into other people heads...

It was Farmin himself that admitted XRaid was the dominant force and it would be hard for Peugeot to get a 4wd car at their level.

"Bruno Famin, Peugeot Sport Director, comparing the new 2008 DKR with the Dakar-winning Mini. "Since they've mastered four-wheel-drive, we have chosen to focus on optimising two-wheel-drive, which offers a number of intriguing benefits.""
http://www.redbull.com/en/motorsport...-action-images

Peugeot was limited by time (they had just one year between the program green light and the start of '15 Dakar) and by human resources shortness (the end of LeMans program took many brains away from Velizy). These problems were visible in their '15 uncompetitive car and forced them to design a new car for '16. It seems this time they've done a proper job and can get the 2wd regs features to cope with 4wd machinery.

Beside this 'why have they done it' debate, what really matters now is to see this year Dakar becaming a hell of a fight between Mini, Toyota and Peugeot and one of the ex WRC guys getting the victory!

[Mirek]

You stated that they chose 2WD because they were afraid to loose with other 4WD. Now You even claim they admitted so. That's a misinterpretation as nothing like that is written in Famin's quote You posted. He just said they chose an alternative way as they saw certain benefits of doing so. Nothing more nothing less. You may feel to see something between the lines what isn't there.

The point is that no manufacturer decides to spend billions to be just a bunch of shiny looking losers. I'm pretty sure that they chose what they chose because their analysis showed them it can be beneficial. The fact they didn't succeed in the first attempt doesn't change it.

[MartijnS]

Roma again no candidate for the victory again after the first stage.
Everybody got stuck on the same part, incredible.
Van Loon passed the spot very slowly next to the path after seeing other stuck.