Dakar 2012 Stage 10 - Roma wins stage, Gordon disqualified
During the running of Stage 10 from Iquique to Arica, race organisers issued the following release:
"On completion of the 9th stage (Antofagasta-Iquique), following observation of technical non-compliance on vehicle No. 303 (Robby Gordon) (article 1P and 3P of the technical rules), the Car Race Officials' Committee has decided to disqualify No. 303 from the race. The driver has appealed against this decision. During appeals, decisions are placed on hold. As a result, vehicle No. 303 will continue the rally until the outcome of the appeal".
The infringement is rumoured to be related to alleged rerouting the Hummer's tyre inflation and ventilation system to the engine to create a faux supercharger to boost engine power. Of course, if Gordon's appeal is dismissed, his efforts this year will count for nothing, regardless of where he actually finishes. The issue of the disqualification notice was even worse news for Gordon, who suffered mechanical damage while trying to overtake Peterhansel on Stage 9, and lost more than 14 minutes.
"I hit a rock with both right-side tyres, so we've got some broken parts," Gordon explained. "Do I think I can win again? Of course. I was passing him [Peterhansel], he didn't move over and I clobbered a rock and got two flat tyres at the same time. So, we've got our work cut out for us. We've got a damaged race car that we're going to have work on and there's a lot of damage from what I can see. Now we'll push, push, push even harder."
On the stage itself, Nani Roma was the big winner, winning the stage and overtaking Gordon in the overall standings. Third to start on Stage 10, Roma handled the rocky, featureless terrain and sand dunes that marked the stage to record the stage win. Behind him, Krzysztof Holowczyc (Mini) suffered power steering failure in the early stages of the 377km Special Stage. At time of publication, the Pole was listed as a non-finisher for Stage 10, which may indicate his 2012 Dakar campaign is over.
At the conclusion of Stage 10, the problems experienced by Gordon and Holowczyc have ultimately benefited Roma, who moves up to second overall behind Peterhansel. Roma and Gordon are both now 20 minutes behind Peterhansel, and are the only realistic challengers for the overall win. Fourth-placed Giniel de Villiers (Toyota) is more than an hour behind, with Leonid Novitskiy (Mini) and additional hour back in fifth. The bottom half of the top ten consists of Sousa (Great Wall), Alvarez (Toyota), Ten Brinke (Mitsubishi), Van Loon (Mitsubishi) and South Africa's Duncan Vos, who is team mate to de Villiers in the Imperial Toyota squad.
Aussie Geoff Olholm continues to make ground. After a scary drop off a cliff on Stage 9, Olholm put in an impressive performance on Stage 10 to finish 24th for the day, moving up to 53rd overall.
For full results and further details, go to www.dakar.com
Images: dakar.com
