- A Ford F-150 Raptor will compete in the 5,900-mile Dakar Rally January 1-16.
- Robby Gordon and Mark Miller are considered the strongest U.S. entrants.
- The rally will again be run in South America due to drug trafficking in Africa.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Spotty TV coverage will again make it difficult for Americans to watch the Dakar Rally, but when the 5,900-mile race starts tomorrow, the grid will include a Ford F-150 SVT Raptor driven by a U.S. team. NASCAR's Robby Gordon will again compete in a Hummer H3-based race truck. Gordon, along with Mark Miller, who will drive a Volkswagen Race Touareg 3, is considered the United States' best hope in this endurance rally.
Note that the Dakar Rally will again be run in Argentina and Chile, as drug trafficking in Africa has made it too dangerous to start the race in the real Dakar &mdash the capital of Senegal. The 2011 race will run for 16 days and include 13 stages.
Days before the start of the 2011 Dakar Rally, two tiremakers are trumpeting the U.S. teams they sponsor: General will fit its Grabbers onto a Ford F-150 Raptor for Team USA, while Toyo will supply its Open Country M/T-R off-road tires to a pair of Speed Energy Hummers for the Robby Gordon team.
Team USA, under General Tire sponsorship, will field the F-150 Raptor. Americans Darren Skilton, Sue Mead and Tom Collins will pilot the truck.
The two U.S. efforts will join an expected total of 350 teams, including the Red Bull team of last year's winner, Carlos Sainz, who was triumphant overall in a Volkswagen Touareg. Sainz returns, along with navigator Lucas Cruz, in the Race Touareg 3.
You can follow Dakar Rally can be followed on its official Twitter and YouTube channels. The Versus cable sports channel will broadcast a half-hour program at 3:30 p.m. ET on weekdays during the rally.
Inside Line says: Something besides the college bowl games to get excited about in January. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent
Add A Comment »
raptorsvt says:
10:47 AM, 01/30/2011
What's so cool is that the most 'basic' F-150 SVT Rapor has everything you need to enjoy on-road and off-road driving and I see that the 2011 is now available at dealerships.
See this easy guide http://theoregoncoast.info/F-150/Raptor.html
mbukukanyau says:
10:56 AM, 01/19/2011
Oh why oh why did GM kill you oh, HUMMER!! We loved thee
the_enthusiast says:
12:22 PM, 01/02/2011
I was back home (Argentina) during last year's Dakar. It was a fantastic race (except for the one fatal casualty). This year's will be great or even better i hope!
PS: Also it was nice seeing an Argentinian come in 1st place in the 4-wheeler divisiom =)
siarizona says:
11:45 AM, 01/01/2011
It's the threat of terrorism that canx the Paris-Dakar in Africa, not drug trafficking. Al Qaeda has consistently made threats about attacking PDR for several years.
Most of the narco-trafficking violence occurs at border crossings and in northern South America (Colombia, Venezuela) as well as Central America (Guatemala, Mexico).
dc325ix says:
07:48 AM, 01/01/2011
What countries are they traveling thru? Hopefully not Venezuela as the American teams might have a problem as crazy Chavez might try something and claim the US teams are spies.
05stangdriver says:
05:24 PM, 12/31/2010
@cz_75
Well, no, actually that would be more like Central America. At least, the part of South America that they're running the race in is pretty stable.
Anyway, I hope the Raptor does well. Go Ford!
cz_75 says:
03:21 PM, 12/31/2010
Run is S. America due to drug traficking in Africa? Isn't S. America pretty much the world hub for drug trafficking?
dgmail says:
07:49 AM, 12/31/2010
Raptor will be the perfect rally truck