Damn. That's sad.Originally Posted by tnarg
Douching my Simuloid
Damn. That's sad.
Forum whore
Chris says re: day one:
“Man that is a friggin long way ... pretty fun. I had to pass a lot of people, a LOT of people, and it was really dusty, so am really pleased with how today went.”
I mentioned a photo of him and a fan at the gas station and his reply was “Mon, it is like riding through 300km of the Santa Parade. It is like everyone in Argentina has come out to watch and they ALL got a camera for Christmas!”
He was very quick on the phone as he had to go and get things organised. Sounded happy though.
So he ended Day 1 in 39th place in the bikes, just over 5 minutes off the pace.
now where's some dirt!
From the KTM press release:
KTM’s newcomers
KTM’s Dakar rookies, Johnny Aubert of the KTM Enduro Factory Team is in 20th overall after Stage two and Chris Birch of New Zealand who rides in extreme Enduro events for KTM is 31st.
Stage Two - Other KTM
7, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM at 9:11
10, Joan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 9:35
11. Jordi Villadoms, Spain, KTM, 9:59
14, Gerrard Farres Guel, Spain, KTM at 12:35
15, Rubin Faria, Portugal, KTM at 13:36
16, Felipe Zanol, Brazil, KTM at 14:21
17. Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM at 14:33
18, Alessandro Botturi, Italy, KTM at 15:32
20, Stefan Svitko, Slovakia, KTM at 16:30
22, Johnny Aubert, France, KTM at 17:56
30, Chris Birch, New Zealand, KTM at 24:24
Overall Results - Other KTM
8, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM, at 10:35
9, Joan Pedrero Spain, KTM at 11:45
10, Jordi Villadoms, Spain, KTM at 12:10
13, Rubin Faria, Portugal, KTM at 14:14
14, Gerrard Farres Guel, Spain, KTM at 15:33
15, Felipe Zanol, Brazil, KTM at 17:22
16, Alessandro Botturi, Italy, KTM at 18:21
18, Stefan Svetko, Slovakia, KTM at 19:28
20, Johnny Aubert, France, KTM 20:11
31, Chris Birch, New Zealand, KTM 30:01
Pretty solid start!
Forum whore
Hi all
Chris got off to a good start for Day 2 – the bikes started at 5am and a few hours later headed to the special stage.
Chris came to WayPoint 1 in around 34th place, but was missing from WP2 ... a nervous wait in the early hours of the NZ morning saw him appear at WP3 in about 30th.
He then finished the Special Stage in 30th place (provisional). Sitting now in 31st which is fantastic.
Missing a WayPoint can cost up to about 2 hours so we will have to wait and see what the official word is at the end of the day. However you can see here that there appears to be no penalty, so that’s good news
Tomorrow he will race from San Rafael to San Juan, a liaison total of 291km and a special stage of 270km.
For Kiwis – Chris is also featured on the front cover of the Red Bulletin this month, free with NZ Herald. Actually for SA people too I think he may be also!
Forum whore
Day three done and dusted!
Chris arrived at Waypoint 1 in 23rd position, but by the end of the 270km special stage he was at 38th. This has moved him down slightly to 34th overall.
He will still be happy with this as there are still 11 more race days to go and so far has had no major problems which is great.
Darryl finished in 36th today and moved to 35th overall so the two will leave just a minute or so apart tomorrow.
Spoke to Chris he said it was the best day he has had yet, lots of fun, says everyone is still rolling along fine. He went the wrong way just after Waypoint 3, apparently lots of people did!
Chris Birch
Fair weather rider
that would be lovely if you did
now where's some dirt!
Is that actually you in the bivouac posting???that would be lovely if you did
Old & unwise
Isn't it psychic energy coming all the way & posted by Monica.
Hope Birchy is ok, must have been a decent off.
Last edited by takitimu; 5th January 2012 at 08:33. Reason: English fail
Highway Biker
It sounds like he got lost for a while rather than a crash.
Unlike this poor American rider
http://media2.rtve.es/resources/TE_N...5624461438.mp4
Forum whore
Some big names still down the list, Jonny Aubert 20th. Cyril Depress is leading after he was in about 24th on day one so there is still time for Chris to climb up after all there are still about 6,000kmto go.
Old & unwise
Twitter updates
5 hours ago
BirchyNZ: Chris just ph'd 'I've had a crash, I'm fine, the bike is broken, I can fix it, I'm ok, I just didn't want to you worry, gotta go, love you"
3 hours
BirchyNZ: Chris through WP4 in 121st, 58th overall, making good time back after his crash... @ComsolEnduro Iain is also through through WP4
2 hours
BirchyNZ: Chris through WP5 in 103rd so is making back a bit of that time. Keep it pinned (but not too much we can't afford more speeding fines...)
33 mins
BirchyNZ: CB arrived@end of s/stage in 99th and 53rd overall. not bad seeing as he lost over an hour! @duaneblackie yes he's prob a wee bit tired!
Hardcore Biker
http://mypremium.tv/stream/?id=1454&1318021101
video stream of Dakar updates
Smoke 'em if you have 'em
You run what you brung, and pray you brought enough
Hardcore Biker
From chrisbirch.co.nz
Day 4:
Chris once again had a good start but shortly after Waypoint 2 he crashed.
His 16 second call was enough for him to tell me ‘Hi, I’ve had a crash, I’m fine, the bike is broken, but I can fix it, but I’m ok, I just didn’t want you to worry, love you bye!’
What a relief as I could see he had fallen behind!
He came in at WP3 in 149th, WP4 in 121st so was catching up a bit, and ended the day at 99th in the stage, sitting in 53rd overall – which is not bad considering he lost over an hour after the crash.
“I had a hell of a crash, a real big s**t mixer! Someone ran into me and off I went. I walked away without a scratch but the bike was quite damaged – the oil cooler was broken. I tried instant metal and that didn’t work. So I had to strip down the bike and bypass the oil cooler and work some Kiwi magic into it. I lost HEAPS of time I know, but it was all fixable and luckily I was fine. Of course I wish it didn’t happen but it’s not the end of the world and I am just going to get on with the rest of the race.”
I passed on all the messages of support so thanks to everyone who has sent them through, I told him if it got really tough to know that he has hundreds and hundreds of people who are all cheering for him!
Douching my Simuloid
Anyone see this?:http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=436444403
now where's some dirt!
Looks like he finished todays stage safely in 42nd position, 57 mins behind the stage winner Despres. That leaves him 54th overall according to the standings I am looking at.
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