Northern Gravel Adventure Riding Club

**suzieq** · 15th January 2012, 18:45

poor Chris had a big crash yesterday and may have broken his nose, definitely sprained his ankle, and knocked himself out a bit. Luckily only one more very short day to go and he is DONE! HE told me 'it's ok, I took my boot off and can put it back on again, so I will still finish!' SOOO proud of my man!! Sure wish I was in Lima!!

**suzieq** · 16th January 2012, 06:08

So proud of Chris for finishing Dakar!! What a legend. Looks like he finished in 27th or 28th overall. My hero. Can't wait to have him back home soon!

so stoked the Dakar bike auction was a success! Thanks to all the sponsors who contributed and to everyone for spreading the word. Now we just have to wait for the race to finish and it is all over

http://www.chrisbirch.co.nz/

TWITTERBUGS:
@NZStuff Chris Birch finishes Dakar Rally!— 3 hours 7 min ago
•Chris finished the special in 40th place, and so far is 27th overall in his first Dakar! Waiting for him to call to say he's finished ...— 3 hours 41 min ago
•last Dakar day coming up! Chris will ride with sprained ankle, suspected broken nose, and concussion. Lucky he's pretty bad ass!— 11 hours 13 min ago
•http://t.co/dNv3W9jn will the auction hit $14K?? hope so!!— 17 hours 53 min ago
•@DakarMoto I'm not there! But I'll look after him when he gets home to NZ in a few days! Mon— 22 hours 18 min ago

**suzieq** · 16th January 2012, 06:09

http://www.ktm.com/news-events/news/...n-for-ktm.html

Red Bull KTM factory rider Cyril Despres on Sunday rode into Lima in triumph to seal his fourth career Dakar title and to present KTM with its eleventh consecutive win in this, the toughest event on the annual motorsports calendar

Its official. Cyril Despres and Marc Coma finish 1-2 in Dakar 2012 - amazing performance by both of these great riders. Congratulations also to Johnny Aubert of the KTM Enduro Factory team who finished 13th overall riding a series model 450 Rally Replica bike. this is KTM's 11th Dakar victory in a row. Great performance from our riders over 9000 km

Dakar 2012: Where they go in the final stage. Riders will enjoy a ride along the Pacific coast and a short 29km in the sand dunes half way to Lima. They are going to get a great reception when they finish in the capital!

**suzieq** · 16th January 2012, 06:20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8L-rbya1k4

Peruvian help is sometimes very useful ! Image of the day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qiHRmtUUkA

BMW MOTORCYCLE MAGAZINE:
http://bmwmcmag.com/2012/01/dakar-20...s-in-the-dunes

The Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain brought two riders into the top five at stage 12 of the Rally Dakar 2012. Joan Barreda was battling with his fellow countryman Marc Coma for the victory. Coma finally arrived at the finish in Nasca first, 2:43 minutes ahead of Barreda. Paulo Goncalves, still frustrated with yesterday’s jury decision, powered his bike from starting in 17th position all the way to fifth on the day.

Barreda gave another super performance. He made a small navigation error in the beginning, before stepping it up and going for the stage victory. He rode on his own all day and through very challenging dunes, which reminded Dakar veterans of the old days in Mauritania. The course was very difficult and the navigation was asking a lot from the riders. Barreda ultimately came out with one more top result in second place

**suzieq** · 16th January 2012, 06:26

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFdRnfnh1Pc

**suzieq** · 16th January 2012, 06:31

The parts I've added to my bike for Dakar - only the finest!

Ned did it! A great accomplishment. Congratulations!

**suzieq** · 16th January 2012, 06:45

http://www.dakar.com/index_DAKus.html
Official website of the Dakar rally raid (ex Paris Dakar), created by Thierry Sabine. News, rankings, history, pictures, registrations…

[Stage Program] - Stage 14 (15/01/2012)
PISCO - LIMA > LAST STAGE !!!
★ Rankings before the start ★
Bike : 1. DESPRES (FRA),2. COMA (ESP), 3. RODRIGUES (PRT)
Quad : 1. A.PATRONELLI (ARG), 2. M.PATRONELLI (ARG), 3. MAFFEI (ARG)
Car : 1. PETERHANSEL (FRA), 2. ROMA (ESP) , 3. DE VILLIERS (SA)
Truck: 1. DE ROOY (NLD), 2. STACEY (NLD), 3. ARDAVICHUS (KAZ)

**suzieq** · 16th January 2012, 07:47

http://www.plusmoto.com/etapa-14-dak...resistido.html

**suzieq** · 16th January 2012, 09:25

http://gaps.dakar.com/2012/dakar/stage-14/aso/ukie.php

**suzieq** · 16th January 2012, 11:42

http://bmw.tv/intl/com/video.do?arti...=2&channelID=2

**Woodman** · 16th January 2012, 20:36

Congrats Birchy, livin the dream.

**suzieq** · 17th January 2012, 06:09

Originally Posted by Woodman

Congrats Birchy, livin the dream.

"tough tough race for Chris but he has done extremely wellll Proud of Kiwi talent and Proud to support Chris"

**suzieq** · 17th January 2012, 06:11

http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-...own/19862.html

**suzieq** · 17th January 2012, 06:16

IN FROM DAVID: Thanks David

Whilst I finish the edit to the next episode of the NZ dirt adventure, here's a quick vid of some crashes and memorable moments from the last years riding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7_lR-ajtNg