ATVs in Dakar Rally 2010

I was working on vacation ATV trips for this summer when I came across Dakar Rally story which was in concluding stage. The Dakar requires not only top-notch riding skills, but also endurance, determination, and a lot of preparation. This could be only Rally with so many different varieties of vehicles. Participants on Cars and Bikes get most exposure and media treats the competitors in ATVs, Buggies and Trucks as stepchildren.

The second edition of the Dakar in Latin America ended on 16th January 2010. Only 14 of 25 ATV riders finished the competition. It shows how difficult and demanding the race was. The ATV category was won by Argentine’s Marcos Patronelli. Surprisingly, the second place was taken by his older brother, Alejandro. This year the route in the ATV category was 8,937 kilometers long and divided into 14 stages. Of this 4717 km came under special timed stage and 4220 km under transport / connection stages. Marcos Patronelli was the leader almost all the rally and won 4 of the 14 stages. It took him 64h 17m 44s to go through dunes, camel grass, mud and rocks averaging more than 73 km per hour.

This years winner Marcos Patronelli has this to say - :

One thing is sure: I would never have imagined this, not even in my wildest dreams. It’s incredible that two brothers finish first and second of the same raid! This Dakar was very hard. I cannot say more than that, except that I must thank my team. We are a family pushing hard, doing what it takes. I am also happy for my brother: it’s his first Dakar and he finishes second! Who wouldn’t be proud? The toughest part in this edition is really the stages in Northern Chile: Antofagasta – Copiapo, Iquique – Antofagasta. They were endless and very complicated. Navigation was hard there. We had to be really focused with all the way points. I am thrilled and I think that the fact that two brothers finish first and second is just making history. We will celebrate that!

This video on Marco was made while the Rally was progressing.

Life in the Dakar is tough enough on a bike or in a car, but you have to be an absolute lunatic to endure the pain of doing it on quad. Watch this video and get a behind the scenes look at what they have to endure on a daily basis

This is another good video that gives some ideas about preparing a Yamaha ATV for Dakar Rally. They can carry 47 litres of fuel and the top speed of this ATV is 140 km – these figures gives some more insights about the preparation.

This Rally passed through the very remote areas that can be called middle of nowhere. Here you simply make the tracks as you go. There are no signposts. Apart from the road book that gives instructions on the route, GPS was also extensively used.