Robby Gordon Takes On Mission Impossible

April 20, 2008

By Kim Roberson

Kim Roberson

Today is an international column of sorts. There is no Cup race today, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have plenty of racing to talk about…and none of it is on US soil…so grab your passport, step up to the customs agent, and get that stamp ready. We’re going international!

First off, I’ll quickly touch base about today’s race in Mexico City. It is hard to believe this is the fourth year we have headed south of the border. To say it isn’t an easy trip is an understatement. The logistics of getting 47 haulers into Mexico City safely is amazing, involving one very large caravan, very narrow, winding roads, and a lot of police escort.

So far, the plans seem to be working. Drivers arrived on Thursday and Friday, as did some team members. The rest were at the Charlotte airport this morning at 12:30 a.m. for a 4 a.m. flight to Mexico City, where they will work all day, and then turn around and head back tonight after the race. Talk about a marathon day!

There were two practices Friday, qualifying yesterday, and the race this afternoon. Then it is back on the planes and into the haulers, and begin the long trek back to the US border. The only thing that is for certain: we will have a new winner by the end of the day. How do I know this? Because the three men who have won before, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Juan Pablo Montoya, are not in Mexico City today.

While the guys are maneuvering the corners of the Corona Mexico 200 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, another NASCAR driver will be making his way across Hungary and Bulgaria today. The much-awaited make-up for the Dakar rally is being held this week, and Team Dakar USA is there to be a part of it.

Robby Gordon is leading the team of two Monster Hummer H3’s in the Central Europe Rally (CER). The race, which began today in Budapest, Hungary, will take the teams 2713 km (1686 miles) from Budapest to Baia Mare in Romania and back through Hungary to Balatonfüred. (Get out your atlases folks; you are going to need them.). The first stage today covers 531 km, or just over 318 miles. Tomorrow the teams will make a 292 km circle from Baia Mare to Baia Mare, and then Tuesday the teams head back towards Hungary. They will wrap up on Saturday, just in time for Robby to make it back to race at Talladega.

The trip has already been a challenge. They teams arrived in Paris on Monday and had to drive from Paris to Budapest…922 miles and 28 hours. Along the way, Robby got food poisoning, and the T4 support truck (also called the “Man truck”) kept stalling us because the limiter straps kept falling off. Friday, the team spent the day running one last test on the trucks and giving the media rides through an old military base. This year, Robby will have two trucks entered in the race: He will be joined by navigator Andy Grider (who rode with him through the Dakar last year) and a second H3 Hummer will driven by Ronn Bailey, who will have Kevin Heath acting as navigator. Robby’s truck will be number 212, while Ronn’s will be 218.

There will be 217 vehicles taking part in the CER, a smaller field than was expected at Dakar. However, many of the “usual suspects” that face off against Team Dakar USA will be there, including Stephane Peterhnsel, Luc Alphand, Carlos Sainz and Giniel De Villiers. Like Dakar, the drivers will be timed each day in one or two competitive special sections, the distance of which is between 60 and 170 km. In Romania, technical ability will be tested on a route that will take the teams through winding valleys.

In Hungary, instead of racing through the barren desert of Africa, the teams will race through plains and forests. The course is being compared more to those used in World Rally racing instead of off-road desert racing. Either way, it will be a challenge.

In years past, you have been able to catch a Dakar wrap-up show with highlights of the entire race and only occasionally of Team Dakar USA on Versus or OLN. This year, Team Dakar USA brokered a deal with DIRECTV for exclusive rights to follow the team through their adventures.

DIRECTV will air a daily half-hour show on channel 101, the in-house channel available throughout the United States on the satellite television service. The show began airing highlights of the team last night, and will feature 13 minutes of overall rally coverage plus nine minutes dedicated to the American efforts of Team Dakar USA each day through the 26th. The program airs at 7 pm EST, then re-broadcast at 12:30 am EST.

A member of Robby’s team will also be providing nearly live updates from the Man truck.

If you are interested in following Team Dakar USA through their adventures in Hungary and Romania, you can check in here, as well as at Central Europe Rally.

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You can contact Kim at.. Insider Racing News

    Read other articles by Kim Roberson

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

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