Final Stages Analysis

January 17, 2007

By Ryan Arciero

As the stages of this years Dakar get closer to the red lake or Lac Rose in Senegal and the finish line, the hopes of VW capturing the win gets smaller and smaller. Mark is still the only chance for VW to get into the top three overall. There is still some work that needs to be done and not all is lost at this point. The next couple of days they will run through some very technical terrain and places for lots of mistakes to be made. The dirt becomes richer and dark brownish looking so dust becomes a big factor. Vegetation, trees and hidden rocks can jump out at you. Lots of care must be taken if you still want to make it to Dakar. The race can still very much be lost in these next couple of days.

The two lead cars of Mitsubishi are well on their way to victory, minus any unsuspecting issues that may or can arise. I don’t expect much of a shake up baring problems in the overall two. For Mark to catch Schlesser for the third spot is not impossible and somewhat achievable. The type of terrain that is coming is very suited for the VW Touareg and less suited for Schlesser’s buggy. They will see more technical tracks and places that Mark can pull some time on Schlesser.

The time gap to fifth is only two minutes and only 14 minutes to fourth. Fourth position will be a bit harder to try and make up than to fifth. If Mark is once again on his game I think he can eat into the time gap to the BMW tomorrow. I definitely think you will see an improvement on the time gap to Schlesser after tomorrow is over. I say that thinking that Mark can and will clean the stage without any issues. He will once again have his teammates behind him for support as they make their way into Mali. Due to the short specials that are ahead for the next couple of days making up big chunks of time is probably very unlikely at this point. In that same breath I do think making up some small chunks of time especially on fifth, fourth and third place can be in the cards for Mark.

If Mark can better his last years finish I think it will be a huge success for not only him but for VW. Especially after all the issues they have had the last couple of days. To make a comeback after all that they have been through will be a testament to how hard this team has worked throughout the rally and to show that you never give up no matter how tough it is going.

The reason I have this post labeled Stage 12-15 is that unfortunately I will not be able to do any more race analysis from now to the finish of the Dakar. I am leaving tomorrow morning for the first race of the season for Arciero-Miller Racing at the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge. Although I will still be following very closely what is happening with Mark until he reaches Lac Rose in Dakar, I will not have the opportunity to give you guys my insight on the rest of the rally.

Believe me, when Mark reaches the Lac Rose, even with all the problems the team has had this rally; it is a feeling that will always stay with you. Just to finish this race is an incredible feat. If you don’t believe me, take a look on www.dakar.com and see what the official entry list was at the beginning of this sucker in Portugal and see what it is when they reach Dakar come January 21. Big difference! I can tell you first hand it is an incredible feeling of accomplishment in life to get to the finish line. This is by far the hardest and most physically demanding motorsport race in the world and to finish it says something special about those teams. I know how hard Mark has been working this past year to achieve success at the Dakar. So to him I say good luck, give them hell, and don’t give up until you are at the top of the podium in Dakar buddy.

I want to thank all of you for tuning in every day to listen to Mark’s audio, which he will continue to the end of the rally. I would also like to thank you for reading these race analysis that Mike our web guru has been posting on our site. I hope this is something everyone enjoys reading and I do hope I was able to shed better light on how this rally works and what these guys are going through.

For those of you that also follow Mark and me though Arciero-Miller Racing I will be doing audio updates in Laughlin as to how things are progressing over there from Thursday thru Sunday so stay tuned.

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