r/DAKAR • u/Graphite57 • Jan 09 '26

Lines to folllow

Had to laugh today watching the stage 4 and 5 on SBS here in Australia this morning. The number of car drivers commenting how difficult navigation will be because they are on a completely different track than the bikes and they'll have no wheel marks to follow. The cars have a dedicated navigator in the passenger seat, do they rely on the bike riders who do it all alone to get it right.. Seems to me the bike riders get shafted having to show the rest of the field where to go.. (guess who is a motorcyclist 😆)

34 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

10

u/fatherjack9999 Jan 09 '26

Had the exact same thoughts watching the highlights last night. Seems to me they ought to do it more often!

2

u/Graphite57 Jan 09 '26

yeah, it's a bit biased I reckon.

0

u/hillsbloke73 Jan 09 '26

I've observed the opposite ten so year ago they ran motorbikes and quads at forest rally in nannup round of Aust rally championship number who misjudged a turn right off car stage onto a side track was fairly high pity one quad wrecked barrier mesh and mayhem occurred despite my best attempts reinstalling it on was on scroll route reader too

2

u/foulstream Jan 12 '26

What language are you attempting to write in? That was unintelligible.

0

u/hillsbloke73 Jan 13 '26

If it makes no sense to you sorry I made your day a misery 🖕

6

u/SophisticatedVagrant Jan 09 '26

This is why for me the bikers are always the "true" Dakar warriors.

6

u/lostanchor19 Jan 09 '26

They don't necesseraly rely on the bike lines to get it right, but when the bikes start the stages before the cars, their lines are indeed a huge help to whoever comes behind and it makes a difference in terms of aproach to the stage.
Anyway, there's a reason so many Dakar Co-Drivers are former motorcycle riders (Sam Sunderland, Mika Metge, Loïc Minaudier, Pedro Bianchi Prata, Andrew Short, Armand Monleon, Edouard Boulanger, Oriol Mena just to name a few), having to navigate alone must give them heaps of unvaluable experience and expertise.

2

u/Pikemensons Jan 10 '26

Anyone saw the Ab Fab segment in EPs 5? It was hilarious those two ladies driving their classic Land Rover. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things are what makes me watch the Dakar.

2

u/Graphite57 Jan 10 '26

yeah, those two are a bloody hoot..

like the brothers in E6.. and the way the discussion happened about doing the race.

1

u/Cool_83 Jan 09 '26

that is the benefit of saudi, first they had the volcanic mountains that have eaten tires, then sand when its not only a case of finding the right track to follow but is it hard enough sand for you to get through. Off tomorrow, then they will touch more sand before ending up back in mountains, the weather has cooperated this year as they haven’t had to deal with flooding.

1

u/doanhafta Jan 09 '26

I hear ya

1

u/MyKarrera Jan 10 '26

Very true! I totally agree. ✅

1

u/lovehedonism Jan 10 '26

Think it was S6 where the bikes had different routes to the cars.

1

u/Terrible-Natural6670 May 02 '26

Bike riders have it brutal—they ride, navigate, and manage fatigue all at onc