The Dakar 2014 Groupies' Thread

[Peter Bodtke]

I caught two stages of the Dakar in 2013. The following might be useful if you know little to nothing about the rally, like I did... Jump in and provide better suggestions or corrections if you know better.

The course details are released ~24 hours before each race. Be ready to scrabble a little or a lot to find the actual course. I went to the "Tucumán/Cordoba" stage and saw the race over 100 miles west of Tucumán, and a bit further south of Santa Maria. The "Fiambalá/Copiapó" stage started just north of Fiambalá. The course was much, much, closer to the town, then the stage that started in Tucumán.

The racers drive/ride from the bivouac to the race course near dawn. They may ride several hours on public roads and at legal speeds to get to the course. If you are traveling from the same town, you might find yourself riding along side a racer. Its pretty cool.

You have little chance of entering a bivouac, the fenced off camp/repair area where the racers go each night. A high tech wrist band is required to get through security. The wrist band has some kind of micro chip (RFID perhaps) that is scanned by a device to insure it is not a fake. Through a friend who had connections, I got into a bivouac for a few hours. It is a crazy scene outside the security gates, like being outside a rock concert, except everyone is a groupie and no one has a ticket to get in. You have the best chance of chatting with a racer at a gas station. I got to peek into the cab of Dakar ruck that was fueling up the day before the race at a gas station...

On the positive side, go online the night before the stage or down load the Dakar app for your smart phone. Figure out where the course runs and ride to an official viewing area. Maybe you want to check you the riders lining up for the start, I did. Then move down course to another official viewing area to watch the racer close up. The parking near the official view areas is some what secure, well there are other vehicles there...safety in numbers? Walk along the course. Get told by police that you have to get back from the course. How far? Far. Keep walking, and walk some more, walk til you are beyond where the police manage the course. Pick your spot and you can stand right next to the course and feel the dust and flying rocks of the worlds toughest riders as they come screaming by you. PS: don't stand too close.

The course for motorcycles and four wheelers may be different than the course for cars and trucks. I never saw a truck pass me on the two stages I attended and I heard that the trucks had a different course. Do your research on Accueil pré course j - 3 : Dakar

I wish like anything that I could attend some of the stages this year. If you make it to the Dakar, then have a blast! The Bolivia stage is gonna be a hoot. I took a jeep tour south of the Salar de Uyni and those roads suck AND it up there in altitude. A double whammy. My hat goes off to any and all racers that finish that stage.

I was able to camp out the night before along the race course, far from the police controlled observation area. Take everything that you might need. Water, food, sun protection. The Dakar isn't your typical day at the races, with vendors and porta potties. Ha!