In desert racing the co-driver’s responsibilities include calling out turns from the GPS, checking mirrors, monitoring gauges, and changing a flat tire or working on a broken race car. While a few top tier teams have dedicated co-drivers, the job more often is an afterthought given to friends or family. Short course “spotters” are even more removed from the situation, calling out turns and traffic from outside of the vehicle. By contrast, top rally raid navigators are paid professionals who are courted by rival teams and drivers. When you look closely you start seeing the same navigators at the top of the rankings each year. (more…)
Day: January 15, 2016
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American Racer Robby Gordon Claims Fifteenth Place in Stage Ten of Dakar Rally
LA RIOJA, Argentina (January 13, 2016) – Robby Gordon continued to improve positions at the 38th Dakar Rally Wednesday, bringing his Traxxas/Toyo Tires HST Gordini Supercar home in fifteenth-place of the weather shortened 244 Km special.
As the heat of the day increased, so did Gordon’s intensity, as the twenty-sixth starter wasted no time working his way past competitors into the ninetieth position thru Km 140 with no troubles. When many of the other drivers were finding themselves stuck, over heating or experiencing navigational issues, Gordon and navigator Kellon Walch pressed thru in the Toyo Tires/TRAXXAS Gordini all the way up to the seventieth position by Km 180. (more…)
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Dakar Rally Stage 9 Shortened, Gordon Credited with Twenty-Fifth Position, while Creed DQ’d
BELEN, Argentina (January 10, 2016) – After a disastrous Stage 8 on Monday, Team SPEED teammates Robby Gordon and Sheldon Creed looked to come back with a strong effort on Tuesday, and gain some time back on the leaders as the rally would move into the dunes for the first time. (more…)