They’re Ready to Again Wear the Rally Caps
Ryan Arciero has won the Baja 1000 three times, including the last two, so the Orange County off-road racer figured he was ready to tackle the Dakar Rally, a 5,566-mile torture test from Barcelona across western Africa south of the Sahara to Senegal’s seaside capital, Dakar.
He arrived home Wednesday and couldn’t wait to talk about it Thursday.
“It was like driving the 1000, then again, then again and again for five times without a letup,” said Arciero, who lost 17 pounds in 17 days from Dec. 31 to Jan. 16, driving a diesel-powered Toyota Land Cruiser in the stock class.
“It was even tougher than I anticipated. The longest runs were about 400 miles, about half of a day in Baja, but as soon as we logged a thousand, you were right back after the next one.”
Arciero drove the entire distance, with Niki von der Decken, a German motorcycle racer, riding along as navigator.
NASCAR driver Robby Gordon also drove in the Dakar and finished 12th in a highly modified Volkswagen Race-Touareg in the premier class. After finishing, Gordon left immediately for Daytona Beach, Fla. Gordon recently quit Richard Childress’ team to go it alone as an owner-driver in the Nextel Cup series.
“Robby and I talked nearly every night at our bivouac and both of us want to come back next year with an all-American team,” said Arciero, whose grandfather Frank was one of Southern California’s pioneers in sports car racing. “It won’t be in a stock vehicle, like the one I drove, but in a state-of-the-art one we build here in Southern California just for Dakar. Mark Miller, who drove with me in the last two Baja wins, will be part of the team too.
“One of our trophy trucks would blow away anything that ran in the Dakar, but it would never last. It’s amazing what a beating these cars -- and the drivers -- take racing over 5,000 miles. None of it is anything more difficult than what we see in Baja, there’s just so much more of it.”
Animals crossing the road are sometimes bigger hazards than sand, boulders, ravines or the lack of roads. In Baja, cows and dogs seem to be everywhere.
“Goats were the biggest concern in Africa, everywhere we went,” Arciero said. “We also saw herds of monkeys, a bunch of wild boar and a few wild camels.
“And of course, people. It seemed like even in the middle of the desert when we ran through tiny villages, they would line the course. There were thousands of kids, maybe 3 to 10, who stood and cheered about everywhere but Mauritania.
“That was the only place I felt somewhat apprehensive being an American. They would put up roadblocks by piling big rocks in the road and if we stopped, they would swarm over the car and ask for food or gifts. When we slowed down and tried to drive through the roadblocks, they would throw stones at us. One time, we were going real slow and they jumped on the back and yanked a tent off the car. We never stopped.”
The worst thing that happened to Arciero was running out of fuel and having to wait 12 hours until the team’s service truck reached them.
“It was miserably cold and in the middle of a sandstorm. Every five minutes or so, another vehicle would come by and Niki and I would beg for either a tow or some gas, but they were all low on fuel too, and wouldn’t take a chance helping us. It felt terrible, but I knew how they felt.
“I’ve nursed my truck home in Baja when it was low on fuel, but in the Land Cruiser there was no gauge. The only way you could get a reading was to stop and put a stick in the tank and see how much you had left. The next day, after half the field ran dry, the race organizers acknowledged they had made a miscalculation and gave us a day off to recuperate.
“The rally was an all-French operation and I was amazed at how efficient and organized they were in having meals ready, no matter how far we were out in the boonies.”
A series of five one-hour shows from the Dakar Rally will debut Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on the Outdoor Life Network.
“The producers hope that showing the action ... will do for Dakar what OLN did for Lance Armstrong and the Tour de France,” Arciero said. “Desert racing may be out of the NASCAR box, but for human interest and a different look at racing, it’s a hidden treasure.”
Long Beach Grand Prix
Drifting, the newest motor sport imported from Japan, is going road racing.
The inaugural Long Beach Drifting Challenge will be run April 9-10 during the 31st Toyota Grand Prix. Drifting, which has attracted huge crowds at California and Irwindale Speedway on oval tracks, will be contested around the entire 1.97-mile, 11-turn circuit.
“It will attract a whole new audience to our event,” Jim Michaelian, LBGP president, said. “And it will also legitimize what some of us have been secretly doing on these downtown Long Beach streets for many years.”
The Champ Car World Series race will be the main event Sunday. Ticket information: longbeachgp.com.
NASCAR
Qualifying for the Daytona 500 will have a new look next month.
The two-car front row will still be determined by qualifying speeds, but the old Twin 125-mile qualifying races will be 150 miles and called the Gatorade Duel.
NASCAR officials have also guaranteed starting berths for the top 35 in last year’s owners’ points, regardless of how they fare in qualifying. Where they start will be set from finishing positions in the 150s. Two drivers from outside the top 35 in each 150 will also make the main event, with qualifying speeds accounting for the rest of the 43-car lineup.
Nextel Cup drivers will test Feb. 2-3 at California Speedway in sessions open to the public, free of charge, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Nextel Cup series will be at California Speedway on Feb. 27, a week after the Daytona 500 season opener.
Passings
Charlie Brockman, 77, former U.S. Auto Club president and a founding member of the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Assn., died Jan. 19 at his home in Indianapolis.
Parker “Parky” Nall, a racing-engine builder who was elected to the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame last October, died Jan. 3 of cancer at his home in Midland, N.C.
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Schedule
* What: Third round of 16-race THQ AMA Supercross Series for 250cc and 125cc motorcycles.
* Where: Man-made course, Angel Stadium, Anaheim.
* When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
* Series leader: Kevin Windham, Centerville, Miss., Yamaha.
* Tickets: $10 to $45, Ticketmaster and Angel Stadium box office.