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Up and Down Day for Team Dakar USA in the Central Europe Rally
Veszprem, Hungary – It was a seesaw day for Team Dakar USA. Over the
past three stages when things have gone well for Robby Gordon and his
Monster Hummer, BJ Baldwin and the Vanguard Hummer has had its set of
challenges. Today the roles were reversed.
The Central Europe Rally shifted back to Hungary and revisited the site
of the first special in Dubras, just outside Budapest. Gordon impressed
on the first special of the day, finishing third in the opening segment.
BJ Baldwin was in full attack mode as well but managed to tangle with a
tree. That episode relegated him to seventh on the first special.
Team Dakar USA then travelled 201km to the start of the second special
in Veszprem where the rally will be for the next two days.
There was no holding back for either of the two hummer teams. Gordon and
Grider were flying when a rock managed to sever the rear brake line. The
duo acted quickly to cap of the line and continue with only front
brakes. Navigation errors by some of the top rivals allowed them to
close up the gap only to give it back when the Hummer H3 went off the
track just a few kilometers from the end of the special.
The second special was the best moment yet for BJ Baldwin and navigator
Kevin Heath. Coming from the back the team scored an impressive 5th
place finish which vaulted them up to 15th in the overall
classifications. With Gordon’s mechanical luck he dropped back to eight
in the standings, 7:05 adrift.
Tomorrow’s stage five will remain in Veszprem which is good terrain for
the Hummers. The wide open, sometimes motorcross like tracks make for
spectacular rallying and Team Dakar USA plans to charge again.
Coverage of the Central Europe Rally can be seen in the United States on
DirecTV. The half hour show will be aired twice – first at 7p.m. EST and
then again at 12:30a.m. Additional rally coverage can also be found on
robbygordon.com and robbysuprising.com where Team Dakar USA will have
daily updates, the twitter micro blog feed, and videos.
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