Rallyraidio

Garry chats with Welshman Craig Bounds following Stage 8.  Boundsey is riding well, despite a major off that fractured his sternum only weeks before the event.  Hardcore.

Annie Seel calls in mid way through what has to be the toughest rally of her life.  Bruised and battered, she continues on despite having shattered her helmet chinbar and breaking her nose.Is the South American Dakar tough?  You better believe it.

Stan calls in after a tough day that saw a track with many potential pitfalls and long drop offs for the competitors.

Garry has a great chat with Thomas Berglund, riding his second Dakar with the Sweedish Army team. ARMY. Not bikini. But anyway -- Thomas fills us in on his race to date, including overshooting a corner and ending up several hundred meters off piste... Other than that, going quite well, and hoping for a finish inside the top 15. Good luck, Thomas. Hope to hear from you again.

Garry chats with Portuguese rider Helder Rodrigues, multi-stage winner in previous Dakar's, who voices perhaps the first leanings toward Africa that I've heard yet thusfar.Great to hear from you, Helder.  Good luck on the rest of the Rally! (And what kind of fairing is that on your KTM?  Hmm?)

Garry gets Pal Anders on the phone after stage 8. The call is dropped, unfortunately, but it's an honor to hear from the Man in Green -- long, LONG, flying the flag for privateers on the Rallye circuit. Good luck, Pal Anders! Hope to hear from you again, and hope you finally get that podium finish you've been working for.

The title pretty much says it all.  After heroically riding through the pain of an existing wrist injury, Jonah has several crashes today and makes the gut wrenching decision to live to fight another day.Jonah's performance and that of Team Rally PanAmerica have been nothing short of spectacular this year.  We hope to see them return next year, and perhaps even for the entire World Championship calendar (dare we hope!) -- continuing the dream that a privateer can end up on the podium of the greatest race on earth.Thank you, Jonah Street, for allowing us to believe that dreams are still achievable. 

Garry interviews David after the rest day. Steady as she goes for David, who finds himself transitioning from an "attack" mentality, to a "bring it home safely" approach.  Sounds pretty damn prudent given the attrition of late.

Don Hatton calls in after escaping from the hospital following his stage 4 crash and medivac. So good to hear from you, Don. You had us all worried there for a while. Don, it's been a privilege to follow your maturation as a rallye rider. THANK YOU for allowing us to ride over your shoulder, across the world. We hope to hear more about your days before your crash, living the dream we all share. Mend well. Mend completely. Dakar 2010.

Garry calls in from the streets of Valparaiso on the (so called) "rest" day. The service crews have had a busy day, including motor changes for both Jonah and David (who has put impressive mileage on the 690 including multiple rallies). Better safe than sorry. This does put an end to the marathon class, however. A great look at what goes on in the service camp. Thanks, Garry!

For those of you who've seen Race to Dakar, listening to Simon Pavey chat with Garry will be like listening to an old friend regale you with tales at the local pub. I can see his easy going, ear-to-ear grin right now. Thanks for talking with us, Simon. Hope to hear from you again! Enjoy the rest day.

Penalized 4 hours for missing a CP by 60m, Garry (our intrepid reporter) has managed to get the assessment reversed, preserving David's spot at the pointy end of the field. Get up to speed with David's race to date.

Crewman for Dutchman Henk Knuiman, riding a 690 Enduro based bike, chats with Garry on how the rally is going for them up to this point. Browsing the lists, there are an amazing number of Dutchmen in the race.Good luck, guys!  Enjoy the rest day.

Riding the Dakar is tough. Riding it without a clutch is even tougher... Also a quick update on Jon Stamper who crashed heavily and retired on stage 5. Heal up, Jon!

An absolutely fabulous call from Jonah and Garry.  A lot of insight into what the race strategy will be from here on out.Thanks guys, enjoy the rest day!

Phil Noone from Ireland relates the tale of his incredible night last night. We knew he traveled to the bivouac to retrieve parts for the bike -- we didn't know that that journey was on HORSEBACK!! With all due respect to our other callers, this may be the most incredible tale ever related on RallyRAIDio. Incredible, Phil. 

Stan Watt rings in after the abbreviated stage.  Having injured his knee yesterday in the "debacle", he took it easy today.He also mentions that yesterday's stage was neutralized, and that it sucks for Jonah.  Obviously that doesn't jive with the timing as we're seeing it today, so either the riders have been given a false impression, or something is afoot that we're yet to hear about.  Lets hope the former.  :nod

Garry calls in from the bivouac after the weather-shortened stage 6. As good as Jonah's day was yesterday, David Schwarz had a tough one, missing a CP by 60m and incurring a very hefty penalty.Thanks, Garry!

Jonah's Eurosport interview following his impressive win on Stage 5.  Check out eurosport.com for more of their great coverage.

Garry heads off to bed, but not before speaking with Marc Coma.  Tomorrow will be a big day, with competitors encountering the first dunes of the rally.WE should get to hear from Marc tomorrow, all things going as planned. In the meantime, Garry fills us in on some followup with Frans Verhoeven on the future of El Dakaro, and gives us a glimpse of what it's like over in the Elf Box camp, with the truly unsupported privateers. There's some digital break-up in parts of the call (from wind noise, I believe), so bear with us. Cheers, and G'night Garry!