Buenos Aires, Argentina (January 16, 2010) – Saturday marked the 14th and final stage of the 32nd edition of the Dakar Rally.  The rally came full circle as competitors drove 707 kilometers from Santa Rosa to the finish line in Buenos Aires, where the Dakar Rally began nearly two weeks ago.  The key to the final stage was staying focused for the duration of the 206 kilometers timed special.  The 14th special was composed of a series of very fast track that forced competitors to navigate their way through the Argentinean landscape with precision.  After reaching the finish line in the village of San Carlos de Bolivar, drivers had to travel another 335 kilometers to the official finish line of the 2010 Dakar Rally in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

Team HUMMER was “wide open” for the final stage as they tried to gain as much ground as they could before the conclusion of the race. Robby Gordon piloted his Monster Energy / Toy Tires HUMMER to a seventh place finish while his Vanguard teammate finished ninth. When the dust had settled from this year’s Dakar Rally, the Monster HUMMER came home in eighth place overall roughly six hours behind this year’s winner Carlos Sainz. The Vanguard HUMMER was 21st.  As much as Robby Gordon and his team would have liked another podium finish, they are happy with a top-10 finish.

“Today was another good, consistent day for the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER.  We were wide open for miles and miles. In fact, it is the longest I’ve ever held the throttle open in the Monster HUMMER during the Rally. I really hoped that we could have brought home another stage win before the Rally concluded,” commented Gordon on the final day of competition.

“We’ll have to go back and go through all of our notes from this year so that we can be better for next year’s Dakar Rally.   A top-10 finish is still impressive considering just how difficult this race is – both on people and equipment.  I am just disappointed that we didn’t get another podium finish this year, but we will come back next year and be that much stronger because of it. We won’t give up, and I’m confident in our race team that we have what it takes to be competitive against the world’s best. We’ve proven that time and time again.  We build great race cars and have a good team; we’ll be back next year looking for a Dakar Rally overall win.”

Santa Rosa, Argentina (January 15, 2010) –  Competitors in the 2010 Dakar Rally wrapped up Stage 13 on Friday and just one stage remains until the 2010 Dakar Rally champion is crowned.  During Stage 13, drivers traveled from San Rafael to Santa Rosa on a 725 kilometer course, which was expected to take competitors nearly 9 hours to complete.  The stage featuring a 368 kilometer timed special which started off with areas of fast, jumpy track.  Despite being just a day away from the conclusion of the rally, drivers still faced several challenging areas to navigate throughout stage 13.  For nearly 40 kilometers, drivers ran the risk of getting stuck in the gray sand of the Nihuil dunes, which are some of the last few dunes they will encounter during the 14-stage ally.  Once they made it past the sand dunes, drivers experienced much larger and faster paths that allowed them to push their vehicles to the fastest speeds possible.

Robby Gordon and his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER would finish the stage eighth, still sitting ninth overall for the 2010 Dakar Rally.  It would be an overall good day for Team HUMMER as the Vanguard HUMMER finished ninth, right behind Gordon.  As the team heads back towards Buenos Aires for the final stage, they reflected on the events that unfolded during this year’s Rally. Based on everything that they have learned, Gordon feels confident that they will be a force to reckon with for 2011.

“We went for it today and drove the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER hard.  I had Peterhasel in my sights, but Mark Miller had to change a tire and got stuck in front of us and held us up for at least 150 mile. When I tried to pass him in the rocks, we hit a big rock and had to change a tire. All in all, it was a good day for our Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER coming in eighth.  I look forward for tomorrow’s final stage heading into Buenos Aires; we will try to get another stage win for 2010 before I head back to the US for the Laughlin Desert Challenge,” Robby Gordon commented about Stage 13.

San Rafael, Argentina (January 14, 2010) – Thursday marked the completion of Stage 12 for the 14-stage Dakar Rally.  Before the stage even started, the drivers for Team HUMMER knew it would be a hard, challenging day.  Stage 12 marked the longest stage of the rally measuring in at a total of 796 kilometers, with a 476 kilometer timed special.  The trek from San Juan to San Rafael was expected to take drivers just over 11 hour to complete.  About halfway through the special, drivers momentarily needed to use the road to avoid a classified and protected natural site.  After that, the second half of the special was completed exclusively on sand where drivers faced areas of bumpy, fast track and several jumps.  After successfully completing the special, drivers still needed to travel another 297 kilometers to reach the finish line in San Rafael.

With the 2010 Dakar Rally winding down to the final days, Stage 12 would be a great day for Robby Gordon and his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER.  Gordon would finish the stage fifth, only 10 minutes and 56 seconds behind Carlos Sainz.  The top-five finish moves Gordon to eighth in the overall standings, while Carlos Sainz continues to lead the field. Gordon and Sainz would end up battling each other during the stage for some of the most exciting racing during the Rally. 

“Today was another good day for the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires team. During the first part of the special, we were really, really good. We lost some time when we got stuck in a silk bed; I think that we could have won the special had we not had gotten stuck. Given how strong the HUMMER was today, I know we have the capability to beat our competition. We have built a really good race team, and I’m sure with years to come we’ll be great,” commented Robby Gordon.

Overheating issues would plague the Vanguard HUMMER it started Stage 12. The Vanguard HUMMER started the stage, but it was 30 minutes late. Despite the overheating obstacle, the driver of the Vanguard HUMMER would finish 13th and moved up to 19th overall in the standings.

San Juan, Argentina (January 13, 2010) – In Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally, competitors from Team HUMMER left Chile to begin their trek across Argentina back the finish line in Buenos Aires for the scheduled conclusion of the race on Saturday. The journey from Santiago to San Juan included dramatic changes in altitude as competitors travelled a total of 434 km and completed a 220 km timed special.  The course allowed drivers to admire views of the famous Aconcagua, which is the highest mountain peak in the Americas.  The day began with a trip through the Paso Libertadores, which is a mountain pass in the Andes Mountains that allowed competitors to cross into Argentina.  The first fifty kilometers was the only portion of the rally completed at high altitude, but required mechanics to incorporate a setup that would compensate for a lack of power.  Additionally, drivers had a make a conscious effort to take care of their brakes today to ensure they would last the entire descent of nearly 20 kilometers.

Robby Gordon in his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER finished seventh despite an inflation line problem that resulted in a tire change midway through the special.  Without the issue, Gordon felt confident that he and navigator, Andy Grider could have taken another stage victory in the 2010 Dakar Rally; however, he finished five minutes behind Guerlain Chicherit.  He remains 10th overall behind overall leader, Carlos Saniz.

The Vanguard HUMMER would finish 14th due to a brake line issue at the last leg of the stage. The duo hope to have better results during the last days of the 2010 Dakar Rally.

Santiago, Chile (January 12, 2010) – Competitors from Team HUMMER completed the tenth of fourteen stages in the Dakar Rally today.  Drivers travelled a total of 586 km from La Serena to Santiago, and completed a 238 km timed special composed mostly of fast, winding track.  After leaving the Atacama Desert, they were exposed to the dense vegetation and hilly terrain of Chile as they travelled to Santiago.  The stage was further complicated by the winding tracks, which could cost valuable time.  Completing Stage 10 without any major mistakes is essential to successfully completing the Dakar Rally. 

Today would be an almost perfect day for Robby Gordon in his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER despite finishing ninth, 9 minutes and 36 seconds to the stage winner Carlos Sainz. None of the problems the team had faced during the previous three stags would affect him today.  The terrain was not as difficult as the dunes but was similar to World Rally Championship style racing with tight roads and technical execution.  The Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER would run good for Gordon but just come up short on time.  Robby Gordon falls back to tenth place overall, but is looking forward to gaining more ground as teams fight to survive the final stages of the 2010 Dakar Rally.

Robby Gordon was upbeat after his performance during Stage 10.  “The team did a good job preparing the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER for today’s stage, We had no mechanicals, failures or issues. We just got beat by our 2-wheel drive system on the tight, slippery roads.  Toyo Tires has done a good job keeping up with the competition, and the HUMMER has been running good. Monster has given the team plenty of energy to finish this thing, and we have four more days of racing left.”

The driver of the Vanguard HUMMER would also have a much better performance than the day before.  Starting in the rear of the field for today’s stage, the Vanguard HUMMER would finish in the 23rd position, moving up to 21st in the overall standings.

La Serena, Chile (January 11, 2010) – Stage 9 of the Dakar Rally presented another unique set of challenges for Team HUMMER on Monday as they travelled from Copiapo to La Serena.  The start of today’s special was delayed due to dense fog setting in Copiapo over the last few days.  Due to the delay, organizers for the Dakar Rally also shortened the route from 547 km to just a total of 354 km, with only 170 km timed.  Stage 9 also marked the final day of competition in the Atacama Desert and allowed competitors one last chance to gain ground across the desert’s sand and dunes.  By the time drivers reach La Serena, they will have conquered the most technically challenging portion of the rally’s course, but they will still need to complete five additional stages before returning to Buenos Aires for the successful completion of the 2010 Dakar Rally.

Yet another day of getting stuck in the sand would haunt Robby Gordon and his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER through the dunes of Copiapo.  During the first few kilometers of the stage, Gordon would lose air pressure and get stuck in the dunes.  Despite the issues, Gordon in his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER would survive and come in 10th place for the day. On a positive note, the duo of Gordon and Grider moved to ninth place overall.

“Today was a tough day, especially through the tricky dune sections and soft sand,” said Robby Gordon.  “I got the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER stuck twice, but we survived with another top-10 finish.  One thing that we learned during this Rally is that we can’t be stopped.  Our competition never stops; this race is about endurance and how quickly you recover from obstacles that are thrown at you. I think that we have done a really good job getting back up when we get knocked down.” 

The driver of the Vanguard HUMMER would get stuck late in the stage. It was a long day for the driver and navigator trying to get their HUMMER out of the grip of the soft sand.  The Vanguard HUMMER would end up in 45th position, but ready to tackle another day tomorrow.

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Copiapo, Chile (January 10, 2010) – After a much needed rest day on Saturday, Team HUMMER returned to face the unforgiving Atacama in Stage 8 of the Dakar Rally.  The competitors covered 568 km as they traveled from Antofagasta to Copiapo.  To start the day, the drivers had to navigate their way through extremely rocky terrain where the slightest mistake can cost the most experienced competitor precious minutes.  As the stage progressed, the pace quickened as the drivers covered approximately 300 km of winding, fast tracks leading to the frequent dune zones above Copiapo.  After conquering the dunes, competitors raced through the final 90 km, which was composed completely of sand. 

Robby Gordon and the No. 302 Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER started the day in 24th position, but quickly moved his way towards the front.  By the half way mark of the stage, he was in the second position looking for another possible stage win.  Then unfortunate circumstances would once again alter the outcome for Robby Gordon in his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER.  Gordon recovered as quickly as possible to finish the stage in tenth place, 37 minutes down to the stage winner.  Gordon remains tenth in the overall standings, roughly five hours behind leader Carlos Sainz.

‘”We finished the stage in tenth place, which is the disappointing part of the day. It is frustrating because we know that we have a race car that is capable of finishing good each and every stage; we raced our way from 24th to 2nd. We just need everything to go good so that we can get the finishes that we deserve. Looking at the bright side of things, we’ll be getting a better starting position tomorrow. We will be starting 10th, which is about 2 minutes a car so it should be good for us,” Robby Gordon commented about his day hoping for a better outcome during stage 9.

The driver of the Vanguard HUMMER would soon follow Robby Gordon across the finish line, coming in 13th place. 

The team will regroup tonight and hope to have a strong showing tomorrow.  Stage 9 will take the team from Copiapo to La Serena with the special stage starting at 8:50 am local time.  Robby Gordon in his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER will start at 9:08 am.

Antofagasta, Chile (January 8, 2010) – Today marked the longest special of the grueling 14 stage Dakar Rally for Team HUMMER.  Measuring in at 641 km, the special was made even more difficult by the varied terrain that competitors had to race across.  As competitors travelled from Antofagasta to Iquique they encountered everything from areas of fast off-track, to slow track, to windy track and even a salar.  Stage 7, which was expected to take competitors around seven hours to complete, was filled with magnificent views of the Chilean landscape.  Drivers were challenged early in the day as they crossed over sand dunes.  However, the most demanding part of the stage came when competitors had to cross the salar.  The salar, which spans 3 km, is an area filled with huge blocks of dry salt that requires competitors to slow their speed to under 10 km/h.  Once competitors made it past this portion of the stage, it was mostly fast, open track to the finish line.

What seemed to be a great start for Robby Gordon and his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER ended in heartbreak.  Gordon led the stage through the halfway point before an alternator failure crippled his HUMMER on the course, crushing his hope for another stage win.  Once the No. 302 was back on course, he finished the stage in 24th place and dropped to 10th in the overall standings.

“We started off with a really good run. By the start of the second liaison, I motored by two cars and was about the fifth car on the road. I saw low voltage on the dash and switched back and forth between batteries for about 120k before the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER finally stopped running.  We had to wait a long time for a replacement, which cost us a lot of time. It’s just a huge bummer. I am ready for tomorrow’s rest day so that we can reevaluate and strategize for the rest of the race. Our plan is to come on strong for the final stages and make up as much ground as possible.”

Antofagasta, Chile (January 6, 2010) –Team HUMMER carried the momentum from yesterday’s stage win into today’s performance. Robby Gordon finished fourth, just 4 minutes and 48 seconds behind the winner Mark Miller. Gordon jumps to fourth place overall, only trailing Carlos Sainz by 59 minutes and 55 seconds. As Gordon suspected, most competitors struggled during Stage 5 from Copiapo to Antofagasta, one of the longest stages during the 2010 Dakar Rally. Despite the tough terrain and length of the stage, Gordon proved once again that his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER is reliable and fast across the Chilean desert. 

“We had an interesting day today.  Since we were the first car on the road due to yesterday’s stage win, we made the trail. Unfortunately, we got stuck once in a ditch as we were making our way, costing us about six minutes. Things were going along good and then we had an overheating issue near the end of the special. Stopping to replace the belt cost us about couple of minutes. Had it not been for these errors, I think that we could have won the special by about four minutes. Regardless, we had a good day and are now within the hour mark and have our sights set on Carlos.  Unfortunately, we messed up on the third day by missing a check point. It has been a good rally for us and the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER. There is still a long way to go both in the Rally and competing for the overall win,” commented Robby Gordon. 

The Vanguard HUMMER started today’s special in eight place. Despite a clutch issue in the dunes, the driver finished 12th. 

For Stage 6, the teams will head north up the Chilean coast to Iquique from Antofagasta.  There will be a 90km liaison with a special featuring 483km and finally another 97km liaison back to the bivouac in Iquique, Chile.

Copiapo, Chile (January 5, 2010) – For today the story wasn’t about four-wheel drive systems or restrictors, it was about Robby Gordon in his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER proving that he can hang with the best in the 2010 Dakar Rally as he wins Stage 4 from Fiambala to Copiapo.  He becomes the stage winner by just 1 second over Stephane Peterhansel in his BMW.  This marks Robby Gordon’s first Dakar stage win since 2007 and his third stage victory since he started competing in the world’s toughest race back in 2005.  He now sits 8th overall in time behind the leader moving up one spot from 9th.  For the team who had such a disappointing outing the day before now sits on a high as they look to keep the momentum going into Stage 5.

Robby Gordon talked about momentum after his Stage 4 victory, “Here’s a stage we thought we were going to be good and we were – we went out and won.  Now we’re still an hour behind overall and had our bogey yesterday, we just have to be strong from here on out and I feel that we can carry it through starting with today.”

For the Vanguard HUMMER it was also a successful day as he finishes the stage 10 minutes behind his teammate Robby Gordon coming in 8th place.  The driver of the Vanguard HUMMER is optimistic about a good starting position for Stage 5 and looks forward to helping the team develop for further years to come.

Stage 5 will start in Copiapo and end in Antofagasta which will feature a liaison of 90km, a special stage of 483km and another liaison of 97km – totaling 670km.  Stage 5 will feature some of the biggest and toughest sand dunes any driver or rider has faced before.  For the HUMMERs Stage 5 will fit their cars well as they expect nothing less than another stage victory.

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Fiambala, Argentina (January 4, 2010) – Unfortunate circumstances plagued Team HUMMER this afternoon in the dune sections of Stage 3.  The team had first thought that the these set of dunes would be a good stage for the HUMMERs but due to a smaller restrictor cutting the horsepower down, the HUMMERs couldn’t carry the momentum needed to get through the heavy sand that was featured during Stage 3.  Robby Gordon said his HUMMER won’t run the dunes in 2nd gear and for that reason he got stuck and lost valuable time to the leaders. Robby Gordon talked about his performance during Stage 3, “I feel we are at a major disadvantage when it comes to restrictors.  My top speed is about 165mph and the Volkswagens’ are going 190mph.  Plus my Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER needs to carry extra weight because of the fuel mileage we get.  The sand dunes in this stage needed the car to have forward momentum to get through them.  I would run up and try to come down and get stuck. For tomorrow we’ll move on and drive again.” 

Robby Gordon would end up in 12th place in his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER for the stage and now 1 hour and 4 minutes down to the overall leader in 9th place.  That’s not the only disappointment of the day.  Around kilometer 57 the Vanguard HUMMER had a transmission failure and was forced to be towed in along with Carlo De Gavardo having clutch problems 10 kilometers before the Vanguard HUMMER had its issues.  They were both able to make it to the bivouac after getting a tow from one of Team HUMMERs’ support trucks.

All in all it’s a day that the team would like to soon forget.  They will regroup tonight in Fiambala and try to make the best of tomorrow’s Stage 4.  Stage 4 is set from Fiambala to Copiapo, a liaison for 394 kilometers and a special that will be 203 kilometers.  Another 32 kilometer liaison back to the bivouac in total distance of 629 kilometers.  The first car is set to leave the bivouac at 6:05 am with the special starting at 12:05 pm local time.

La Rioja, Argentina (January 3, 2010) – Today marked the second stage for the 2010 Dakar Rally and was delayed at the start due to weather in the area for an half an hour.  Once the weather cleared up it was time for Team HUMMER to keep up with the success they had the day before.  Robby Gordon was the first HUMMER off from Cordoba and was ready to run hard in order to win.  Despite the terrain favoring other 4-wheel drive cars than the 2-wheel drive HUMMER, Robby Gordon was able to keep pace and even lead the stage at one point.  Only major issue of the stage was a flat left front tire which was caused by a big rock on the race course.  “Only problem we had today where we lost a lot of time was a flat tire – Andy and I haven’t practiced changing a tire in a while.  To lose 12 minutes isn’t too bad at this point and it’s all desert tomorrow so it should be good for us.”  Commented Robby Gordon.  Robby Gordon and the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER would end up 11th in the stage and 9th in overall time – 12 minutes 28 seconds back from the leader.

The Chile HUMMER driven by Carlo Degavardo had an better day on Stage 2 than Stage 1 were he would end up 36th for the stage and become 38th – 1 hour 13 minutes back from the overall leader.

The Vanguard HUMMER had a big incident on race kilometer 5 were the driver made a mistake over correcting the steering which lead to the HUMMER rolling over twice, landing on its roof down a cliff.  Luckily both driver and navigator were un hurt in the big crash – not to say the same for the Vanguard HUMMER.  With the Vanguard HUMMER stuck down the cliff with zero help to get pulled out, the driver and navigator felt helpless as they saw their hopes of having a competitive Dakar Rally drive pass them.  Hours later after one of Team HUMMERs’ support trucks got to the Vanguard HUMMER, they were able to get back on their way but with so much damage they would end up hours behind.  The driver was forced to limp back to the bivouac in La Rioja were the team would be there waiting to assess the damage.

Stage 3 is set from La Rioja to Fiambala, a liaison for 259 kilometers and a special that will be 182 kilometers.  A total distance of 441 kilometers in length.  The first car is set to leave the bivouac at 7:07 am local time with Robby Gordon in the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER rolling off in 11th place.

Cordoba, Argentina (January 2, 2010) – For Team HUMMER today was the start of Stage #1 and the first opportunity for competitors to race against each other.  The stage was suppose to feature 251 kilometers but was unfortunately shortened by 52 kilometers due to heavy rainfalls earlier this week.  The end total of the special had 199 kilometers of racing.  Robby Gordon and his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER would finish 6th overall behind the eventual winner Nani Roma and improving on his performance from last year.  “I am very happy were we are at right now.  We got off track a few times but to still be beat by 4 minutes and 48 seconds is pretty good considering at this stage last year we didn’t fare so well.”

As far as the rest of Team HUMMER, the Vanguard HUMMER would have a great day as its driver got more accustomed to the different driving style that comes with the H3 HUMMER.  At the end of the stage, the Vanguard HUMMER would end up 13 minutes 53 seconds behind the race leader.  It would be a different story for the Chile sponsored HUMMER driven by Carlo Degavardo.  Carlo Degavardo would end up having a crash close to the end of the stage when his brake line broke and throttle cable stuck wide open going into a corner.  Luckily Carlo and navigator Juan Pablo Rodriguez would only hurt the windshield and right side mirror as they would carry on and finish 39th overall.

For tomorrow, the stage is set from Cordoba to La Rioja.  It will be more of the same from today with similar terrain and will be tougher on the HUMMERs 2-wheel drive systems.

Race Coverage – For fans tracking the Dakar Rally at home, please visit robbygordon.com, planetrobby.com, and Robby Gordon’s twitter page for daily updates on the team’s performance including a daily recap, photos and videos. Versus will provide coverage throughout the United States.  A 30-minute daily program featuring highlights from that day’s racing will be aired on Versus daily at 3:30 p.m. with a replay airing later in the day.  The show is set to air daily from January 3rd through January 18th, check your local listing for exact show times.  A 60-minute recap show featuring all fourteen stages will air on Versus on Sunday, January 24th at 3:00 p.m.