Dakar Rally: Second overall victory for Nasser Al-Attiyah

Nasser Al-Attiyah secured his second victory in the Dakar Rally after nearly two weeks of domination of the 2015 event. The Qatari took the lead early on and only lost it to X-raid team-mate Orlando Terranova due to a penalty after the first stage.

After he regained it on the following day, Al-Attiyah stayed on top and secured a commanding win at the end of the event on Saturday. Third place in the final stage of the rally was enough for Al-Attiyah to clinch overall victory, his second following his 2011 triumph with Volkswagen. Al-Attiyah's win also means an X-raid Mini has won the Dakar for four consecutive years.

Giniel di Villiers finished in second place in his Toyota, over 35 minutes behind the winner. Krzysztof Holowczyc completed the podium in another X-raid Mini. The final special of the rally was shortened to just 34km due to heavy rain, and it meant the stage finished at the first control point.

American Robby Gordon took victory by 31 seconds from Leeroy Poulter and by 34s from Emiliano Spataro. Al-Attiyah finished the special in sixth, 48 seconds behind. Peugeot's troublesome return to the Dakar ended with Stephane Peterhansel outside the top 10 after finishing in 12th place in today's stage.

In the bikes category, Spaniard Marco Coma secured his fifth Dakar victory, while Airat Mardeev won in trucks and Rafal Sonik in quads.

Indian rider CS Santosh also completed the Dakar Rally on his debuit stint. He secured 36th place overall.

Comments

Honda CB Unicorn 160 vs Suzuki Gixxer comparison

There is no replacement for displacement, as goes the old American saying, with which the rest of the world often nods in agreement. Increase in the number of cubic centimeters of fuel that our engines burn, seems only to be a pleasant idea to almost every petrolhead. More power, more torque and a healthier sounding grunt from the exhaust are the common expectations from larger engines. Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) has walked this same path, to add 10 extra cubic centimeters of capacity to the now proven CB Unicorn engine, to make the Honda CB Unicorn 160. FROLIC FASHION Although some of the features of the older CB Unicorn have been bettered, we’ve gone ahead and pitched it right in at the deep end, to face off against the very best in the segment to find out the exact degree to which this motorcycle has improved. So, in steps the Suzuki Gixxer, a Japanese-made premium commuter that’s fast rising to the top of its segment, with enough promise to overshadow all o...

ABS brakes mandatory for two-wheelers soon

The Government Of India is paying some attention to road safety issues in the country. Keeping road safety in mind, the GOI is working on making the anti-lock braking system mandatory for all two-wheelers above the engine capacity of 125cc. This is a big step forward in the right direction, as over 70 percent of accidents that take place in India involve two-wheelers. Nitin Gadkari, Road Transport Minister has just recently approved this proposal, and is working on implementing it. Gadkari, who was recently present at the Bloomberg TV Autocar India Awards 2015 also talked about his plans of building safer roads for India. This is absolutely necessary, keeping in mind that as per data collected in 2013, 39,353 people were killed on Indian roads while riding two-wheelers. While the time frame for the Indian government to enforce this law remains undecided, sources say that safer roads for India aren't too far away.

Volkswagen T-Cross

Volkswagen’s smallest SUV, the T-Cross, is likely to see a global unveil on October 25, 2018. While details of the European-spec T-Cross were already released, the company has now revealed more information about the slightly longer version that’s aimed initially at emerging markets like Brazil and China, with India likely to see local production a little later. The T-Cross for emerging markets sits on Volkswagen’s slightly tweaked MQB A0 platform and, as reported by us earlier, it gets a longer wheelbase than its European cousin . The model is 4,199mm long, 1,568mm high and has a 2,651mm long wheelbase. In comparison, the Hyundai Creta is slightly longer, at 4,270mm and higher, at 1,780mm; but it has a slightly shorter wheelbase, at 2,590mm. The T-Cross has better cabin room than the Creta and also comes with rear seats that can be moved fore and aft in order to liberate more cargo or legroom. The SUV comes with dedicated rear AC vents and dual USB ports for the second row...

Automobilestillnow

Search This Blog