The 2010 Dakar Rally kicked off over the weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but the opening day of racing was marred by the first death of a fan in four years. Unfortunate 28-year-old Natalia Sonia Gallardo was hit by a 4X4 driven by Mirco Schultis and partner Ulrich Leardi, who veered off course. French motorcyclist Pascal Terry died in last year’s Dakar, which is one of motorsport’s most dangerous events.
A spokesman for Rio Cuarto Hospital said four other people were injured. Witnesses report that fans were standing outside the area reserved for spectators.
Back to the race, Juan “Nani” Roma won the first stage of the 9000 km race in a BMW. The ex-Mitsubishi driver, who conquered Dakar on a bike in 2004, raced from Colon to Cordoba 2 minutes, 7 seconds ahead of Spanish compatriot and ex-WRC champ Carlos Sainz in the lead Volkswagen, and 2:50 in front of BMW teammate Stephane Peterhansel. Last year’s winner Giniel De Villiers of South Africa was 4:31 off the lead in a Volkswagen Race Touareg.
With Dakar stalwarts Mitsubishi out of the picture, the stage is set for a diesel powered head-to-head battle between Team X-raid’s BMW and the factory Volkswagen team. The race will end on 16 January in the Argentine capital.
Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.
i like Dakar rally ..the race of passionate!
If Neo S2K rally hit spectator, now im sure the car will be bashed! hahaha
previously the rally was held in Africa, but moved to South America as Africa is too dangerous for the drivers/riders. Now that a spectator died, the organiser will claim that it is too, dangerous. Next year they should have it in Alaska or North Pole perhaps… xD
1st ?
Drive carefully
organizer has to ensure safety not only driver but spectators…
1st!!!!
now paultan has become a motorsports blog as well! Bravo!!!!
They should just change the name of the Rally… because what's the point of having the Dakar in it when you don't even finish the rally in Dakar, Africa?
On the other hand, the risk to spectators should be minimised & kept in check at all times, in this case we wouldn't know who's fault it is that cause the accident… unless we can see a video clip of it…
I have seen rally spectators in the past who would be in the middle of the road just to wait for rally cars to come and would rush to the side when the cars pass through… really crazy!!!! Similar to what some do during the bull festival in Spain…
Haiya… Paul, why people like to related to so called PROTON in most of your entries..
What is the status of the Chinese team? Engine already fall off kah? Just a joke, but since there was a lot of comments on that team previously, I would like to know.
a Dakar without Mitsubishi….
Dakar is in Senegal…
according to wiki, it has been organized at argentina since 2009.
Mysticmind said,
January 4, 2010 @ 8:46 am
If Neo S2K rally hit spectator, now im sure the car will be bashed! hahaha
____________________________________________________________________
hahahahaha………………… not!
Yeah… talk about the rally please. It is sad to see a spectator being killed (not a joke). Guess they have no experience driving in Latin America or the organisors did not take extra precaution or spectators too close?
"mr_3m said,
January 4, 2010 @ 10:06 am
On the other hand, the risk to spectators should be minimised & kept in check at all times, in this case we wouldn’t know who’s fault it is that cause the accident… unless we can see a video clip of it…"
apparently, the accident occured in an area not designated by the organiser as a 'safe spectator point'. unfortunately, with rallies of any type, the actual "track" is extremely long, and more than 100km in the case of a rally raid like the paris-dakar.. no organiser can ensure 100% safety of all spectators for the entire length and duration.. the best they can do is to mark out controlled spectator points, which they can take responsibility for. motorsports is dangerous, both for participants and bystanders, and thats the facts.
the girl's name is Gallardo
like the Lamborghini eh?
i watched in BBC sport. at first the spectator is ok. being flown out by chopper. but after a while, the commentator announced the person had died. nice to see nissan frontier (at least the front end looks like it) also competed.. hehehe.. alongside subarus, H3, and X3.