Xtreme+ 2016 Dakar Updates

[JoeyD23]

Xtremeplus Polaris Factory Team ready for the new dreams!

©J.Tomaselli.

Dakar 2016
Buenos Aires, January 1, 2016

Technical and administrative scrutineering: Tecnopolis (Buenos Aires)

Times goes by fast. After a complete season of the world championship with Polaris RZR 1000 XT+30, here is the Xtremeplus Team ready for a new challenge, a new Dakar!

After the route through Peru was cancelled, the Dakar starts in Buenos Aires once again, to go north, cross the Andes Mountains and the frontier to meet Bolivia’s mythical Salar Uyuni before going back south to Salta, for the rest day. The first week will be difficult, because it is very hot and humid in Argentina at the moment, and the Bolivian trail takes competitors up to 4,000 meters of altitude. The second part of this year´s race will also be demanding, with considerable altitude, the heat and also the risk of rain. If you want to take the Dakar trophy home, you must have a good vehicle, a good physical condition and the strongest mind.

©J.Tomaselli.

Leandro Torres/Roldn Lourival N.367:“Todays is the big day, we are finally at the Dakar! I think the race will be difficult, but I am calm, less nervous than I was at Merzouga. If you race against the clock, you feel more pressure, but I am taking the start to cross the finish line. I know I must find a good pace and that I must race with my head because every journey will be long. Besides, I have an experienced co-driver that has already done it 8 times and completed the Dakar 5 times. That comforts me; he will be able to help me all along the way of this Dakar!”

©J.Tomaselli.

Michelle Cinotto/Mauricio Dominella N. 389: “It is my 4th Dakar in car, but my very first with RZR. I did the Rally of Tunisia with the Polaris RZR 900 XT+40, but this time I am going with the 1000XT+30 to get the victory in T3. When Marco Piana called me to take part of this Dakar, I jumped into this opportunity and I am very happy with it. We will have to use the correct dose of speed and respect the mechanical of the machine because it will be a long race, but we have the best team of this class, the best professionals!”

©J.Tomaselli.

Eugenio Amos/Rafael Tornabell N.371: “It´s a dream that becomes true and I am so touched! All of my life I have dreamed of the Dakar and here I am! My dad raced on a truck in 1992, and I was 7 years old, I was as tall as the tires. My 7 years old son will come to see me in Salta... This Dakar is my first, but it also has a special meaning to me.”

Mao Rujin/Ka Chun Yu N.394: “To take part of the Dakar, you must have three things: good physical condition, money and time! – says Mao Rujin as he smiles. I have always loved to watch motorsports, but I had never had the time because of work. Today, I am 60 years old; I have time, money and a body that allows me to take part of the Dakar! To me, this is to make a dream come true and I will make it happen, I want to cross the finish line!
It is a new challenge, but I am in a great team, Xtremeplus. In China, everyone knows that Marco Piana is the subject matter expert in T3 and that the Polaris RZR 1000 XT+30 is the best machine. We met in Beijing, and we had a good feeling right away. Today, I am here in Buenos Aires, at the start of this legendary race, the Dakar, with a co-driver, Ka Chun Yu, who comes from Hong Kong and he is an excellent mechanic! All I want is to take the start!”

©J.Tomaselli.

Marco Piana: “This is the 5th Dakar of Xtremeplus with Polaris RZR and my 15th… I am a little disappointed that the race will not go through Peru because the dunes could have been in our advantage. The current tracks are not really made for our machines, but it will be a beautiful race.
We have made some modifications in our RZR to make it more comfortable for the teams, for example, they now have a windshield.
To assist our RZR, we have a different organization and besides the T4 truck, I will be in a 4x4 Toyota with Steven Griener as a co-driver to be closer to our customers and reinsure them. We have three rookie teams and one experimented crew, Cinotto and Dominella, who replaces Willy. In general, we have had a high success level throughout the years, so I am confident to see them all at the finish line.”

 

[JoeyD23]

XTREMEPLUS STANDS UP TO THE STORM
DAKAR 2016
Buenos Aires, January 5, 2016
Stage 3: Termas Rio Hondo – Jujuy
Special Stage: 190 km – Road connection: 436 km – Total: 626 km

The sky will soon fall over the Dakar with a downpour rain that hits the roads and the bivouac in Jujuy for hours with enormous thunders that could even scare Zeus!

Part of the electric power was down; no internet connection, no results and a curtain of rain that made you stay covered limited the news of the Xtremeplus team. The four crews arrived in Jujuy and mechanics worked all night with their feet in the mud covered by plastic trash bags.

With rivers that were impossible to cross, the organizer shortened the selective section to 190 km timed, very fast and divided by limited speed areas.

Eugenio Amos/Rafael Tornabell #371 (59th in 2h40'50)

Mao Rujin/Ka Chun Yu #394 (76th in 2h59'09): “In spite of the difficulties, it was a good special stage. Ka Chun did a great navigation job and we marked all waypoints. We make a good team! Before the special started, the rain was pouring down, and the same happened at the bivouac. The track was, like yesterday, very fast, winding and very narrow at some points. We crossed a river that was at least one meter deep and I went a bit too fast… After that, the belt was sliding and we lost some power. Then, we faced about 10 km of fesh-fesh and soft sand. We were right behind another competitor and we were in a dust wall, it was impressive, we couldn´t see anything!
We also had some issues when we run out of water to clean the windshield of the Polaris RZR 1000 XT+30 and from time to time there was mud or water on the road. Ka Chun had to put water from a bottle while we were driving. After we crossed the finish line, the gearbox was blocked and we only had one speed. We were very lucky because the race was over and we took over more than ten cars, so it was a good day for us!”

Michele Cinotto/Maurizio Dominella #389 (74th in 2h53'10) : “Today, we had a slow puncture and after a while, we were obligated to stop and change the tire. For the rest, it was fast, slow, dry, wet, mud, dust…”

Leandro Torres/Roldan Lourival #367 (79 th in 3h45'37)

 

[JoeyD23]

ALL FOUR XTREMEPLUS CREWS IN THE MARATHON STAGE

©E.Bauer

DAKAR 2016
Buenos Aires, January 6, 2016
Stage 4: Jujuy – Jujuy
Special stage: 429 km – Road connection: 201 km – Total: 630 km

The deluge is now behind and all four crews of the Polaris Xtremeplus team took the start of the marathon stage this morning – this means no possibility of perform any mechanic work in the vehicles. While all service trucks were obligated to head to Bolivia, competitors took the road of Purmamarca, the beginning of Paso Jama, for a timed loop of 429km.

Fast tracks, little navigation requirements and altitude were part of today’s program.

Michele Cinotto/Maurizio Dominella n°389 (66th in 5h25'22) : “Today is my 57th birthday, and I offered myself a 4th stage behind the wheel of the Polaris RZR 1000 XT+Maxxis, what I hadn’t had yet! I am not tired, I could easily start another stage again. And regarding the stage, nothing interesting!”

©E.Bauer

Eugenio Amos/Rafael Tornabell n°371 (68th in 5h31'13):“It was a very long stage and the RZR had some difficulties with the altitude. The tracks were kind of boring, always straight ahead… we didn’t encountered any issues, which works well for a marathon stage. I tell myself that this means 400 km less to complete, but I’ll get there!”

©J.Tomaselli.

Leandro Torres/Roldan Lourival n°367 (72nd in 3h45'37):“We had zero problem during the first part of today’s marathon stage. It was a beautiful day, but I paid more attention to the car than in previous days. Lourival didn’t feel well at the finish line, because of the altitude, so after a little oxygen he recovered.”

Mao Rujin/Ka Chun Yu n°394 (75th in 5h50'43):“Knowing that the mechanics would not be at the bivouac tonight, we drove taking care of the car and tires. Unfortunately we had a puncture… and a three minute penalty for speeding. But I have a good feeling and we didn’t have any other problem, which very important for a marathon stage. At the end, the trucks reached us so I did my best to finish. Now I am tired and hungry!”

 

[JoeyD23]

TEAM XTREMEPLUS ARRIVES TO BOLIVIA!
DAKAR 2016
Buenos Aires, January 7 2016
Stage 5: Jujuy – Uyuni (Bolivia)
Special Stage: 327 km – Road connection: 315 km – Total: 642 km

The Dakar enters Bolivia during the second part of the marathon stage with its highest altitude point at an elevation of 4,600 meters above sea level, the highest altitude ever reached in the Dakar Rally’s history, along with the physical and mechanical problems that it causes. Competitors crossed the spectacular Quebrada de Humahuaca, a World Human Heritage site to arrive to the stage start.

But the weather keeps playing with the race and the finish line was repositioned 7 km in advance due to the storm. In spite of the difficult weather conditions, the four crews arrived to Bolivia, and are now at Salar Uyuni.
Eugenio Amos/Rafael Tornabell n°371 (54th in 4h55'31)

Michele Cinotto/Maurizio Dominella n°389 (56th in 4h57'22)

Mao Rujin/Ka Chun Yu n°394 (65th in 5h16'22)

Leandro Torres/Roldan Lourival n°367 (68th in 5h20'00)

 

[JoeyD23]

THE LOOP AT SALAR UYUNI RAISES THE CHALLENGE FOR THE XTREMEPLUS TEAM! Dakar 2016 Stage 6: Uyuni – Uyuni Special Stage: 542 km – Road connection: 18

THE LOOP AT SALAR UYUNI RAISES THE CHALLENGE FOR THE XTREMEPLUS TEAM!

Dakar 2016

Stage 6: Uyuni – Uyuni

Special Stage: 542 km – Road connection: 181 km – Total: 723 km

Yesterday, the four Xtremeplus Polaris Factory Team arrived to Bolivia, overcoming the marathon stage, rain and altitude! Today’s stage was a challenging loop of 542 km around the Salar Uyuni, the longest timed section of the race.

The weather conditions previously announced added difficulties to the stage that took place between 3,500 and 4,200 meters above sea level, it was rather cold and rainy… The selective section presented lots of change of rhythm along the stage, sand and gravel. Luckily, competitors didn’t have to go through the Salar, where several competitors were forced to leave the race last year. There were also navigation tricks where everyone had to avoid falling for.

©E.Bauer

At the time of this press release, Michelle Chinotto/Maurizio Dominella N. 389 are at WP11 in the 53th position and Leandro Torres/Roldan Lourival N.367 mark the 69th place.

©E.Bauer

During this difficult journey, Mao Rujin/Ka Chun Yu N.394 faced some issues at the beginning of the special stage and were helped by the fast service car driven by Marco Piana and Steven Griener.

Meanwhile Eugenio Amos/Rafael Tornabell N.371 had electrical problems at km 202, but everyone is moving and the three cars are at about WP6.

©E.Bauer

Tomorrow, the Dakar returns to Argentina and competitors will have a late arrival to the bivouac in Salta, where they will be able to enjoy a well-deserved rest day.

 

[JoeyD23]

THE ENTIRE XTREMEPLUS TEAM RETURNS TO ARGENTINA!
Dakar 2016

January 9th, 2016
Stage 7: Uyuni (Bolivia) – Salta (Argentina)
Special Stage: 336 km - Road connection: 481 km – Total: 817 km

The Dakar returns to Argentina with a stage of more than 800 km. The special stage was divided in two selective sections: 230 km in Bolivia and another 160 in Argentina, both separated by a neutralized section of 116 km. La Pachamama continues to make things harder for competitors and today, a storm hit the stage, mostly at the beginning of the second part for cars. The first part was the same trace to get to Bolivia, but backwards, while the second one was nice to drive.

The four Xtremeplus Polaris crews completed the stage, but they will not arrive to the bivouac located in Salta before 10 or 11 pm.
Michele Cinotto/Maurizio Dominella N.389 finished in 59th place; Eugenio Amos/Rafael Tornabell N.371 is 61st; Leandro Torres/Roldan Lourival N.367 takes the 69th place and Mao Rujin/Ka Chun Yu N.394 takes the 77th place.

Tomorrow is the rest day for drivers and navigators, but not for mechanics that will drive for about 20 hours to come back from Bolivia to get started fixing the cars tomorrow morning!

©E.Bauer

©C.Barni

 

[JoeyD23]

POLARIS RZR 1000 XT+30 MAXXIS TAKES PLACE 50 OVERALL AND LEADS T3 LIGH CLASS AT SALTA!
DAKAR 2016
January 10, 2016
Rest day: Salta (Argentina)

The Dakar is back in Argentina for another week full of adventures. Yesterday, the Xtremeplus’ assistance trucks were blocked 250 km away from the bivouac due the torrent. The river grew significantly due to the heavy rains that were descending from the high mountains and destroyed part of the bridge, so the assistance only arrived to the bivouac early this morning…

The rest day for drivers and navigators is a full day for all mechanics that must work in the four RZR and make the machines as if they were new to continue the second half of the Dakar. After completing 5,330 km, a total of 21,320 for the MAXXIS LIBERTY tires of the RZR Xtremeplus only count four punctures. This new tire have been specially provided to the Xtremeplus Team for the Dakar and will soon be available for sale!

Thanks to the performances, the Polaris RZR 1000 XT+30 N. 389 of Michele Cinotto/Maurizio Dominella is in the 50 position of the overall ranking and leads the T3 Light class. “In Bolivia, besides the dust and the trucks, we didn’t have any problems. Our small engine had some difficulties climbing in altitude, but since the altitude went down, we were able to take over all those who overtook us on the way up. During yesterday’s special stage, we let them go, and we took over again at the same place of the rain and snow. I am hoping that tomorrow we can finally see some dunes!”

At mid-race, Leandro Torres/Roldan Lourival N.367 take a nice 58 place in the temporary overall ranking, followed by Eugenio Amos/Rafael Tornabell N.371 in place 62 after facing an electrical problem during the loop Uyuni-Uyuni and having driven a nice stage to get back to Argentina.

The Chinese team of Mao Rujin/Ka Chun Yu N.394 had some difficulties and takes position 73 in the temporary overall ranking. “We had an accident in the loop: we fell in a hole in a chicane and we broke the front right wheel. Ka Chun started to dismount it, but we had to wait for Marco Piana to give us the spare parts to fix it. We lost two hours to repair it but we were able to restart… and the Salar Uyuni was so beautiful that we stopped to take pictures! It was cold and windy, but I really loved it, the stage was fun! During yesterday’s stage, we took over 12 cars in the first part, but during the neutralized section, we wanted to find a waypoint that was in a river… and inside the river, there was so much water because of the heavy rains. Fortunately, Marco was there again to pull us out… I thought we were going to come out with the fish! Unluckily, we had to change the speed variator. In the second part of the special stage, we were totally wet and it was cold… We went calmly, and now we have completed half of the race, we are in Salta!”

©J.Tomaselli.

 

[JoeyD23]

THE REAL DAKAR STARTS FOR THE POLARIS XTREMEPLUS TEAM!

©C.Barni

Dakar 2016

January 11, 2016

Stage 8: Salta – Belen (Argentina)

Special stage: 393 km – Road connection: 273 km – Total: 766 km

The rest day is far behind for all competitors that drove through a special stage divided in two selective sections: one took place in Salta and the other in Belen, Catamarca, in a more desert-like environment.

For this 8th special stage, the program was a little different; the WRC tracks were replaced by dirt tracks, sand and a heat wave. The landscapes are spectacular and cars raced around a canyon between red rock formation and some off-road with small dunes during the second part of the special stage.

Michele Cinotto/Maurizio Dominella N.389 (53 in 6h50'02): “We are now in Belen, which is the most important thing, and everything went well but we had to change the belt of our RZR Maxxis, nothing major… The only issue is to control the race in the middle of the trucks that destroy the tracks and we went on the side while crossing pothole. The stage has been the hardest since the Dakar started, the other stages seemed like timed road connections. For the first time since the beginning of the race, we had fesh-fesh… Stage 8 was hard, but so beautiful!”

©C.Barni

Eugenio Amos/Rafael Tornabell N.371 (57 in 7h11'41) “In the first selective section of the special stage, we lost one hour due to a mechanical problem and we also had a puncture. But I had so much fun… Now that I don´t feel pressure for the results, I can have fun working to preserve the RZR. In the second part of the special, the sand was very soft, and we went calmly to get to Belen.”

©C.Barni

Leandro Torres/Roldan Lourival N.367 (59 in 7h16'06) “We had two punctures, one in the first selective section and then in the second part of the special, in a dried river full of stones, and another in fesh-fesh… It was so hot, it was very difficult too, and even more after the trucks that leave big traces with holes, I am happy because we are at the bivouac and this means one day less to get to Rosario!”

©C.Barni

Mao Rijin/Ka Chan Yu N.394: “We arrived very late, around 2 am this morning. What a day! In the road connection, after the bivouac in Salta, we had some issues with transmission. The assistance tried to repair it, but we didn´t have much time, so we entered the special stage like that. In the first part, it was not a problem to drive. When we arrived to the assistance service between the two selective sections, the mechanics were able to block the 2 wheel drive to avoid degrading the transmission, but in the second part we had to cross the soft sand… and then, the problems started and we got stuck in the sand several times, but thanks to Marco Piana, we are here! C’est le Dakar!”

 

[JoeyD23]

BELEN-BELEN: A STAGE FROM HELL!

©S.Pereira

Dakar 2016

January 12, 2016

Stage 9: Belen – Belen (Argentina)

Special Stage: 285 km – Road connection: 111 km – Total: 396 km

Today, competitors experienced the real Dakar during this loop Belen – Belen. The journey was mostly off-road, in small dunes with some vegetation, then harder terrain and a riverbank. This special stage was also announced to be challenging navigation wise.

This morning, the sky was clear and the thermometer quickly climbed to the red zone… It was so red that the organizer stopped the special stage at CP2 for the bikes, cars and truck. Tomorrow, the Super Special starts with the ten best times of each class combined. At the arrival of the bivouac, all crews were exhausted and had to face the sandstorm. Most of them tried to escape to get some rest at the hotels.

At the time of this press release, three out of four Polaris crews completed the special stage. Only Eugenio Amos/Rafael Tornabell N.371 is still in the tracks with an electrical problem to be solved.

©S.Pereira

Michele Cinotto/Mauricio Dominella N.389 (38 in 5h17'11):“When we arrived to CP2, they signaled that the special stage had finished, so I hugged the guys at the CP. It was a journey for survivors, the temperature was terrible and all cars would heat up. We had to stop several times to cool it down. Then, we had a puncture, and with this weather, it was impossible to get the jack to come up so we repaired avec wicks twice. We also had a battery problem and the RZR stopped twice. In a canyon, a truck rolled over in front of us, so we just had time to climb and then, we couldn´t find the way to go back down. It was fun!”

©S.Pereira

Mao Rujin/Ka Chun Yu N.394 (47 in 5h40'21): The Chinese team has managed this difficult stage with only one puncture. Mao and Ka arrived to the bivouac in the 47th place. A job well-done considering the difficulties of the day!

©S.Pereira

Leandro Torres/Roldan Lourival N.367(54es en06h38'32): “I can´t do this anymore, I am so tired… we had to work with our shovels for an hour, putting plates and the jack… It was extremely difficult with the heat!”