Robby Gordon and the #303 SPEED Energy/Toyo Tires HUMMER dominated Stage 9 of the 2012 Dakar Rally, winning by 1 minute and 38 seconds over Stephane Peterhansel. Gordon, with the help of his navigator Johnny Campbell, lead the entire stage with 3 MINIs breathing down their necks. Unfortunately, Nasser Al-Attiyah’s day would end completely different. Al-Attiyah encountered the same issue today as he did yesterday when a serpentine belt popped off, not once but three times. Using all of his spares, Al-Attiyah was stranded near KM 200 of the 556 km stage. Being more than an hour down to the overall leader, Al-Attiyah made the tough decision to end his efforts for a repeat championship and dropped out of the stage. For Gordon and Campbell, the race to become the first Americans to win Dakar lives on. Winning Stage 9 win marks Gordon’s 5th special stage victory during a Dakar Rally. Gordon is now only 5 minutes and 58 seconds behind overall leader Stephane Peterhansel with only five stages remaining.
To follow the team’s journey to compete in the upcoming Dakar, and for updated race team coverage, log onto speedenergy.com, toyotires.com, robbygordon.com, planetrobby.com and dakar.com.(1-11-2012)
