Robby Gordon’s 10th attempt at Dakar Rally glory has come to an end in the sand dunes of Chile. Despite earlier issues in the Rally with fuel vapor locking on the SPEED Energy/Toyo Tires HST Gordini, the issue that put Gordon and his team out of the 35th Dakar Rally was a compromised air filtration system. At the start of Thursday’s 11th stage, Gordon and navigator Kellon Walch raced only 18 kilometers into the stage when they realized the issue at the engine’s air intake and returned to Antofagasta, Chile to make repairs. At that time more than 80 cars had withdrawn from the race and only 65 remained. Being more than 10 hours down to the leaders and facing more than 10 hours of repairs would make Gordon’s withdrawal from the Rally justifiable. But in typical Gordon style, he and his team’s never-give-up attitude kicked in and they worked until 12 a.m. Friday with hopes of driving the HST Gordini and support trucks through total darkness in the desert in an attempt to make it to the start of the next stage within one hour after the last car left for Friday’s 12th stage. Despite their best efforts, and although repairs were made, time did not allow the team to make the 749-kilometer trek through the dunes to El Salvador in a timely fashion.(Speed Energy PR)(1-18-2014)
