Team Inventor challenges the Paris Dakar in 2004

[coastal]

With the holiday season the Paris Dakar Rally slipped my mind, but Team Inventor is at it again this year in their heavily modified Volvo V70XC.

Check out the action at their site and http://www.dakar.com. They're team #294 and after stage 3 are running in position 130.

For information on their 2003 attempt, check out http://volvoxc.com/paris_dakar_2003/ *

[Art]

Caught some of the action on Speedvision yesterday night. Pretty intense particularly in the snowy first stage. *

Team Inventor's XC entry doesn't appear in the latest standings (stage 4). Hope everything is okay.

Also noticed that cagey WRC vet, Collin McRae, has moved up to 4th in the current stage and is 6th overall. *

[coastal]

Team Inventor slipped 2 positions to 132 for stage 4. The site is a little tough to navigate.. I found the info by going to http://www.dakar.com/2004/us/index.html then typing in 294 into the team number search box in the left hand side navigation.

[coastal]

big jump for Team Inventor at the end of stage 5... 91!

[Art]

With the exception of a cylinder head change on the 4th stage, it's a relief to hear that their mechanical issues have been fairly minor up to this point.

I heard from some of the TV commentary that there was a collision between the Volvo and another spanish driver in a Mitsubishi. Didn't see any mention of it on the either of the sites. *Can anyone confirm this?

Couldn't help but notice a familiar *link in the articles section of Team Inventor's site. *

[silverstar]

From what I can tell on the website the Volvo Team Inventor #294 is listed in the group that did not start stage 9 but there isn't any more info.

[coastal]

Done

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">The Dakar rally is over for this time

Today, we took the decision to cancel our participation in the Dakar rally 2004. The reason is lack of sleep.

This is what has happened the last 24 hours:
Yesterday – during stage 8 – we ran into transmission troubles after some kilometers drive. We drove back to Atar and called for the service car. They was already 100 km ahead of us. They came and we exchanged the transfer box. By 10 pm yesterday night we still had 1055 km to drive. So we drove all night and managed to get to start position in time for stage 9 this morning. But after some kilometers we heard strange noises from the engine.

During the whole rally we have slept about three hours per night. The last three days we have slept four hours in total. Considering the danger in driving during theese circumstances, we decided to withdraw from the race. This is sad, but likely the most wise thing to do.

We are now headed for Dakar. We'll get back with more information on how we will get back to Denmark and Sweden.

Source: Team Inventor's Website [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

It's really too bad if the reason they pulled out was due to lack of sleep... from what it says here, the 10th and 11th stages were cancelled os if they could have held it together for the 8th and 9th stages they probably would have been able to catch up on their sleep. Perhaps I'm reading it wrong but a disappointment none the less.

[Art]

Team Inventor has update their site with recent pics of various stages of the rally.

I was somewhat surprised to hear that sleep deprivation was the primary reason for their withdrawal from the rally since much of the time it's usually mechanical issues that are to blame for attrition. That said, I'm quite certain that most of the teams train extensively for this event and that both physical and mental conditioning are key to even finishing the rally.

The competitors in the bike category must also act as their own navigators, mechanics and sometimes even attend to their own injuries. I recall one guy rode his 2 stroke through several stages with a broken collar bone before finally succumbing to the pain. *

[ocean 506]

Sponsorship idea -

Is there anyone on this board that would be interested in donating a dollar or two to the Team Inventor for the Volvo Team's efforts in the 2005 Dakar and asking them to add a volvoxc.com sticker to the vehicle.

Just an idea!

Cheers!

[gary]

Dakar 2005 is fast approaching and once again, Team Inventor, will participate. This year's race is 31 December - 16 January and is Barcelona to Dakar. Can't wait!

Official dakar website: http://www.dakar.com/2005/presentationus/index.html
Team Inventor site: http://www.dakar2004.nu/