2014 Dakar Rally Entry Lists In The Motorcycle and Car Classes

The 2014 Dakar rally is about to start.  The first stage will be run on January 4, 2014 starting in Argentina.  The entry lists are out and many of the familiar competitors are back this year.

In the motorcycle class, it can be expected that the rally will be another head-to-head competition between Cyril Depres on a Yamaha and Marc Coma on a KTM.  Typically these competitors are head and shoulders better than the other riders.  The competition number and the top motorcycle entrants are listed in the following table along with the make of motorcycle that they will be riding.

2014 Dakar Rally Top Motorcycle Class Entrants List

No.                             Rider                                                                   Make

1	DESPRES CYRIL   (FRA)	YAMAHA
2	COMA MARC   (ESP)	KTM
3	BARREDA BORT   JOAN (ESP)	HONDA
4	VILADOMS JORDI   (ESP)	KTM
5	LOPEZ CONTARDO   FRANCISCO (CHL)	KTM
6	PAIN OLIVIER   (FRA)	YAMAHA
7	RODRIGUES   HELDER (PRT)	HONDA
8	FARIA RUBEN   (PRT)	KTM
9	CASTEU DAVID   (FRA)	KTM
10	GONCALVES   PAULO (PRT)	HONDA

There are three American riders in the 2014 Dakar rally, but I think that it would be fair to say that these riders are long shots for a high overall finish, but each could well pull off a good finish on any given day.  These riders are Mike Johnson on a Honda, Peter Hardy on a KTM, and Kevin Muggleton on another Honda.

In the Car Class, the story is much the same as in the Motorcycle Class, familiar drivers and car manufacturers are competing in Dakar once again.  The final results in the car class are hard to predict.  In spite of this difficulty to predict what will happen, I think that Carlos Sainz will be fast in the Buggy and will run very close with Nasser Al Attiya with Stephane Peterhansel steady in third place.  Late in the rally Al Attiya will have mechanical issues, with Sainz going on to win and Peterhansel finishing a few minutes behind him in second position.  Much as I would like to see Robby Gordon do well, I just don’t think that the rally gods or Dakar rally officials smile on Robby Gordon.

Some of the top drivers entered in the Car Class the 2014 Dakar rally are as follows:

2014 Dakar Rally Top Car Class Entrant List

N°	Name	Mark
300	PETERHANSEL   STEPHANE (FRA)   COTTRET JEAN   PAUL (FRA)	MINI
301	AL-ATTIYAH   NASSER (QAT)   CRUZ LUCAS   (ESP)	MINI
302	DE VILLIERS   GINIEL (ZAF)   VON ZITZEWITZ   DIRK (DEU)	TOYOTA
303	SAINZ CARLOS   (ESP)   GOTTSCHALK   TIMO (DEU)	BUGGY
304	ROMA NANI   (ESP)   PERIN MICHEL   (FRA)	MINI
305	GORDON ROBBY   (USA)   WALCH KELLON   (USA)	HUMMER
306	SOUSA CARLOS (PRT)   RAMALHO MIGUEL (PRT)	HAVAL
307	TERRANOVA   ORLANDO (ARG)   FIUZA PAULO   (PRT)	MINI
308	ALVAREZ LUCIO   (ARG)   GRAUE BERNARDO   (ARG)	FORD
309	HOLOWCZYC   KRZYSZTOF (POL)   ZHILTSOV   KONSTANTIN (RUS)	MINI
310	SPINELLI   GUILHERME (BRA)   HADDAD YOUSSEF   (BRA)	MITSUBISHI
311	TEN BRINKE   BERNHARD (NLD)   BAUMEL   MATTHIEU (FRA)	HRX

There are a few North Americans entered in the Car Class, but I suspect that they will have a tough time during the rally and if any of these entrants can just finish the 2014 Dakar rally, then it would be a very great result.

318	BALDWIN ROBERT (USA)   CODY QUINN ALEXIS (USA)	….
346	HAJAS PETER   (USA)   SELCHOW KEVIN   (USA)	BRENTHEL   INDUSTRIES
348	MATHEW   CAMPBELL (CAN)   RAMIREZ PAYEN   JR LUIS (USA)   AMBRIZ SUAREZ   NICOLAS (MEX)	DODGE
405	BENSADOUN   DAVID (CAN)   BEAULE PATRICK   (CAN)	RALLYRAID   UK
429	TRENERY   SPENCER (USA)   STEUER THOMAS   (COL)	CAN-AM

In the USA, the 2014 Dakar rally will be shown on the NBC Sports Network, so check your TV listings for the times in your area.  As much as my schedule will permit, I intend to post daily updates on this website, so check back often to keep up with the 2014 Dakar rally.