Eliseo Salazar and Team HUMMER Out of Dakar Rally

Charlotte, January 14, 2011: For Team HUMMER, the 2011 Dakar Rally has come to an early end. On Monday the No. 327 SPEED Energy / Cristal CERO HUMMER was involved in a crash during Stage 8 from Antofagasta to Copiapo. This portion of the rally was particularly difficult as much of the course was in the Atacama Desert, where landmarks were few and the team had to maneuver the route along old mine tracks.

After working thru the night to repair the HUMMER, the No. 327 was able to start Stage 9 from Copiapo. A few kilometers into the stage, driver of the SPEED Energy / Cristal CERO HUMMER, Eliseo Salazar, reported losing the transmission; a setback that ended his attempt at completing the Dakar Rally.

The 2011 Dakar Rally took its toll on Team HUMMER as Salazar’s teammate, Robby Gordon, was disqualified during Stage 4 after breaking a wheel bearing during the liaison portion that leads to the special.

“We are very disappointed that both of our cars failed to finish the 2011 Dakar Rally. Our team was better prepared than ever, so two DNF's makes this hurt a lot. We will start preparing for the 2012 Dakar as soon as we return from the rally and try our best to compete with VW next year. I definitely felt that I could have matched their speed in Chile, but we do have our work cut out for us improving the race cars for the Argentina stages,” commented Robby Gordon.

In his first attempt at the Dakar Rally, SPEED Demon, Quinn Cody remains in the rally. Cody is in the 10th overall position in the bikes category.