Team HUMMER - Stage 2: Cordoba to San Miguel de Tucuman

San Miguel de Tucuman, January 4, 2011: Last year’s edition of the Dakar Rally sent the teams to La Rioja from Cordoba, but today’s stage was new territory for the competitors of the Dakar Rally as the course headed to San Miguel de Tucuman instead.

Robby Gordon knew that the team would not have a strong showing in today’s stage due to the altitude changes and the varying terrain, but he didn’t think that today would end like it did. The No. 303 SPEED Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER had a mechanical issue during today’s stage that required it to be stopped for repairs. As a result, Gordon finished 46th and is now 21st overall, 1 hour, 6 minutes and 55 seconds minutes behind the leaders in the overall standings.

"We were actually pretty good through the first few check points. One corner snuck up on me; I didn't see it and just drove the SPEED Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER off the road, hitting a large rock. This is very unfortunate for our team. Now that we are an hour behind heading into Chile versus only a few minutes, we definitely got our work cut out for us. I think we will be ok though; there is still plenty of racing left,” commented a very disappointed Robby Gordon. “The HUMMER sustained some damage on today’s stage as when we smashed the front of the race vehicle into the rock, and the transmission doesn't have reverse because it broke when I tried to reverse out of my mistake. I would say that we were broke down for maybe an hour today…a very costly hour."

Tomorrow, the third stage of the Dakar Rally, will traverse San Miguel de Tucuman to San Salvador de Jujuy. The special stage has been split into two parts for a total of 226 km.