TROPHY TRUCK Class

Before the event took place, Robby Gordon and navigator Andy Grider set out to pre-run the challenging course. After a successful pre-run, Andy commented that everything went smooth and that he expected a good finish for the No. 1 Monster Energy / TOYO TIRES Trophy Truck.

On Saturday morning, the duo of Gordon and Grider strapped in and prepared for their 10:03:30 am start. They were the seventh truck off the line. Once Gordon got into his rhythm, he would end up passing a few trucks within the first 30 miles of the race.

By the halfway point, Gordon was only 11 seconds behind leader, Andy McMillin, who had started in 8th place. Just before Gordon was making the pass onto the famous Mike's Sky Ranch Road around race mile 222, the truck's transmission popped out of gear hindering Gordon's chance of taking the lead. With his pit only 10 miles back, he decided to head back there to assess the situation. Once Gordon limped his way back, the team went to work on a broken transmission and replaced it with a new one. Luckily for the team, it wouldn't end their day, but it did put them one hour and 30 minutes behind the leader and the 18th place truck on the road. Gordon tried to pick off as many competitors as he could, but time was running out for the Monster Energy / TOYO TIRES trophy truck. Heading into the night, he did everything that he could to pick up as many positions as possible, but ended up finishing 13th.

"All and all, it was a good effort by my guys. They gave me an awesome truck that got me to the lead fast but unfortunately we broke a transmission at the same time. I haven't broken a transmission in years so it really surprised me but we'll move forward and get prepared for Primm."

Gordon would also leave the Baja 500 with no flat tires. Gordon spoke highly of his "Robby Proof" tires, "I just can't say enough about TOYO TIRES. What an excellent job their team of engineers and staff did to come up with a tire that can outlast Baja. I'm even thinking of switching to the size 37 tire on my HUMMERS because they worked so well here today. I think they'll be better for us in the Dakar Rally coming up, and I just can't thank the guys over at TOYO TIRES enough."

Next up for Robby Gordon's Off-Road team is the Terribles Primm 300 in Primm, Nevada on September 10-12, where Gordon became the overall winner last year.

SP7Class Positon

A four-day racing week started on 13th with the 90-min practice in noon followed by the 1st 4-hour qualifying at night on the same day. The 2nd qualifying was held in noon of 14th, finally the 24-hour race launched at 15:00 on 15th with 200 machines participated and more than 200,000 spectators on the race day. The lineup of entrants was the most gorgeous in the recent years with a hot Porsche Hybrid car from Manthey Porsche; currently the 4th consecutive Nürburgring 24-hour winner, Audi's eight R8s including ABT and BMW Works' two M3s and two LFAs from Lexus same as last year for competitive entrants and with other Subaru Impreza, VW Scirocco and etc.

19:30-22:30 - First qualifying session under light rain with a temperature of 7 deg.C and surface temperature of 7 deg.C.
Although the drivetrain was repaired, fuel system problems occurred this time. The machine went back to the session at 20:10, however, the team feeling anxious about having trouble again knowing that all drivers must be measured for 2 laps each in this night session. The measurements were performed with wet tires in the order of Yasu, Duncan and Tom for two laps each. Although the remaining time was reserved for Tom's trial, it was carried over for tomorrow because the rain had become heavier and the minimum lap requirements have been already met. The position was 70th.

May 14 12:45-14:45 - Second qualifying session with a temperature of 12 deg.C and surface temperature of 12 deg.C.
It started under a miserable weather but cleared towards afternoon. The team fixed the problems and started the session with slick tires. They planned to make laps as 2 laps for Tom, 3 laps for Duncan, 3 laps for Yasu, and then 2 laps for Tom, however, a competitor hit the rear tire on the second lap forcing a pit stop. Even though the alignment was not perfect, the team only changed the right rear tire with bended rim and then went back in the track. After Duncan and Yasu had their time trials, Tom marked 9:07 on his first lap. Unfortunately, not long after that, Tom had the fuel system problems again due to a light contact with a competitor, so he had to end the trial with the qualifying results of 30th in the overall and 4th in the SP7 class.

May 15, 15：00-16, 15：00 - Race with a temperature of 15 deg.C and surface temperature of 17 deg.C.
A foggy morning make us worried of this changeable Nürburgring weather but it ended up with a nice and dry condition. Tom started the 24-hour race from the 15th row of the grid. He was driving around 35th in the beginning of the race but he made a pit stop on the 5th lap, which was 3 laps earlier than expected. It was not a significant problem so the machine returned to the track after having tire change and refueling only. When two hours passed from the start, Tom came back to the pit as planned at the end of 12th lap. They had refueling and another tire change, and also the driver was replaced to Duncan. He kept making laps with around 9:40 per lap. It was 35th in the overall position and 6th in the class when Duncan was replaced to Yasu at 18:00. The drivers commented on the tires that there were no problems at all, so we hoped to pick up some more pace later on. The overall order from the top at this moment was #1 Manthey Porsche, #100 Team ABT's AudiR8, #8 Manthey Porsche, #2 Team ABT's AudiR8 again followed by #9 Manthey Porsche hybrid.

On the 22nd lap, Yasu suddenly made a pit stop for a transmission trouble. The team started the replacement at 18:55 and went back in the track right after finishing the replacement at 20:05, however, the machine soon returned to the pit again. The transmission was not completely recovered. Since there was no spare transmission, the team made a hard decision to end this 24-hour race at 22:30.

The overall winner was #25 BMW M3 GT2 (BMW Motor Sports) driven by Jörg Müller, Augusto Farfus, Uwe Alzen and Pedro Lamy, started from the 8th and kept its own pace until the end. They stopped the #1 Manthey Porsche's fifth straight winning achievement. When the remaining race time was less than 2 hours, the leading #9 Porsche 911 GT3R hybrid suddenly stopped, so #25 M3 came to the top and kept driving to finish without major problems. 123 machines managed to complete the whole race out of 197 participated machines, which gives the completion rate of approximately 60% for this race with many accidents and machine troubles.

The next race will be VLN held in the full course of the same Nürburgring in September.
Hopefully there will be good results to report to you.

The San Felipe course is the roughest and toughest of all the SCORE series races. The ruts and washes can be five feet in depth or deeper! Robby spent those four days changing shock heights and pressures to accommodate the larger 39X13.50R17 Open Country M/T- R tires he prefers to use in this terrain. After those days of testing were done, the team felt that they had a competitive package ready for the race.

At race mile 15 everything seemed to be running smoothly; Robby had already passed the truck ahead of him and was the first car on the road. He had cleared Zoo Road and was pulling away from the competitors behind him when a giant puff of smoke covered the #1 Chevrolet. The team in the helicopter thought it was an engine explosion because of the position of the where the smoke was coming from. The truck kept moving but Robby radioed that the left rear shock had broken. The top of the shock reservoir exploded sending shock oil all over the intake manifold, creating all of the smoke and showering both Robby and his co-driver Andy Grider with oil.

There was a chase vehicle following Robby as part of the initial strategy until race mile 30. That chase vehicle could have pulled in at an access road and tried to attend to the wounded truck. However, the decision was made for both trucks to continue to the next pit at race mile 40, where they would be able to change the shock with more mechanics on hand. There, the broken shock was taken off the truck and the new one was installed in just 13 minutes. It usually takes them 20 to 30 minutes at the shop to change one shock, but the team rallied to return the Chevrolet Trophy Truck back to the race course quickly and continue to battle for series points.

Several Trophy Tucks passed Robby while the shock was being changed. Lucky for him, the Baja terrain stopped many competitors in theirs track as truck after truck had equipment fail. Robby and Andy made up a lot of time on the rest of the field. Having spent three days running the course, they had navigated through the desert finding the smoothest lines available. At race mile 160, the #1 Chevrolet was only 11 minutes behind the race leader Jesse Jones and was the fifth truck on the road.

Robby had commented earlier in the week that the race would really start around race mile 195. By then equipment and driver would be worn out; the terrain would be the victor if you were not prepared physically and your equipment was not prepared mechanically. At race mile 170 the Chevrolet experienced another problem. This time, the right rear shock broke. It did not explode like the previous one but it did make steering and maneuvering of the truck though the last part of the racecourse really difficult. Even with the second shock breaking, Robby was only seven minutes behind the race leader and was the second vehicle physically through the last checkpoint.

Despite the challenges, Robby finished second in the trophy truck division and fourth overall, earning some valuable points towards a series championship.

"Our Monster Energy/ TOYO TIRES truck got off to a great start, but unfortunately we broke our left rear shock at the beginning of the race," commented Gordon. "For something like that to happen, one would think your day would be ruined, but the team made a great recovery and changed the shock fast. Later on our right rear shock went out as well, and it was hard for us to gain any ground through the bumps. During the last stretch, all we could really hope for was for other trucks to fall out. It's pretty amazing to see what this course does to these trucks, and when you think about the fact that we beat a lot of guys with broken equipment. We'll change some pressures in our shocks and be ready to repeat as winners in the Baja 500."

As for his TOYO TIRES, Robby was very happy.

"I was extremely impressed with the performance of my TOYO TIRES at this year's San Felipe 250," commented Gordon. "We ran the whole race with no flats, which was impressive considering the turbulent terrain. We did however change two rear tires at Race Mile 40...the same point that we had to fix the broken shock. We had a large stick in the rear tire and we had an opportunity to change it while we were down fixing the shock. The rest of the race was flawless with our tires. I would like to congratulate everyone at Toyo Tires for the second consecutive second place finish at the San Felipe 250. It looks like we are on track for back-to-back championship wins. We are only 26 points behind the leader and in fifth place overall!"

You can also watch the first ten-race minutes here.

San Juan, Argentina (January 13, 2010) - In Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally, competitors from Team HUMMER left Chile to begin their trek across Argentina back the finish line in Buenos Aires for the scheduled conclusion of the race on Saturday. The journey from Santiago to San Juan included dramatic changes in altitude as competitors travelled a total of 434 km and completed a 220 km timed special. The course allowed drivers to admire views of the famous Aconcagua, which is the highest mountain peak in the Americas. The day began with a trip through the Paso Libertadores, which is a mountain pass in the Andes Mountains that allowed competitors to cross into Argentina. The first fifty kilometers was the only portion of the rally completed at high altitude, but required mechanics to incorporate a setup that would compensate for a lack of power. Additionally, drivers had a make a conscious effort to take care of their brakes today to ensure they would last the entire descent of nearly 20 kilometers.

The Vanguard HUMMER would finish 14th due to a brake line issue at the last leg of the stage. The duo hope to have better results during the last days of the 2010 Dakar Rally.

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Stage 12 Recap

San Rafael, Argentina (January 14, 2010) - Thursday marked the completion of Stage 12 for the 14-stage Dakar Rally. Before the stage even started, the drivers for Team HUMMER knew it would be a hard, challenging day. Stage 12 marked the longest stage of the rally measuring in at a total of 796 kilometers, with a 476 kilometer timed special. The trek from San Juan to San Rafael was expected to take drivers just over 11 hour to complete. About halfway through the special, drivers momentarily needed to use the road to avoid a classified and protected natural site. After that, the second half of the special was completed exclusively on sand where drivers faced areas of bumpy, fast track and several jumps. After successfully completing the special, drivers still needed to travel another 297 kilometers to reach the finish line in San Rafael.

With the 2010 Dakar Rally winding down to the final days, Stage 12 would be a great day for Robby Gordon and his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER. Gordon would finish the stage fifth, only 10 minutes and 56 seconds behind Carlos Sainz. The top-five finish moves Gordon to eighth in the overall standings, while Carlos Sainz continues to lead the field. Gordon and Sainz would end up battling each other during the stage for some of the most exciting racing during the Rally.

"Today was another good day for the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires team. During the first part of the special, we were really, really good. We lost some time when we got stuck in a silk bed; I think that we could have won the special had we not had gotten stuck. Given how strong the HUMMER was today, I know we have the capability to beat our competition. We have built a really good race team, and I'm sure with years to come we'll be great," commented Robby Gordon.

Overheating issues would plague the Vanguard HUMMER it started Stage 12. The Vanguard HUMMER started the stage, but it was 30 minutes late. Despite the overheating obstacle, the driver of the Vanguard HUMMER would finish 13th and moved up to 19th overall in the standings.

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Stage 13 Recap

Santa Rosa, Argentina (January 15, 2010) - Competitors in the 2010 Dakar Rally wrapped up Stage 13 on Friday and just one stage remains until the 2010 Dakar Rally champion is crowned. During Stage 13, drivers traveled from San Rafael to Santa Rosa on a 725 kilometer course, which was expected to take competitors nearly 9 hours to complete. The stage featuring a 368 kilometer timed special which started off with areas of fast, jumpy track. Despite being just a day away from the conclusion of the rally, drivers still faced several challenging areas to navigate throughout stage 13. For nearly 40 kilometers, drivers ran the risk of getting stuck in the gray sand of the Nihuil dunes, which are some of the last few dunes they will encounter during the 14-stage ally. Once they made it past the sand dunes, drivers experienced much larger and faster paths that allowed them to push their vehicles to the fastest speeds possible.

Robby Gordon and his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER would finish the stage eighth, still sitting ninth overall for the 2010 Dakar Rally. It would be an overall good day for Team HUMMER as the Vanguard HUMMER finished ninth, right behind Gordon. As the team heads back towards Buenos Aires for the final stage, they reflected on the events that unfolded during this year's Rally. Based on everything that they have learned, Gordon feels confident that they will be a force to reckon with for 2011.

"We went for it today and drove the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER hard. I had Peterhasel in my sights, but Mark Miller had to change a tire and got stuck in front of us and held us up for at least 150 mile. When I tried to pass him in the rocks, we hit a big rock and had to change a tire. All in all, it was a good day for our Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER coming in eighth. I look forward for tomorrow's final stage heading into Buenos Aires; we will try to get another stage win for 2010 before I head back to the US for the Laughlin Desert Challenge," Robby Gordon commented about Stage 13.

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Stage 14 Recap

Buenos Aires, Argentina (January 16, 2010) - Saturday marked the 14th and final stage of the 32nd edition of the Dakar Rally. The rally came full circle as competitors drove 707 kilometers from Santa Rosa to the finish line in Buenos Aires, where the Dakar Rally began nearly two weeks ago. The key to the final stage was staying focused for the duration of the 206 kilometers timed special. The 14th special was composed of a series of very fast track that forced competitors to navigate their way through the Argentinean landscape with precision. After reaching the finish line in the village of San Carlos de Bolivar, drivers had to travel another 335 kilometers to the official finish line of the 2010 Dakar Rally in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Team HUMMER was "wide open" for the final stage as they tried to gain as much ground as they could before the conclusion of the race. Robby Gordon piloted his Monster Energy / Toy Tires HUMMER to a seventh place finish while his Vanguard teammate finished ninth. When the dust had settled from this year's Dakar Rally, the Monster HUMMER came home in eighth place overall roughly six hours behind this year's winner Carlos Sainz. The Vanguard HUMMER was 21st. As much as Robby Gordon and his team would have liked another podium finish, they are happy with a top-10 finish.

"Today was another good, consistent day for the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER. We were wide open for miles and miles. In fact, it is the longest I've ever held the throttle open in the Monster HUMMER during the Rally. I really hoped that we could have brought home another stage win before the Rally concluded," commented Gordon on the final day of competition.

"We'll have to go back and go through all of our notes from this year so that we can be better for next year's Dakar Rally. A top-10 finish is still impressive considering just how difficult this race is - both on people and equipment. I am just disappointed that we didn't get another podium finish this year, but we will come back next year and be that much stronger because of it. We won't give up, and I'm confident in our race team that we have what it takes to be competitive against the world's best. We've proven that time and time again. We build great race cars and have a good team; we'll be back next year looking for a Dakar Rally overall win."

Provided by Team HUMMER

Santiago, Chile (January 12, 2010) - Competitors from Team HUMMER completed the tenth of fourteen stages in the Dakar Rally today. Drivers travelled a total of 586 km from La Serena to Santiago, and completed a 238 km timed special composed mostly of fast, winding track. After leaving the Atacama Desert, they were exposed to the dense vegetation and hilly terrain of Chile as they travelled to Santiago. The stage was further complicated by the winding tracks, which could cost valuable time. Completing Stage 10 without any major mistakes is essential to successfully completing the Dakar Rally.

Robby Gordon was upbeat after his performance during Stage 10. "The team did a good job preparing the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER for today's stage, We had no mechanicals, failures or issues. We just got beat by our 2-wheel drive system on the tight, slippery roads. Toyo Tires has done a good job keeping up with the competition, and the HUMMER has been running good. Monster has given the team plenty of energy to finish this thing, and we have four more days of racing left."

The driver of the Vanguard HUMMER would also have a much better performance than the day before. Starting in the rear of the field for today's stage, the Vanguard HUMMER would finish in the 23rd position, moving up to 21st in the overall standings.

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Provided by Team HUMMER

La Serena, Chile (January 11, 2010) - Stage 9 of the Dakar Rally presented another unique set of challenges for Team HUMMER on Monday as they travelled from Copiapo to La Serena. The start of today's special was delayed due to dense fog setting in Copiapo over the last few days. Due to the delay, organizers for the Dakar Rally also shortened the route from 547 km to just a total of 354 km, with only 170 km timed. Stage 9 also marked the final day of competition in the Atacama Desert and allowed competitors one last chance to gain ground across the desert's sand and dunes. By the time drivers reach La Serena, they will have conquered the most technically challenging portion of the rally's course, but they will still need to complete five additional stages before returning to Buenos Aires for the successful completion of the 2010 Dakar Rally.

"Today was a tough day, especially through the tricky dune sections and soft sand," said Robby Gordon. "I got the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER stuck twice, but we survived with another top-10 finish. One thing that we learned during this Rally is that we can't be stopped. Our competition never stops; this race is about endurance and how quickly you recover from obstacles that are thrown at you. I think that we have done a really good job getting back up when we get knocked down."

The driver of the Vanguard HUMMER would get stuck late in the stage. It was a long day for the driver and navigator trying to get their HUMMER out of the grip of the soft sand. The Vanguard HUMMER would end up in 45th position, but ready to tackle another day tomorrow.

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Provided by Team HUMMER