MOTORSPORT: Aussie flying in Dakar Rally

It has started again in Argentina and will go into Chile again too, but this time will end in Lima, Peru, after 15 days, without a rest day this year and 8373km.

The Dakar has four categories -- for cars, bikes, quads and trucks -- with 465 entries and 50 nationalities represented. French account for 18 per cent of the field and the eldest competitor is 73.

The great news for Australia is that an Aussie entry is excelling already in the car section -- Cairns resort owner Geoff Olholm and his navigator Jonathan Aston in a four-wheel drive Rabe XI Desert Warrior, adorned with stickers promoting Far North Queensland. It is Olholm's second year in the Dakar. In his debut last year, in the same vehicle but with Victorian Steve Riley as co-driver, he finished 27th. After two stages this year he and Aston are already 27th -- up from 48th after the first stage.

"The Dakar is such an inspiring event," Olholm said at the start. "My goal for my first Dakar was to be in the top 50. I was surprised to be 27th. I was over the moon. "The goal now is top 20. Top 15 is achievable... The car s a lot more reliable now. We changed 80 different things on it.

"We're now fully independent (of Rally Raid UK). We have our own team with six top mechanics.

"Hayden Redfern was supposed to be my co-driver but was sadly killed in a helicopter crash (last September). He was turning 50 and dreamt of doing the Dakar... Jon Aston was going to drive a T4 service truck but is now at my side.

"The biggest challenge this year is going to be the massive sand dunes and heat in Peru in the last few days of the race."

There are six Australian motorcyclists in the Dakar too -- Rodney Faggotter (Husaberg/FE450), Dean Nuttall (KTM/450 Replica), David Schwarz (Husaberg/FE450), Jamie Chittick (Honda/CRF450X), Mark Davidson (KTM/450 Rallye Replica), and Craig Tarlington (KTM/450 Rally). They were classified 36th, 51st, 74th, 84th, 143rd and 148th respectively after stage two.

SBS and Fox Sports have excellent TV coverage of the Dakar each day but the quickest way to check the progress of the Aussies is on the SBS website. In its Dakar section go to results, choose "car" or "bike" and then click to display "Aussies". It's an excellent snapshot facility.

The Dakar is notoriously dangerous and claimed the life of an Argentinean motorcyclist, 38-year-old Jorge Martinez Boero of head and chest injuries, on the first stage.

Mitsubishi and more recently Volkswagen threw massive efforts at the Dakar. Mitsubishi dominated it for years, while all the South American events have been won by VW Touaregs -- but the factory support has now gone. However, Germany's X-raid outfit -- run by Sven Quandt, of the family that is a major shareholder in BMW -- is fielding five MINI All4 Racings and three BMW X3CCs, while Toyota South Africa is running a pair of HiLux utes.

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah, winner last year for VW, is a major contender again this year, now in a two-wheel–drive Hummer H3 from American Robby Gordon's team. Al-Attiyah lost 10 minutes on day one with an oil pressure problem, and had to be towed into the finish by Gordon that day, but he won the second stage, rocketing him from 38th to sixth outright.

Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel -- three times a winner for Mitsubishi and six times on bikes, but never victorious in South America -- is the leader in a MINI, having been third on the first stage and second on day two. All five MINIs are in the top 10, although day one leader Leonid Novitskiy lost 11 minutes to Peterhansel on the second stage.

Al-Attiyah is aiming to become the first privateer winner since Jean-Louis Schlesser in 2000, and the first successive winner -- and in different cars -- since Ari Vatanen in 1990-91 (in a Peugeot, then a Citroen).

"This is my chance," Al-Attiyah said. "When the course is fast we believe we will be able to push the Hummer harder and make some time out of the four-wheel-drive cars. Where the road is very bumpy and rocky we should also be able to make the best use of the Hummer's bigger suspension travel. This car is more like a buggy."

One of the Toyotas, driven by South Africa's 2009 Dakar winner Giniel De Villiers, is already in fourth place -- and just six seconds away from third. The other South African HiLux is 10th, and two other Toyotas in the top 20.

Alister McRae, the Perth-based Scotsman and brother of late world champion Colin, who won the Asia-Pacific series for Proton last year, will drive a limited WRC schedule for the Malaysian manufacturer as well as defend his A-P crown.

Proton has pulled out of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

MINI missed the deadline for WRC manufacturer entries but will compete in this month's Monte Carlo Rally, although British driver Kris Meeke has been dropped from its line-up for a pay driver, Pierre Campana.

The January 18-22 "Monte" will be the first time the iconic rally has been part of the WRC since 2008. Mini won the "Monte" three times in the 1960s -- with Paddy Hopkirk (1964), Timo Makinen (1965) and Rauno Altonen (1967).

The deadline for WRC manufacturer entries has been extended to March 27. There appear to be financial issues between MINI/BMW and Prodrive, the company headed by David Richards that runs the MINI WRC program -- and Ford Performance Vehicles and Ford Performance Racing in Australia -- but the German manufacturer is keen to continue, if only with a limited program this year rather than the anticipated full schedule.

The Granta Sport has been developed for a one-make cup, while Lada is working on a S2000 version and is contemplating a full return to the WTCC in 2013. It will contest this year's rounds at Budapest's Hungaroring in May and Portugal's Estoril in June.

Richards died on December 15 after a brave 14-month battle with a rare form of cancer.

Despite last year being its worst season in F1 the team remains the third most successful in the sport's history, behind only Ferrari and McLaren. Head, who co-founded the Williams team with Sir Frank at the end of 1977 and was its technical director and later director of engineering, will now concentrate on the company's thriving hybrid business, which he said "may sound a bit dry and dull but is actually quite hi-tech and interesting".

Meanwhile, Adrian Newey, who worked under Head before becoming technical director at McLaren and now Red Bull and has achieved more success than any F1 engineer, was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in Britain's New Year's Honours.

Newey's award was for services to motorsport, while 1992 world champion driver Nigel Mansell became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to children and young people. He is president of the UK Youth charity.

Meanwhile, Scott Speed -- America's F1 driver in the mid-2000s -- has settled his lawsuit against Red Bull's now-defunct NASCAR Sprint Cup team. Speed had been seeking $6.5 million, which he claimed he would have earned between 2011 and 2013, plus another $500,000 that had been cut from his contract.

Speed drove 13 Cup races for two teams last year and is scheduled to do 15 races with Leavine Racing this year.

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