Nobody had an idea about what will happen.

On May 30, 2009 the Rally Dakar 2009 came back to Buenos Aires. Indeed, not the cars, not the trucks, not the motorbikes and not the quads. At movie, showing this marvelous event, that has churned the two countries Argentina and Chile in January 2009 was presented.

And I was remembered to this event that started on December 31, 2008 with the technical inspection and the welcome of the participants in the Exhibition Center “Rural” in Buenos Aires. Just on the way to the “Rural” I met the first cars on the highway and streets. The feeling and the spirit in this marvelous mega city Buenos Aires was changes. Something was in the air. But nobody had an idea about what will happen: the press, the TV and the people, really nobody. As I arrived at 10:00 in the subterranean parking area of the “Rural” there were only few cars. I discovered the great area of the Rural Exhibition Center and there were few people and no rally cars in sight. As I said, nobody had an idea about what will happen. I asked some people of the security and Dakar staff and they told me that there are some cars on the Avenue Sarmiento. That was the signal: I went to Av. Sarmiento to see this few cars.

And the Rally Dakar 2009 began: Few cars, now motorbikes, no quads, no trucks and only few people. But then came on the Rally Dakar Spirit and breathed his air into Buenos Aires and I prepared my digital camera to film the first arriving cars.

My main concerns

As I asked some drivers from the Netherlands they only said: “No movie please. No movie!” and then we  started a conservation talking about my main concerns were:

1. How did you prepare yourself for the extreme altitudes were your will drive?

If you are not accustomed to the extreme altitude of 4000 m (13124 ft) and more you may be able to walk slowly some 100 m / yards and then you need to stop because of the oxygen deficit. The mountain sickness can come over you.

2. How did you prepare the motor of your car for the extreme altitude?

A fact is, that the rally will reach an altitude of round about 4700 m (15420 ft) above sea level and I made various times the experience to drive with my pickup, a Toyota Hilux Diesel 4×4 in extreme altitudes up to 5200 m (17061 ft) above sea level when I cruised the Atacama Desert in the region of Calama in Northern Chile near the Paso de Llama. The Toyota motor was prepared up to an altitude of 4800 m (15749 ft), but above it was impossible to drive faster than 40 km/h ( mph) in the second gear.

As I asked that to the drivers they told me that the races are limited up to 3800 m (12468 ft). In the higher stages they only drive connections. And we have some oxygen masks, so don’t worry we are prepared.

And the motor? Well, we have been in a climate and altitude simulation (Blog of Dirk von Zitzewitz, copilot of Giniel de Villiers in car 305 – The Winners of Rally Dakar 2009 – Sorry this answer is in German), and our motor only will lose 10 % of his power. Others confirmed that. To have more power a team from the Netherlands changed the computer for the motor. But all the people I asked didn’t had the concerns that I had.

Okay, my main concerns had found an answer.

The Spirit started moving

Now I started to discover the Rural Expo Center and at 11:00 they came all, one after the other. Trucks, cars, motorbikes, quads. The noise, the dust, the fumes. The Dakar Spirit arrived at Rural. At 14:00 the rechargeable battery of my digital camera was dead as I finish the last clip. That was the signal to prepare a movie for YouTube to share the Rural-Dakar-2009-Spirit with the world.

When I left the Rural Expo Center they all arrived: cars, trucks, motorbikes, quads and the people. The people were happy to see this. The TV was reporting on all channels. And the Dakar Spirit touched the megacity of Buenos Aires.

Looking the video you can enjoy and relive it. This video is a new version of my first one with a higher resolution than the original that I uploaded on Dec. 31, 2008.

But what will happen next?

The Podium on January 1^st, 2009.