Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of awesome rally shots

After all the trials and tribulations, the first event in the Central Europe Rally took place this past weekend and Carlos Sainz took the overall win behind the wheel of a heavily prepped Volkswagen Touareg 2, while NASCAR driver Robby Gordon's team finished 10th.

The race, which spanned some 1,670 miles across Hungary and Romania, took Sainz and his co-pilot, Michel Perin, 11 hours, 18 minutes and 8 seconds to traverse, followed by the team of Stephane Perhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret driving a Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution, while Dieter Depping and Timo Gotschalk came in third, behind the wheel of another Touareg 2.

Gordon, whose total time was 1 hour, 25 minutes and 38 seconds behind Sainz, completed the race with the help of a HUMMER H2 and Andy Grider at his side. The full race results can be viewed after the jump, and we've assembled a gallery of some seriously awesome shots from the Central Europe Rally below.


[Source: Rallysportmag]

Robby Gordon is regarded as one of the most versatile drivers in NASCAR. After racing in Champ Cars, IndyCars, Trans-Am, IMSA, IROC and the Dakar Rally, Robby (no relation to Jeff Gordon) moved to NASCAR, competing in the Craftsman Truck series and then the Busch series before moving up to the premier Sprint Cup, where he runs his own single-car team. He's won three cup races and is ranked as the most successful owner/driver on the grid.

Now, after having run Chevy engines from Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and Ford engines last season, Gordon has announced his switch to Dodge for 2008. The deal, considered a coup for Dodge, was struck with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, which also fields cars for Kasey Kahne, Elliot Sadler and open-wheel defector Patrick Carpentier. We hope the Dodge engines meet Gordon's approval, or Toyota may be getting a call soon.

[Source: Autosport, Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty]

With the 2008 Lisbon-Dakar Rally confirmed to proceed, a star-studded roster of drivers is shaping up for what promises to be an exciting event spanning two continents over the course of two weeks.

Robby Gordon will be returning for the fourth time to fight for America's glory in, what else... a Hummer (pictured above). The NASCAR star will be competing against a host of rally champions, including double WRC champ and 2007 FIA Cross Country Cup winner Carlos Sainz (VW Touareg), and Monte Carlo rally winner Bruno Saby who will be driving the late Colin McRae's BMW. Two former F1 drivers, Ukyo Katayama and Tiago Monteiro, will be also competing, along with Vanina Ickx, daughter of famed grand prix and Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx.

All these drivers will be aiming to oust Mitsubishi, which has dominated the dunes and won the rally every year since 2001. Mitsubishi will be fielding no less than four Pajero/Montero this year in the event, which is set to depart from Lisbon, Portugal, on January 5 and finish in Dakar, Senegal on January 20. Watch this space for coverage.

[Source: Autosport]