While VW have dominated the last two dakar seasons, the US NASCAR/BAJA hero Robby Gordon has developed a huge fan following and been in the media spotlight with his H3 based hummer. Gordon finished 3rd overall in 2009 and came in 8th in 2010.
The Man:
The Rig:
"Hummer claims the race-truck is based on an H3, but with what appears to be an entirely carbon fiber vehicle, we’re not sure there’s much of the factory car left. It’s a tube-chassis vehicle and while it is built for serious off-roading, Gordon will be comfortable inside thanks to a fully enclosed cockpit with air conditioning. As for the engine, Hummer will only say that it is based on a production GM V8."
The Hummer is surprisingly jump friendly. Seen here at the 2010 Dakar start ceremony and a 105mph race jump :
//youtu.be/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-uxHH7N4lM
//youtu.be/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvWcsMVU_to
Usually rather well behaved, Gordon has been seen bumping slower vehicles (in NASCAR fashion) particularly on long desert stretched where the Hummer has the topspeed advantage:
//youtu.be/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeZ-9Wpkjq4
I am rather perplexed by the use of a 2WD Hummer in a race where all others use 4x4s. It does land him into trouble occasionally (see 3:30 of 2010 stage 12 clip below) but he still manages to get through (as he says in the interview at the end)....with Al-Attiya and Sainz racing each other on their VWs.
//youtu.be/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZCfqeHuPLs