This is the Statt Mann Baby. It’s time to Scatt a little bit.

You can imagine the frustrations felt by American Robby Gordon after the first weekend at the Dakar Rally in South America.

Day 1 on Saturday found him stuck on a sand dune for an estimated nine minutes. Trying to get out he damaged the transmission on his Hummer. He arrived back at service nearly 32 minutes down to leader Carlos Sainz.

Here’s Gordon talking about Saturday’s problems.

Day 2 was only a little better. Gordon and his co-driver Kellon Walch had a problem navigating to a point in the route and lost another 17 minutes to the front of the pack. They’re down 49 minutes but have moved up to 29th overall in the car category.

But things are shaking out in Peru. Saturday’s leader Carlos Sainz also had problems today. He’s fallen back to 11th with today’s stage winner Stephane Peterhansel taking over the front of the line.

It’s a big fight for Gordon and Walch going forward. All they can do now is go as fast as they can and let the rally come back to them between now and the conclusion Sunday January 20th.

And if anyone knows how to go as fast as he can it’s Gordon. The Dakar isn’t Baja, though. And the competition in the field at Dakar is filled with former winners and world champions.

This might be Robby’s biggest challenge yet. It’ll be fun to watch.

Peace.