Dakar Rally - Netherlands

Sold like a hot cake !!! Within few days upon its release, it went out of stock. When 3 of Netherlands best truck drivers feature on a commemorative stamp who will resist? Netherlands post surprised the philately community with the release of a miniature sheet featuring Jan de Rooy, Hans Stacey, Gerard de Rooy.

From 1979 till 2007 the races were held across cities starting from Europe ( Paris, Lisbon, Barcelona, Granada ) and ending in Africa ( Dakar, Cape Town, Cairo). Jan de Rooy had the privilege of participating in the Paris-Alger–Dakar route. He won the truck category in 1987 with team DAF.  The 2007 event featuring Lisbon–Dakar route was won by Hans Stacey for the truck category in 2007 with the team MAN TGA. The 2008 event was canceled due to fear of terrorist attacks and the future of the rally was certainly in doubt.

The 2009 edition moved to South America featuring Argentina and Chile. Buenos Aires–Valparaiso–Buenos Aires was selected as the new route for the 2009 event. Peru was part of 2012 and 2013 editions. Bolivia started its association with the rally in the 2015 edition. Paraguay becomes the 5th South American country to associate itself with the annual event in the 2017 edition. Argentina was the only South American country to feature in all the editions starting from 2009.  Gerard de Rooy won the truck category in the 2012 and 2016 events which were conducted in the routes - Mar del Plata–Arica–Lima and Buenos Aires–Salta-Rosario respectively.

  

Even though it moved out of Africa, the rally retained the name simply as "Dakar" from "Paris-Dakar Rally". 2018 event marks the 40th edition of this cross country off-road racing which travels around some extreme terrains of our finest planet.

Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc

I wanted this blog post to be published on woman's day but due to delay in possessing this stamp I need to delay it for few weeks. This is one of my favorite stamp in my small collection. The joy of discovering new stamps is what makes me motivating to keep my hobby and this blog alive. 

This post is a special one, as it covers Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc ( Rally Aïcha of the Gazelles of Morocco ) , the only women-only rally in the world. This rally is conducted specifically for women and there is no prize money for winners. All the money generated are spent on social cause.

To mark the International woman's day on March 8th 2013 and the 23rd edition of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc, France postal department ( La Poste ) released  a book of 12 stamps honoring the values ​​held by the women throughout the rally.

The following are the 12 values featured in these stamps ( read as French - English )

• courage - courage
• partage - sharing
• esprit d'équipe - team spirit
• engagement - engagment
• dépassement de soi - overcome oneself
• entraide - mutual aid
• emotion - emotion
• performance - performance
• enthousiasme - enthusiasm
• solidarité - solidarity
• confiance - confidence
• respect - respect

For more details visit the link : http://www.rallyeaichadesgazelles.com/

First Stamp on Formula E Racing from Monaco Post

Optimistic, that this could be the future of racing one day. But before that please read it loud as this is the first stamp ever to be released on Formula E. Formula E is yet another product of FIA - Federation Internationale de l'Automobile ( International Federation of Automobile ) . The first season started in September 2014 and it goes till June 2015.  FIA says 'they want to promote the electric car industry and to use the series as a framework for research and development".  Since Monaco has one of the best racing venues and a great place for entertainment, there wont be any surprise on Monaco hosting the round 7 of the first season. Monaco Post was quick to acknowledge this international event and become the first country to issue a stamp on Formula E racing. FDC and a sheetlet of 10 stamps besides individual stamp were released to mark this event.

There are few interesting facts about Formula E racing. Some of them are  

• The races will be held only in city-centers i.e. not on traditional racing tracks.
• The season starts in September and goes till middle of next year.
• A driver will use 2 cars, due to regulations in changing the battery. Drivers will make a mandatory pit-stop during the race in order to change cars. This rule might change next year.

P.S. This is the kind of inspiration I was looking for to work on this blog after close to 3 years.

Paris Dakar Rally

The Dakar Rally ( formerly known as "The Paris-Dakar Rally ) is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The event route mostly covers countries of Africa and Europe. This annual event had the city of Dakar, Senegal either as the starting point or ending point from 1978 till 2008 ( 2008 event was cancelled one day before the intended start date ) and from 2009 the event moved out of Africa to South America . From 2009 to the present ( 2012 ) this event is staged in South America. The 2009-2011 event was held in the 2 countries - Argentina & Chile and in the 2012 edition Peru joined the event.

In 2008 Portugal Post issued a miniature sheet to commemorate the 30th edition of the Dakar Rally. This miniature sheet features truck - Rainer Weigart, 4 × 4 - Carlos Sousa and 2 stamps portraying bikers Helder Rodrigues and Ruben Faria.

Andy Priaulx - World Touring Car Champion

As indicated in my first blog , this blog site covers stamps associated to major motor sports excluding the Formula One Racing. The Formula One Racing related stamps are covered in f1stamps.blogspot.com 

FIA -  Federation Internationale de L’Automobile is the governing body for the motor sports worldwide including Formula One Racing. FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) is one of the motor sports sanctioned by FIA. The 2011 season was the eight season of the World Touring Car Championship.

Andy Priaulx is one of the famous and successful driver in the World Touring Car Championship. A Guernsey resident , Andy is a three times World Touring Car Championship from 2005 to 2007. He also won other championship titles such as Renault Spider Cup - 1999 season , European Touring Car Championship - 2004 season.

Andy has competed in many types of motor sports including Australian V8 Supercar racing, Le Mans Series,  Race of Champions, the Le Mans 24 Hours , Formula Palmer Audi Winter Series, British Hillclimb champion, Formula Three, 12 Hours of Sebring.

In 2008 , Guernsey post issued a miniature sheet honoring their champion. The miniature sheet has 3 stamps each one of them featuring a BMW Touring car with respective years of his Championship. ( 2005 , 2006 & 2007 ). The sheet also features a portrait of Andy Priaulx in racing gear.

INDIANAPOLIS 500

USPS celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first Indianapolis 500 race in 2011. The Indy 500 race was held every year from 1911 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. Due to the world wars the race was not held during the years  (1917–18) and  (1942–45).

This commemorative stamp has art-work portrait of Ray Harroun  and his  famous #32, the black-and-yellow Marmon "Wasp". Ray Harroun has the honor of winning the first Indianapolis 500 and his black-and-yellow Marmon "Wasp" is still on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

The 2011 season was won by Dan Wheldon a British racing driver. He also won the race in 2005 . He died due to injuries suffered in an accident during the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

A. J. Foyt , Al Unser , Rick Mears are the only drivers who won the Indy 500 on 4 occassions.

Welcome to MotorSports Stamps !!!!

When I first started blogging on F1 Stamps ( my favorite sports & hobby ) I never thought I will pick another theme to write on ( and to collect ) stamps which are not related to Formula One. After exploring various stamps/themes and failing in staying away from the temptation of these stamps, I finally decided to write this blog which will cover stamps on Motors sports such as WRC ( World Rally Championship ) , NASCAR , Indy Car racing , Le Mans , The Dakar rally , GP2 Series , Grand AM racing and so on.

Let's see what the world holds for these sports in stamps.....Vroom Vroom