R. Gordon moves into 14th place at Dakar

LISBON, Portugal -- Robby Gordon and his new Hummer H3 finished 14th in the opening round of the famed Dakar Rally.

The first leg of the grueling event was broken into three distinct stages with the fast, important, timed Special Stage of the 51.5 miles set in the middle of two liaison stages that were run on the major highway between Lisbon and the resort town of Portimao on the southern coast of Portugal.

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Gordon wowed the Lisbon starting line crowd with an unconventional move on the raised starting platform, where the drivers are introduced to the public. This allows an even 2 minute spacing between the racers in Gordon's competition group. After taking the applause from the fans, Gordon backed down the starting ramp and came over the top with his wheels in the air.

With the rolling green Portuguese countryside severely soaked from several days of rain, four-wheel drive German and Japanese marques were expected to have a huge advantage over Gordon's heavier new all-American Hummer H3, which was forced to start in 35th position behind some of the world's greatest rally and North African desert specialists.

Few European Dakar fans gave Gordon much chance of gaining on the established stars on the first day, as the competition was piloting the powerful VW and Mitsubishi teams using four-wheel drive. But Gordon settled into a calm and steady drive that saw his time of 1 hour and 59 seconds end up only 4 minutes and 39 seconds behind Carlos Sainz.

The second stage will end in Malaga, Spain, where all the cars will be loaded on ferries and shipped across the Mediterranean Sea to Nador on the northern coast of Africa.

• Gordon embarks on grueling Dakar challenge