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Pain Signs Off with Overall Top Ten Finish after Shortened Dakar Finale The 2015 Dakar has once again established itself as the world’s toughest rally-raid challenge. Yamaha Netherlands Verhoeven Team’s Frans Verhoeven and Yamaha Factory Racing Rally Team Yamalube’s Olivier Pain had to battle fierce conditions on the last stage to finish in 7th and 11th place. The start of the 13th race day was already atypical due to the reverse start order, but more havoc was on its way. Soon torrential rain hit the thirteenth stage, making the course extremely slippery. Riding in groups, the competitors slowly made progress on their journey to Buenos Aires where the podium at the Tecnópolis awaited, but before they could reach their final destination the circumstances got so dangerous that it was decided to stop the race at CP2. The cut- short last special of 101 km saw no changes to the overall positions of the leading Yamaha riders. Olivier Pain finished in 10th place overall, ahead of fellow Yamaha mounted Frenchman Xavier De Soultrait in 13th place, while their Dutch colleague, Frans Verhoeven, signed off his Dakar career with a solid 15th place overall. Yamaha teams are celebrating in the quad category. Rafal Sonik won the 2015 Dakar in his category with a lead of almost three hours over 18 year old and fellow Yamaha Raptor 700 rider Jeremias González Ferioli. The Polish rider took extra care today not to get caught out in the final stage and rode sensibly to 2015 title victory. He arrived at CP2 in eighth place, 8’16 minutes behind today’s winner Willem Saaijman, who kept fellow Yamaha rider Christophe Declerck at bay with just six seconds between them. After the end ceremony the riders have earned some well-deserved rest. They have withstood more than 9000 km of incredible heat, terrible cold, rocks, bumps, fesh-fesh, mud, sand, and vegetation – something only the most hardened endurance riders can accomplish. The riders can be proud finishing the toughest rally-raid in the world and are already looking forward to their next adventures. Olivier Pain 11th / 07'59, overall 10th / 3h09'09 “To finish a Dakar is always an achievement and to finish in the top 10 is something to be proud of and I am happy to have got the bike home for the team who worked so hard, both prior to and during the rally. Of course we came here with the intention of challenging for the victory and so from that point of view my result is a disappointment. Although we did a lot of testing before the Dakar we lacked race kilometres. The base of the WR450F Rally is clearly good and the engine is strong and reliable, but the bike is effectively brand new and we need to develop it further if we are to realise its full potential.” Xavier De Soultrait 9th / 05'54, Overall 13th / 04h20'18 “My objective at the start of this, my second Dakar, was to finish in the top 20, so I’m very happy with my result. I am also happy that I learned a lot in the process – how to set up the bike, how to ride faster in the fesh-fesh. These things you can’t learn unless you come here to race. I think I can still progress as a privateer, but there is a limit to what you can achieve. The real solution for the future is to be able to do other races throughout the year, to be able to go testing, training in Morocco and this is the direction I would like to take now.” Frans Verhoeven 7th / 04'35, overall 15th place / 5h13'40 “A good way to end my Dakar career as a rider. These last few days I felt very comfortable on the bike and rode at the pace I used to ride. It is a pity I wasn’t able to participate in a race prior to the Dakar, because if I had I would have rode better the first week and a top 10 finish would have been possible. Of course, even if I stop as a rider, I will continue to be involved in rally-raid and enduro and have some interesting plans for the future.”
Positive Penultimate Stage for Verhoeven and Pain Yamaha Netherlands Verhoeven Team’s Frans Verhoeven and Yamaha Factory Racing Rally Team Yamalube’s Olivier Pain skillfully maneuvered their way over the narrow paths of the penultimate stage and completed the day in 9th and 17th place. The 12th stage of the 2015 Dakar covered 1024 kms to Rosario, 298 kms of which were against the clock. Pain’s results saw him preserve his 10th place overall, while Dutch Yamaha pilot Frans Verhoeven climbed up this evening to 15th place in the general standings. French Yamaha rider Xavier de Soultrait also had a positive day. Despite battling illness he arrived at the bivouac in 13th place, a position he also maintains in the overall standings. Christophe Declerck again made his mark in the quad category. The Yamaha Raptor 700 rider attacked the tracks to Rosario aggressively and left his closest competitor and fellow Yamaha rider Nelson Sanabria more than seven minutes behind him. Overall classification leader Rafal Sonik implemented the opposite tactic. He cautiously cruised to fourth place (at 10’05) and is well on his way to his first Dakar victory. He leads Jeremias González Ferioli by 2h52’17. Tomorrow the riders will tackle the last stage of Dakar, with a fast special stage that leads them back to where it all started. After completing 9295 km in Argentina, Chile and Bolivia the riders will have come full circle and arrive at the podium at the Tecnópolis Buenos Aires to celebrate their achievements. Olivier Pain 17th / 15'29, overall 10th / 3h04'21 “The special was quite tricky and slippery in places and narrow too. You really had to take care and that made for quite a stressful stage. With just one day left to race and a big time gap both in front of me and behind me, the priority is to protect my tenth place overall and not make any mistakes. Strange as it may seem, it is a situation that is almost more mentally exhausting than last year when I was fighting for third place. Last year I was so focused that time seemed to go really quickly. Today at the end we had a really long liaison of almost 500 kilometres, most of it on autoroute and, exceptionally, the organisers let us put our bikes in our vans.” Xavier De Soultrait 13th / 13'13, overall 13th / 4h17'35 “I had a great day today. I didn’t have the intention of attacking but I started to have fun on the bike and came up behind fellow Dutchman Vogels. I got past him just after the refuelling and then pulled out another two minutes on him by the finish. Finally, on the penultimate day of the rally, I’m riding like I used to. Clearly, up until now, I have been paying the price of not having raced all year.” Frans Verhoeven 9th / 10'51, overall 15th / 5h12'16 “I had a great day today. I didn’t have the intention of attacking but I started to have fun on the bike and came up behind fellow Dutchman Vogels. I got past him just after the refuelling and then pulled out another two minutes on him by the finish. Finally, on the penultimate day of the rally, I’m riding like I used to. Clearly, up until now, I have been paying the price of not having raced all year.”
Verhoeven and Pain Revel in the Beauty of Ruta 40 Yamaha Netherlands Verhoeven Team’s Frans Verhoeven and Yamaha Factory Racing Rally Team Yamalube’s Olivier Pain once again gave it their all during the second leg of the second marathon stage. The Dutchmen and the Frenchman reveled in the beauty of Ruta 40 (Route 40) and finished in 9th and 10th place. Split into two specials of 157 and 141 kilometres, today’s stage to Termas Rio Hondo made up for the rough courses the riders had to face this last week and great levels of grip really allowed them to enjoy riding. Much of the route went over twisty mountain tracks and the riders praised the experience unanimously. The stage was not enjoyed by all Yamaha riders unfortunately. Spanish
Yamaha rider Juan Pedrero didn’t start this morning and was very nearly
joined by Xavier de Soultrait, who was ill all night with gastroenteritis.
The Frenchman finally arrived at this evening’s bivouac in a courageous
21st place. Overall Olivier Pain maintains his 10th place, Xavier de
Soultrait is 13th with Frans Verhoeven 16th. In the quad category there were some different names on top of the leader board than the usual suspects. Today it was Christophe Declerck who came out on top, leading from fellow Yamaha rider Nelson Sanabria (at 06’35). However the order of the overall stage remained unchanged. Rafal Sonik stays ahead of 18 year old Jeremias González Ferioli, by 2h50’01. Tonight the riders will stay at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, to cover a long cross-country journey the following morning, the penultimate day. Olivier Pain 10th / at 06'11, overall 10th / 2h55’17 “Yesterday it was extremely cold on the liaison but I dressed accordingly and didn’t suffer too much. Then in the special I didn’t attack too hard as I didn’t want to risk damaging the bike in anyway on the marathon stage. Then today, knowing I would meet up with my assistance again, I was able to attack a little harder. I’m getting to know my bike’s strengths and weaknesses much more now and ride accordingly, making up time where I can. The route was really nice to ride, up in the mountains. It had rained overnight so there was lots of grip. Not much in the way of navigation but apart from that it was pure pleasure.” Frans Verhoeven 9th / 05'34, overall 16th / 5h07’50 “I had a big scare yesterday. Just before the start of the special the
organisers directed me across a river and my bike started to sink into the
mud. I had no choice but to lay it on its side, otherwise it would have
disappeared completely. Then by luck my assistance crew turned up, saw what
was happening and got an army truck to pull my bike out with a winch. You
can imagine, just 10 minutes before the start both me and my bike were
completely covered in mud. Once I got into the special, the tracks were so
nice I forgot about the incident completely. Two days of riding like that
makes up for all the bad days of riding in the fesh-fesh!” “Yesterday evening, as I was approaching the marathon bivouac, I
started to feel very weak and thought it must be altitude sickness. However
the doctors knew better and as soon as I arrived they put me on a drip –
apparently there is a mini epidemic among the Dakar participants. All night
I was vomiting, listening to the rain falling and hoping they would cancel
today’s stage. No such luck – so I just rode in economy mode. Overall I’m
40 minutes behind Rodrigues so I have no one to chase after but Barreda. He
is currently less than 25 minutes behind me and I would really like to hold
on to my 13th place overall!”
Arana and Pain are top Yamahas as Storm hits Tenth Stage of Dakar Like the first marathon stage, the second also saw some big names disappear from the timesheets. GOR Sport’s Txomin Arana and Yamaha Factory Racing Rally Team Yamalube’s Olivier Pain, however braved the challenging tenth stage together and finished just 00’06 apart in 15th and 16th place. For the second marathon stage of the 2015 Dakar, the remaining competitors had to make another high-altitude crossing of the Andes before tackling a 371 kilometre special. The route was mostly over hard-packed ground and directly followed by 135 kilometres of liaison to take them to their bivouac. Olivier Pain finished today’s special 15’37 behind the leader, with Frans Verhoeven not far behind in 19th (at 17’10). Olivier preserves his 10th place overall, while fellow Yamaha mounted Frenchman Xavier de Soultrait finished 22nd and holds on to his 13th place overall. Spanish Yamaha rider Juan Pedrero’s run of bad luck continued. The latest news is that he had a stand still on the special, but still managed to finish in 71st place. In the quad category it was Nelson Sanabria who excelled in the treacherous conditions. The Paraguayan rider came in first, completing the stage in just under five hours, with 18 year old Jeremias González Ferioli on his heels (at 03’40). As Ignacio Casale withdrew at CP1, the Argentinian youngster moved up the overall standings, directly behind provisional leader and fellow Yamaha Raptor 700 rider Rafal Sonik (at 2h51’39). Having arrived at the bivouac, the riders are now once again deprived of their assistance crews. Tonight they will have to carry out their own repairs before tackling the second leg of this marathon stage. Tomorrow the riders will head to Termas Rio Hondo and cover a total of 523 kilometres, including two specials, the first one measuring 157 kilometres and the second adding another 142 kilometres. Extreme weather conditions have hit the Dakar’s headquarters in Salta this evening and blacked out TV broadcasts in the process. The heavy storm has made it impossible to talk directly to the riders.
Pain Pushes to Ninth Place on Ninth Stage of Dakar Olivier Pain continues his return to form. The Frenchmen was one of the few riders who didn’t get caught out by today’s tricky, 538km long route from Iquique to Calama. Not only was the road full of potholes and bumps, but the trail was also hard to navigate and many riders got lost along the way. Not Pain, however, the WR450F Rally rider kept his head on straight and, not having taken a wrong turn once, finished ninth on the ninth special. With today’s results Pain was able to enter into the top 10 overall. However, once the penalties have been given out later this evening for a waypoint that many of his rivals missed, he may well move even further up the leader board. One victim of those penalties could be fellow Yamaha rider Juan Pedrero, who secured second place yesterday. At the moment he is classified as finishing in 20th place on the stage and 14th overall, but the Spaniard is braced for the worst. Tonight the riders and teams will focus on preparing for tomorrow, when the motorcyclists and quad bikers will face the second marathon stage. The tenth day will include a 1370m climb, chilly temperatures and a very technical final end to the special stage. Olivier Pain 9th / 28’09, overall 10th / 2h36’13 “It was a tough special. It was bumpy, with lots of fesh-fesh, and some difficult navigation. In particular there was a waypoint that you needed to follow your road book correctly to find. I went straight to it, but lots of people never found it, which is obviously good for me. The other positive point was that we are definitely making progress with the bike set-up. Each evening we make some small adjustments and since the start of the marathon stage we having been going in the right direction.” Juan Pedrero 20th / 1h48’16, 14th overall 3h47’01 “I couldn’t find the waypoint and because I spent so long looking for it, I ran out of petrol 20 kilometres from the end. That alone cost me 20 minutes, to which you have to add the 40 minute penalty for missing the waypoint. A disastrous day for me.”
Pedrero Secures Second on Dramatic Eighth Stage of Dakar The challenging marathon stage brought a real mixture of emotions as it saw one of the closest finishes of this year’s Dakar Rally. Juan Pedrero’s battle for the stage victory went down to the final sprint to Iquique where he brought his WR450F Rally home in second. The day started slowly as the start of the race was delayed to 8:00 am local time. Yesterday’s heavy rain in Uyuni had made it nearly impossible to cross the salt pans that cover the first 100km of the eighth stage and an alternative route had to be sorted. The change in plans did not affect Pedrero’s focus. With a chance of victory in his sights the Spaniard fought off Stefan Svitko and snatched the lead, until Pablo Quintanilla dove under his time by just eleven seconds. Today’s results see Pedrero jump to 11th place in the overall rankings, after having received an 15-minute penalty yesterday that saw him drop from 6th to 23rd in the race results and from 19th to 20th in the overall standings. HFP Yamaha Racing Off-Road rider Xavier de Soultrait also delivered a fine performance and finished 6th on the stage, shooting up to 14th overall. The Yamaha Factory Racing Rally Team Yamalube riders had a more difficult time. Olivier Pain rode a strong race and finished in 12th place and this evening jumps from 21st to 13th overall, but his teammates weren’t as lucky. Michael Metge’s bad luck continued. After yesterday’s fall, today he encountered mechanical problems right in the middle of the salt lake and was unable to continue the race. Teammate Alessandro Botturi was also forced to withdraw from the race at the fuel point after 310 km. In the quad category Jeremias González Ferioli was the star of the day. The 18 year-old won today’s stage (3h43’35) and currently holds 4th position in the general standings. The leader in the standings, Ignacio Casale, finished today’s stage in second place (7’54) in front of Lafuente (11’04). Rafal Sonik experienced some difficulty and lost the provisional lead (at 6’49) in the overall standings to Casale (36h04’14). Tomorrow the riders will wave goodbye to Iquique and cross the Atacama Desert on their way to Calama. A road full of bumps and potholes lies ahead, which will be demanding for both the riders and their vehicles. Juan Pedrero 2nd / 00’11, overall 11th / 2h06’19 “Aahh! I was so close to winning the special. Just 11 seconds! At the end of the dried lake I stopped to clean the radiator, which was completely blocked up with salt. Then, when I got to the CP a few kilometres after, I knew it was time well spent. There were broken bikes everywhere. At the end of the first special I was just one second behind the leader, but coming down the steep descent at the end of the second special Quintanilla came past me. I tried to stay with him but my bike started to shake and I had to close the throttle. Still, an excellent day for me.” Olivier Pain 12th / 8’15, overall 13th / 2h15’38 “Last night I started working on the bike straight away and managed to get about six hours sleep, though working on a muddy bike in the freezing rain at 4000m was no fun at all! Then this morning nobody was very enthusiastic to start the special, it was still raining, it was still freezing cold and there was water lying everywhere. They told us at the start that the first special had been shortened, which motivated ‘the troops’ a little and off we went in the first wave of 30 riders, flat out 130km across the salt lake with about 5cm of standing water! One of the Yamaha WR450F Rally’s strengths is its engine, so I wasn’t surprised to find myself right up at the front of the pack. In a couple of places however the water was so deep my bike started to aquaplane and I was forced to drop back a little and follow the tracks of the other riders, where the water was less deep. Then after the long neutralisation we had 40kms of special to take us directly into the bivouac. The cars had been through the day before so it was very rutted. This evening I feel pretty good, both physically and mentally, which is just as well as we have a tough couple of days ahead of us.” Alexandre Kowalski - Team Director “The first marathon stage turned out to be exceptionally difficult, even by Dakar standards and unfortunately for us resulted in the retirement of both Alessandro Botturi, who was unable to start his bike after the refuelling, and Michael Metge who broke down in the middle of the salt lake. Until we get to see the two bikes we can only speculate on what happened, but looking at the machines that have made it into the bivouac and talking to the other riders it is possible that a combination of salt and mud blocked up their radiators causing their engines to overheat with catastrophic results. Olivier (Pain) however is still in the race and knocking on the door of the top 10 and the whole team is behind him now to achieve the best possible result. Congratulations too to Juan Pedrero and Xavier de Soultrait for their excellent performances.”
Pedrero Presses on to Sixth Place on Seventh Stage Juan Pedrero has left his bad luck from Friday far behind him with a brilliant ride on the seventh stage of Dakar. Clearly revitalised from yesterday’s rest day, the Spanish rider braved the long and graduate climb towards today’s special stage and scorched to a top six finish. The 717 km long seventh stage of the 2015 Dakar, of which 321 km was against the clock, brought the riders to Uyuni in Bolivia for the first marathon stage. Separated from their assistance crews, who remained in Chile, the riders had to look after their machines themselves in less than ideal conditions. Low temperatures, rain and high altitude are just a few of the challenges the riders are facing as they prepare their WR450F Rally machines in readiness for tomorrow’s return to Iquique. First Yamaha into the parc fermé today was that of Pedrero in 6th, followed by Alessandro Botturi sitting in 13th and Olivier Pain 26th. Michael Metge had a tough outing today. The French rider hit a hole at high speed and suffered a crash. Thankfully he was unharmed, but he lost precious time and arrived at the bivouac in 41st place. Overall Botturi maintains his 11th place, while Metge now finds himself 17th in the standings, in front of Pedrero in 19th position and Pain in 21st position. The quad category was won by Yamaha’s Nelson Sanabria Galeano. He completed today’s challenging stage in 5h22’12, closely followed by Rafal Sonik (at 05’46) and Ignacio Casale (at 11’37). Today’s result means Sonik slightly increases his lead in the overall standing (31h50’46) over his closest rival Casale (at 21’59), while Sergio Lafuente holds the provisional third place (at 1h08’00). Tomorrow the riders will make their way back to Iquique, but it will be up to the weather which route they take to leave Bolivia. If the weather is good, the riders might start the eighth stage from the Salar de Uyuni for some racing over smooth roads of white salt. Juan Pedrero 6th / at 03’20, overall 19th / 02h05’13 “Today I had a good feeling, even if the track at the beginning of the stage was too fast for me. I went well in the technical sections, attacked hard and enjoyed myself on the bike. The public was great - unbelievable to see so much enthusiasm for the Dakar here.” Alessandro Botturi 13th / at 06’13, overall 11th / 1h19’18 “The stage was tough but I had a good rhythm. All day long I took care because I didn’t want to crash – which wasn’t easy as the rain made the track very slippery. It was important to arrive in Uyuni with the bike in good condition, as we have no mechanics to help us tonight. The crowds were incredible. Since we crossed the border and came into Bolivia we have seen thousands of enthusiastic people along the track and here in Uyuni.” Michael Metge 41st / at 39’13, overall 17th / 1h59’31 “The beginning of the stage was pretty good for me, but in a muddy section I didn’t see a hole hidden in the grass and crashed quite hard. I damaged the right-hand side of the bike and also some of the navigation equipment, which made it difficult to find the way. In addition I hurt my right shoulder and my wrist. It’s been a very bad day for me, I lost time restarting the bike and I don’t know what to expect tomorrow.” Olivier Pain 26th / at 17’01, overall 21st / 2h21’28 “I really enjoyed myself today, I felt good on the bike, even if that doesn’t really show in the final result. The stage was nice to ride, bumpy with only a few small dangers and by chance we managed to avoid the rain. The most difficult sections were where it was muddy after yesterday’s rain. It was really slippery, easy to get both wheels sliding, which resulted in a small crash, happily without serious consequences. I am delighted to start off this week with a good feeling, my confidence has returned, I’ve found a position on the bike which suits me better and the changes we’ve made to the bike have taken it in the right direction. Hopefully these new sensations will be confirmed on the second half of this marathon stage.”
Yamaha Riders Look Back On the First Week of Dakar 2015 At the end of a particularly hard first week, all the bike competitors of the 2015 Dakar are enjoying a well-earned rest day. Today is a chance to sort out their affairs, ring their families and, time permitting, grab a quick afternoon siesta. It’s also a chance for them to go over their first six stages in their minds and set their goals for the second week. Of the Yamaha Factory Team Rally Yamalube riders, Alessandro Botturi currently sits in 11th place overall, with Michael Metge 15th and Olivier Pain 21st position. Spanish Yamaha rider Juan Pedrero holds 19th place (at 2h08’06) in the overall standings and Dutchman Frans Verhoeven finds himself in 25th position (at 2h50’35). Alessandro Botturi - 11th / 1h19’18 “My objective was to be in 6th or 7th place on the rest day so at 11th place I’m behind schedule. I think it was a reasonable objective for the end of the second week, but in retrospect the decision not to race in Morocco has cost us places. We thought we could compensate with testing time but there is no substitute for race kilometres. The other thing that has cost us places has been the lack of navigation on the rally so far. We’ve hardly had any difficult navigation and that is one of my strengths. Hopefully the second week will see two or three days of difficult navigation that will allow me to pull back some time. On the positive side the engine is clearly very strong and has proved reliable and the team have kept their focus, even when there have been difficult days. That is a big help for us riders. It is important when we are out on the track fighting for places to know that the team is behind us.” Michael Metge - 15th / 1h26’31 “There’s no denying it has been a hard first week. Before this Dakar my goal was to be at least in the top 10 by the rest day and clearly I haven’t achieved that objective. In retrospect maybe that was a little ambitious on a brand new bike that was only finished a few weeks before the start and hadn’t been tested in race conditions prior to coming here. The positive points are that the engine is very strong, possibly the strongest of all the bikes entered. The other big plus on the new WR450F Rally is the electric start. That might seem like a minor detail, but when you stall in the dunes and the thermometer is in the high 40s it saves an awful lot of precious energy. It should also be noted that all three of us (the Yamaha Factory Team Rally Yamalube riders) have made it to the midway point without losing any major time broken down on the special. On a bike this young, that’s a major achievement and a tribute to those who built it. Finally, on the positive side, both physically and mentally I feel very strong, all the work I did after injuring my knee has clearly paid off.” Olivier Pain - 21st / 2h10’40 “It was a hard week – more mentally than physically. We came here with high hopes after last year’s podium and all the hard work we put into the new bike this last year. Unfortunately we are paying now for a lack of development time. On the positive side the engine is good and overall the bike is reliable. The lack of race kilometres however means we never had the chance to work on settings that are adapted to the wide variety of terrain that you can experience on just one single stage here on the Dakar. Now, on the rest day, we have a chance to put that behind us, find new settings that will help us in the week to come and re-energise ourselves for the second week. Today another podium place is looking far away, but with our sponsors, fans and team all behind us we will continue to work hard to achieve the best possible result and gain valuable knowledge for Dakars to come.” Alexandre Kowalski - Team Director “The Dakar isn’t considered the hardest motorsport race in the world for nothing. As such it’s extremely unforgiving and pardons nothing. Of this first week we can say that the positive points are the engine and the bike’s reliability. However all the Yamaha Factory riders agree that the bike is physically demanding to ride in certain situations and this is where we need to progress, with what is effectively a brand new bike. The whole team is 100% behind the riders and we will do our maximum to try and improve the bike as much as possible over this second week, with the resources we have with us here on the Dakar.”
Botturi Climbs Up the Order as Dakar hits Half Way Stage Yamaha Factory Racing Rally Team Yamalube’s Alessandro Botturi put the WR450F Rally’s power to good use today and is climbing up the order as Dakar reaches the mid way point. Split into two specials of 69 and 227 kilometres, today’s stage took the 2015 Dakar competitors from Antofagasta to Iquique in the north of Chile. The first part of the stage was full of holes and gave the riders flashbacks of yesterday’s bumpy route. The second part along the Pacific coast and over smooth dunes was a welcome change and really allowed the riders to make the most of their bikes and have fun. The first Yamaha WR450F Rally home was that of Italian Botturi in 12th place, followed by his teammates Michael Metge and Olivier Pain in 15th place and 34th place. The quad category has turned into an exciting duel between Ignacio Casale and Rafal Sonik. The latter rider dominated the last two stages, but today Casale showed his mettle. The Chilean regained one third from Sonik’s lead but he still has 16 minutes to make up to overtake the Polish rider in the overall standings. Sergio Lafuente (23’08) completes the provisional Yamaha top three. In the overall standings he has a time gap to the front of over 40 minutes. Tomorrow all the bike and quad riders get a well-earned rest while their mechanics rebuild their bikes and prepare them for the second week. Alessandro Botturi 12th / 15’03, overall 13th / 01h19’18 “At the start we had a long fast piste with lots of big holes in it and after that we went through a canyon. That section of the special was hard work. I was chasing after Casteu but couldn’t get past him. Then we got to the dunes and the bike performed much better. I could use the engine’s power to the fullest extent and went straight past the Frenchman.” Michael Metge 15th / 17’09, overall 17th / 01h26’31 “The holes at the beginning were horrible. There wasn’t any danger marked on the road book but you really had to pay attention and it was impossible to find a good rhythm. When we got to the technical section the bike worked better and once in the dunes the Yamaha’s power made all the difference. The only problem I had in the dunes was when I stalled the bike and took a little while to get going again. Then, at the end of the stage, we went into town for a podium finish. After a day out in the desert it was nice to see so many people and they looked equally pleased to see us.” Olivier Pain 34th / 42’08, overall 20th / 02h10’40 “The special was very bumpy at the start, followed by a technical part where you had to take care with the navigation and then at the end we had the traditional dunes before Iquique. It was a reasonably varied stage but we could have done with a bit more navigation. Once again the engine worked well and the electric start is a real bonus in the dunes, but the bike is physically demanding over a long special like today’s.”
Pedrero Overcomes Bike Damage to Impress During Fifth Stage of Dakar Even a hole in his petrol tank couldn’t hold back Yamaha rider Juan Pedrero today. The Spaniard hit a rock during the very tiring fifth stage, causing the damage. Despite having to refuel twice he managed to complete the long 458 kilometre special route in 12th place, making short work of the fast pistes interspersed with dried river beds and plenty of fesh-fesh. Yamaha Factory Racing Rally Team Yamalube’s Alessandro Botturi was the next rider to complete the route from Copiapo to Antofagasta. He arrived at the bivouac and found himself in 18th place just ahead of Michael Metge in 20th. Olivier Pain crossed the line shortly after in 24th position. In the quad category Rafal Sonik was again the fastest man of the day. The Polish rider set a fastest time of 05h47’46. Completing the top three were fellow Yamaha riders Ignacio Casale (10’51) and Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli (21’41). After today’s results, the provisional overall standings show Sonik (21h52’41), Casale (24’23) and Yamaha’s Sergio Lafuente (26’20) as the leading trio. Tomorrow’s stage will take the riders up the Pacific coast, through the dunes, to the centre of Iquique, where a podium will mark the mid-way point in the race. Juan Pedrero 12th / 14’25, 13th / 01h04’14 “I didn’t get my time back for stopping for a crashed rider yesterday so I started in 31st place. Apparently the time will be deducted from the overall classification this evening. Starting so far back, with slower riders meant I was riding in a lot of dust and I was impatient to get past them and into clean air. At around kilometre 16 I jumped into a ‘rio’ and hit a big rock with my bash plate, which broke it and made a hole in the petrol tank. I stopped for about four minutes to try and stop it leaking too much and then carried on to the refuelling CP. As I arrived I ran out of petrol! I was shaking the bike to get the last drops out of the tank. Then after the refuelling I started to run out of petrol again when I saw some spectators. I rode up to them and told them I was a friend of Chaleco Lopez (a famous Chilean rider who retired this year) and they gave me some fuel. Then in the canyon at the end I really attacked hard and pulled back some time. I was unlucky to put a hole in my petrol tank at the start of the special but very lucky to get to the end!” Alessandro Botturi 18th / 23’31, overall 16th / 01h11’35 “The track was fast, then you had some fesh-fesh, then fast again, with nothing difficult in terms of navigation. The Yamaha WR450F Rally’s engine is powerful but it’s physically demanding to ride. This evening my arms are really tired from holding on to the bike.” Michael Metge 20th / 29:04, overall 19th / 01h16’42 “I already had the feeling from what the organisers were saying that today’s special wasn’t going to be much fun and so I can’t say I’m disappointed. It was exactly as advertised; fast and bumpy with lots of traps to catch you out. Towards the end, before the canyon, there was a section of fesh-fesh with big white rocks sticking out of it. I saw a rider in front of me hit one and go straight up in the air. Physically I’m ok. The knee that I injured on the Sardegna Rally Race six months ago isn’t giving me any problems, but this evening I’m pretty tired.” Olivier Pain 24th / 35’14, overall 20th / 01h35’52 “Not a very interesting special, apart from a run through a canyon at the end, but by then my arms were too tired to enjoy it. The rest of the stage was simply designed to wear out man and machine and in that at least they succeeded.”
Metge Shines on Fourth Day of Dakar Yamaha Factory Racing Rally Team Yamalube’s Michael Metge enjoyed a strong performance today to finish the fourth stage of Dakar 2015 in the top ten. The riders had to cover a grand total of 909 kilometres, 594 kms of liaison to cross over the Andes from Argentina to Chile, followed by 315 kms of special, ending with the famous dunes at Copiapo. First of the Yamaha riders into the bivouac was Frenchman Michael Metge who finished 10th and is now 14th overall. Hard on his heels was Italian teammate Alessandro Botturi, who ended the day in 11th and is now 15th overall. Behind them, last year’s third place finisher Olivier Pain, arrived in 24th place and this evening finds himself in 20th place overall at 1h02’54. Polish rider Rafal Sonik won today’s stage in the quad category, closely followed by fellow Yamaha rider Ignacio Casale in second place (03’26). After today’s results, the provisional podium is topped by Sonik (16h04’55), with Sergio Lafuente in second (16h08’44) and Casale in third place (16h18’27). Yesterday 39yr old Polish rider Michal Hernik (no. 82) sadly passed away during the third stage between San Juan and Chilecito. Yamaha Racing wish to offer their condolences to his family, loved-ones and his team. Yesterday’s Yamaha Factory Racing release stated that rider Robert Van Pelt crashed out of the Rally on stage 2. The Dutchman did not crash but was unable to continue after suffering issues caused by the intense heat. Michael Metge 10th / 14’32, 14th overall / 49’54 “I think the early start and the high altitude must have combined to make everything look especially spectacular this morning – the scenery was just stunning. The vastness of the mountains, all the different colours… it’s not my first crossing but it seems just as impressive… On the special I struggled to find a good rhythm at the start, so instead of forcing the pace I decided to concentrate on my navigation. It seems to be a tactic that paid off because my speed soon increased and I didn’t get lost once. I think this was the first time when a lot of my colleagues went wrong but I didn’t. To me it seemed almost easy to find the right way and that’s a big source of satisfaction for me.” Alessandro Botturi 11th / 14’52, 15th overall / 50’20 “I think I got to understand my bike more today and coming into Chile, especially into the sand dunes, I had more space to exploit it. The changes we made last night to the settings have definitely improved the bike and I’m happy with the progress we’re making.” Olivier Pain 24th / 25’00, 20th overall / 1h02’54 “As is the tradition now we had the long and spectacular crossing over the Andes into Chile this morning. Happily the weather was on our side and with all the extra clothing I had on I didn’t get cold at all. The special itself was almost exactly the same as three years ago – starting off twisty and then getting progressively more rapid to the CP. Then at the end we got to play in the dunes before coming down to the bivouac in Copiapo. As I hoped, there was a little more navigation today, but unfortunately it didn’t help my final result.”
Factory Yamaha Riders Complete Dusty Third Stage of 2015 Dakar The Yamaha Factory Racing Rally Team Yamalube riders enjoyed a much
shorter day today, completing the third stage of the 2015 Dakar, a
relatively short special. The first half of the 220 km route was a
high-speed thrill ride over fast ‘piste’ while the second half was a
more technical journey. The Factory riders had an easier time than yesterday
with Alessandro Botturi finishing 14th followed by Michael Metge in 16th and
Olivier Pain ending the day in 21st place. Best placed Yamaha was once again Juan Pedrero’s machine, finishing in 10th place. The day’s results put Pedrero in 10th overall, Metge in 17th, Boturri in 18th and Pain in 19th place. Yamaha Netherlands Verhoeven Team’s Robert van Pelt didn’t start this morning after being helicoptered out of yesterday’s special after a crash, however his teammate Frans Verhoeven is still in the game and finished 32nd. The riders are now taking a well-earned rest to ready themselves for tomorrow’s stage. Marked by its long liaison of 594 km and large difference in altitude, the route will take riders to an altitude of 4,800m. The thin, cold air will make for demanding riding conditions in the Atacama Desert and the dunes and basins of Copiapo. Michael Metge 16th / 07’51 , 17th overall / 35’22 “The piste at the start of the special had just been remade and that was great fun to ride. Then after that we went into a ‘rio’ (dry river) which was more complicated. We made some changes to the chassis set up last night. That improved the bike a little and we need to keep working in that direction.” Alessandro Botturi 14th / 06’16, 18th overall / 35’28 “It went a little bit better today, both for myself physically and technically with the bike. I must admit I didn’t feel great this morning when I got up after yesterday’s crash but ‘fortunately’ we had a long liaison before the start of the special to fully wake up. The special itself was OK but dust was a big problem. ‘Thank you’ both to Mika (Metge) and Laia (Sanz) who both moved over straight away when they saw that I was behind them.” Olivier Pain 21st / 11’35, 19th overall / 37’54 “Over the fast terrain at the beginning of the rally, I was able to find a good rhythm on the bike. Then after the CP we got into more rocky terrain, in a rio and some off-piste, and it was harder work. The team is working hard to improve the bike in these kind of conditions and there was definitely some improvement today. Tomorrow we have a very long liaison of 594 kilometres to get across the Andes into Chile. We’re going to climb up to almost 5000 metres, so it will be very cold and the air will be very thin. Once we’ve negotiated that we have a quite tough 315 km special to take us all the way to Copiapo. I’m hoping that there will be more navigation than we’ve had up until now and that it will allow me to pull back some time.” Juan Pedrero 10th / 05’21, 10th overall /23'02 “I was hoping to attack today but unfortunately the high altitude at the start of the special had a very negative effect on my top speed – I could only manage 145 kph. At the CP I was down in 20th place! Then after the CP, in the technical terrain, I was able to ride harder and pulled back 10 places to finish 10th which is also my overall position this evening.” Frans Verhoeven 32nd / 22’58, 29th overall / 1:18'13 “Yesterday Robert (van Pelt) crashed in the special, the bike got so hot that the fuel started boiling. He ran out of water and eventually became so exhausted that he had to be evacuated by helicopter. It is the classic Dakar downward spiral… As for myself, I’m OK but obviously very disappointed to see my teammate being forced out of the race so early.”
Riders Battle Scorching Heat On Second Day of Dakar 2015 Over the longest special of the rally, 518 kilometres, between Villa Carlos Paz and San Juan, the Yamaha Factory Racing Rally Team Yamalube’s riders were confronted with pretty much every type of going they could expect to find on a Dakar. The wildly varying terrain combined with extremely high temperatures, made the stage very challenging. The heat was so intense that the organisers actually neutralised the special at CP3 for safety reasons, with those stopping there being allowed to continue tomorrow with a fixed time penalty. Michael Metge was the fastest of the Factory Yamaha’s today, securing 17th place. Alessandro Botturi took 18th and Olivier Pain arrived not long after in 19th. Today’s leading Yamaha was Spanish rider Juan Pedrero Garcia. The Spanish rider battled the heat to finish an impressive 10th. Despite the heat, it was a good day for the Yamahas in the quad category. Rafal Sonik won the special stage with his Yamaha Raptor 700 as he created an over three-minute lead from Ignacio Casale (3’33), who was closely followed by Sergio Lafuente (4’14). The three Yamaha riders top the general ranking, with fellow Yamaha rider, Sebastian Halpern, less than five minutes behind in fourth place. Tomorrow’s shorter stage will take the riders to one of the most scenic regions of Argentina: the canyons. However, the riders won’t have much time to enjoy it as this quads and bikes route will also include some gruelling sections. Oliver Pain 19th / 26’19 / 17th overall “The organisers promised us a hard day today and they kept their promise! I struggled to find my rhythm early on in the mountains and then managed to pick up the pace a little around the half way point. Towards the end we had 40 kilometres of ‘Le Touquet’, except instead of it being freezing cold it was like riding in an oven! Both mentally and physically it was very tough. It was so hot that I opened by jacket to let some air in, something I hardly ever do. I can’t say I’m really delighted with my result but I’m not surprised either. Although the terrain was varied, there was very little navigation, it was more like a Baja. Good for some of the newcomers but not so good for someone like myself who can make the difference with the road book.” Michael Metge 17th / 25’25 / 18th overall “I was looking forward to today’s special and started very motivated. Straight away I found a good pace and overtook several other riders, at one point getting up to seventh place. Then we got into the fesh-fesh and things got a little more complicated. No doubt about it, it was a very hard special and the high temperatures didn’t make it any easier. Tonight we will need to make sure we recuperate as much as possible and be ready for tomorrow. According to the organisers it’s not going to be as hard tomorrow but if the temperatures stay this high everybody is going to suffer.” Alessandro Botturi 18th / 26’11 / 19th overall “A really tough stage today. I was doing OK and then about 40 kilometres from the end I crashed. For maybe five minutes I was pretty disorientated and then I got myself back on the bike and rode very gently to the finish. Fortunately the liaison at the end wasn’t too long as I wasn’t feeling on top form!” Alexandre Kowalski - Team Director “Not an easy day today for our riders with the high temperatures pushing all the competitors to the limit. Over some parts of the special the bike went well but on others, notably in the fesh-fesh, it was harder to exploit it to the fullest and we need to look at the chassis set up this evening to improve the bike’s balance. The important thing is to remember that we are only on the second day of this long rally with a brand new bike and we will continue to work as hard as we have up until now to give the riders the best possible package.” Juan Pedrero 10th / 16'45 / 10th overall
Action Begins in Argentina as 2015 Dakar Kicks Off The Yamaha Factory Racing Rally Team Yamalube riders have made a positive start to the gruelling Dakar 2015 challenge. Starting from Buenos Aires, the first stage existed of a 144km ride through the Argentinean countryside before reaching the 175km special stage, followed by a long liaison section to the first bivouac in Villa Carlos Paz. Not taking any unnecessary risks, the Yamaha riders made a cautious start. Olivier Pain was the first rider of the team to ride his WR450F Rally into the bivouac (13th at 03’34), followed by Michael Metge (19th at 05’40) and Alessandro Botturi (25th at 06’35), who were forced to slow their pace due to visibility issues.
The riders now look forward to tomorrow’s stage, which will include the longest special of this year’s Dakar rally.
“I didn’t take any risks today. The track had some deep and very hard ruts in it and a lot of them were hidden in the grass or under the shade of the trees where you couldn’t see them. In conditions like that the best thing is to take it easy and make sure you get to the end. Apart from that there was no drama. The bike went well and I was particularly happy with the top speed. Tomorrow is going to be a big day. The longest special of the rally and I reckon I’m well placed this evening to make the best of it.”
“After only about 14 kilometres I caught up with the rider who started in front of me and got stuck in his dust. Obviously in such poor visibility you have to choose your moment to overtake and in the end I had to wait over 60 kilometres before I could get past. It’s frustrating, as you know you’re losing time, but that’s part of the rally. Hopefully tomorrow I will have a clearer run.” Alessandro Botturi 25th / 06’35 “I had the same problem as Michael, getting stuck in other peoples’ dust. Unfortunately it meant I didn’t see a sharp right hand corner until it was too late. I didn’t go far off track, but far enough to get some loose fence wire stuck in my front wheel, which took me a while to untangle.”
19. Michael Metge, FRA (Yamaha) 1:24:37
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Quad
rider Ignacio Casale had a different strategy as he took on the first stage.
After securing his first Dakar crown one year ago, the Chilean gave his all
to show that he still has what it takes. He was the first quad to start the
first stage and rode his Yamaha Raptor 700 to a solid one-minute lead. Last
year's runner-up, Rafal Sonik, completed the all Yamaha provisional podium
together with Sergio Lafuente.
Olivier
Pain 13th / 03’34
Michael
Metge 19th / 05’40
Dakar Rally 2015 Stage 01: Buenos Aires to Villa Carlos Paz