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Cyril Despres |
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 Despres
- a strong second on opening day of Desafio Litoral
KTM’s 3-times Dakar Rally winner Cyril Despres opened his account confidently in the opening stage of the new 6-Stage Desafio Litoral Rally in Argentina when he finished second behind KTM rider Chaleco Lopez of Chile and trailing by 1 minute 49 seconds. KTM rider and rally specialist Jakub Przgonski of Poland was also in good form and finished third. Despres’ KTM teammate Taddy Blazusiak, riding in his first ever rally started and finished in fourth and trails the leader by around 13 minutes. As the number one rider, Despres had the task of opening the road in the first stage that took riders from the world famous Iguazu waterfalls to Posadas. The first day took riders into dense jungle and they rode over hard packed surfaces that were narrow and fast paced, a far cry from the usual rally terrain that Despres is used to. There were two times sections separated by a neutral stretch where the terrain could change quite dramatically within meters, requiring not only high speed but also absolute and undivided concentration. Blazusiak, KTM’s EnduroCross specialist is in Argentina to ‘stay on two wheels’ during a long break in the US EnduroCross Championships. He is not only new to the sport of rally but he also has to master navigating via the road book of riders’ directions mounted on the handlebar of his KTM 450 series edition bike. Despres, by contrast is not only a veteran but also one of the great exponents of rally sport and is riding his KTM 450 Rally factory bike. ?The riders faced undergrowth so thick that at times it was necessary to ride with a headlight and they also had to contend with very heavy humidity which organizers promised would radically change the ground temperature and thus the tire grip at different times of the day. Despres is a master tactician and finishing close behind his rival Chaleco Lopez means that the Chilean will have to open the track in tomorrow’s stage and that will play into the hands of the French rider. Despres admitted that to win would be difficult in unknown conditions, even though he came to Argentina with that intention. Before the rally he also expressed respect for the South American riders who have been tough rivals in other rallies on the continent. After stage one Despres said it had been a difficult day’s ride and at one time he had a close encounter with the jungle and hit his arm. “After that, it wasn’t so easy riding one hand,” he said. “You have to really take care. The jungle is not only thick; you are also going up hill and down and when you get to the bottom of the hill it’s very humid. The ground is hard and compact and it can be very slippery. It was a bit like riding on ice.”
Stage One: Iguazu to Posadas
KTM’s Cyril Despres emerged as stage two winner and has taken an early lead in the overall standings on the second day of the Desafio Litoral, the six day rally in northern Argentina that is part of the Dakar Challenge Series. His push in day two on his KTM 450 Rally bike gives him a narrow four minute lead over KTM rider Jakub Przgonski of Poland in the overall standings. Monday’s stage winner Chaleco Lopez of Chile finished third and is now behind the Polish rider by about half a minute. The day’s ride put three KTMs in the top three places in both the stage and the overall standings. Speaking from Posadas after the rally, KTM’s support staff member Stefan Huber said riders had been faced with heavy rain on Tuesday that made riding almost impossible. “It was raining so hard and everything was so slippery almost all the riders had crashes today,” Huber said. KTM’s EnduroCross specialist Taddy Blazusiak did not finish after crashing and banging his shoulder. He is at the Desafio Litoral only to experience rally for the first time and may start in tomorrow’s stage. The team will decide in the morning if he is to ride, base don how his shoulder is feeling. As well as the extreme wet and slippery conditions, Day two presented riders with two separate challenges over the timed sections of the course. The first started over hard paced terrain but soon disappeared into a maze of tracks through grassed areas and pine plantations. This was followed by a neutral link stretch of a small section of mountaineous jungle before returning to traverse the plantations. The second timed stretch took riders over a rocky and steep area, through a river and then into another area of narrow fast passages. Riders had to pace themselves carefully and be prepared for quick changes in tempo. It was a day that absolute concentration and was a test of both man and machine. While all top three riders are Dakar veterans of repute, they are all experiencing something quite new in the type of terrain that the Desafio Litoral is offering. They all remarked after day one that riding at speed through thick jungle where the surface could be as slick as ice was very challenging. Day Three of the rally takes competitors Posadas to Bella Vista
KTM’s rally supremo Cyril Despres had a good day at the office on Thursday taking his second stage win in the new Desafio Litoral Rally and extending his overall lead to almost six minutes in this new six stage-rally in Argentina, part of the ‘Dakar Series’. KTM riders filled the top three places in the stage with Poland’s Jakub Przgonski finishing one minute 31 behind Despres and KTM factory teammate Taddy Blazusiak in third and trailed the leader by about nine minutes. While Despres, a four-times Dakar winner is one of the world’s greatest exponents of the sport and Przgonski is also a top rally rider, Blazusiak is KTM’s Extreme Enduro and EnduroCross specialist. He is in Argentina experiencing rally for the first time to ‘stay on two wheels’ during the US EnduroCross Championship’s summer break. Despres and Przgonski are also 1-2 in the overall standings with two stages to go but Taddy crashed out in Tuesday’s stage and is just going along for the experience. Wednesday’s Stage Three was scrapped due to heavy fog that made it impossible for the accompanying rescue helicopters to be airborne. Speaking after Thursday’s stage Despres said he felt he was back in terrain similar to the Dakar. “Today the track was flatter and sandy. We were no longer on the hard pack red earth and on the narrow jungle trails like in the first two stages. That red earth could be very unpredictable and slippery like ice,” he said. “The average speed today was 120 km/h so it was also very fast. The distance between Przgonski and me was not that big but I felt I was controlling the race. I’m feeling good and confident, the bike is going well and I’m looking forward to the next two days.” Cyril is riding his Dakar-winning KTM 450 Rally bike.
Riders had an unexpected ‘rest day’ on Wednesday after the cancellation of Stage Three but they had a long hard ride on Thursday with a Dakar-like race distance of 427.10 km over two stretches and separated by a liaison of 216 km. Thursday’s stage from Bella Vista to Correntes was the longest and most demanding of this six-day event. It now looks like the rally will be decided between Despres and Przgonsi who have put significant distance between them and the rest of the field. Up until today Chilean KTM rider ‘Chaleco’ Lopez was also in the running but he had technical problems today and lost too much time to be able to catch the leaders in the remaining two days.
Cyril Despres retains overall lead in Desafio Litoral on penultimate stage KTM’s multiple Dakar Rally winner Cyril Despres hung on to the overall lead on the penultimate stage of the Desafio Litoral Rally in Argentina on Friday. He finished fourth in the stage and now has a narrow three minutes 44 seconds lead over KTM rider Jakub Przgonski of Poland going into Saturday’s short final stage of around 75 km. But his result today was thanks in part to good teamwork in the KTM factory team. Despres destroyed a tire with about 40 km to go in the day’s second timed section and was helped out by KTM’s Taddy Blazusiak who swapped wheels with the Frenchman to allow him to finish the stage and stay within striking distance of the overall victory. Taddy then rode the rest of the timed section and the remaining 100 km back to the bivouac on the damaged wheel, thus preventing his teammate from losing too much time. “I was pretty sure I could have finished on the wheel but Taddy swapped with me and I was able to get on with the race,” Despres said from the bivouac. “It means he is going to be starting quite far back in the field tomorrow and that will make it hard for him. Now I have a small advantage going into the last stage but in this sport you never know what is going to happen. For sure its never over till its over.” Taddy, KTM’s Extreme Enduro specialist is in Argentina for his first ever taste of rally sport during the long summer break in the US EnduroCross Championship. He has done well during the rally but failed to finish in in the second stage after a crash that aggravated an old shoulder injury and damaged tire apart, also did well to arrive back at the bivouac today. “I was happy with my riding today,” he said. “It was very fast and I had a good rhythm. It’s very different to Enduro riding but it was going well for me. Also there was not too much navigating to do today and in this respect I still have a lot to learn. But when I saw Cyril had trouble with his tire, it was natural that I should give him my wheel as he had a good chance to have the chance to take the win. After all, that’s what teammates are for."
Cyril Despres wraps up the win in the Desafio Litoral Rally Cyril Despres, KTM’s 4 x Dakar winner went out an did the business required on Saturday to take stage and overall victories on the final day of the new six-day Desafio Rally in Argentina, part of the Dakar Series. On a day that was a mere short dash of some 80 km compared to the other competition days, the French-born rider finished his week’s outing with a win in the final stage just short of a minute behind local rider Mario Gomez with KTM rider Jakub ‘Kuba’ Przgonski in third. That was enough to put Despres and Przgonski 1-2 on the overall podium Gomez picked up the minor podium place. Despres’ factory teammate, albeit from a different discipline, Taddy Blazusiak, KTM’s Extreme Enduro and EnduroCross specialist, finished a creditable ninth in the final stage. For the Polish rider it wasa heroic nineteenth overall in what could be described as a baptism of fire into the world of rally sport. Currently on a long break from the US EnduroCross competition, Taddy decided to ‘stay on two wheels’ and join his friend Cyril on this latest South American adventure. Completely new to the sport and the finesse of managing the navigation and the road book, Taddy went out and gave it a very good shot. His overall result also reflects the fact that he did not finish stage two after crashing and aggravating an old shoulder injury and on Stage Five he proved to be a very good teammate when he offered his wheel to Cyril after he had wrecked a tire, allowing the leader to keep going and secure the victory. Going into the final stage Cyril was quietly confident but underlined that ‘anything can happen’ in the last dash for the finish and while the final day was the shortest in terms of kilometers, it was by no means a pushover. The first part of the stage was fast track punctuated with tricky hairpin bends and others that were slow with very different radiuses. They wove their way through a complex maze of palm trees, estuaries and bridges over rivers that flow into the Paraná. To wrap up the day’s rider they tackled a section of loose surface very typical of the Litoral region. This Dakar series event was not only a good opportunity for Despres, Prozgonski and Blazusiak to keep in shape in the mid season, it was also an excellent opportunity for South American riders to measure themselves against several of the world’s best.
The Sardegna Rally Race is my favourite event of the year and the reason we have put together, for the second time, an amateur team of 6 riders. We have our old friend from Brazil, Dimas Mattos, two English guys, Steve Malone and Mike Jones, though apparently I should say Welsh for Mike and not English. Then we have two South Africans, Robert Streak who came with us two years ago, for 2012 joined by his friend Paul Theron. And last but not least we have a possible ‘first’ for a round of the World Rally Championship, an Indian team member, Suresh Janarthanan. Obviously it takes a lot of time and effort to put a team like this together and none of it would have been possible without the help and support of a number of my partners, including KTM, Kenny, Motorex, Sport Adventure and race organisers Bike Village, to all of whom I extend my heartfelt thanks. Unfortunately, for personal reasons, I have to stay with my family in Andorra and I am not able to come to start of the race myself, but I know that they will be well looked after by all the team staff and my faithful team mate Ruben Faria, who is currently second overall in the world championships. I wish them all the best of luck.
STAGE 1 – Mar del Plata > Santa Rosa de La Pampa – 820 km Victory on the first, short 60 kilometre stage went to the Chilean Chaleco Lopez 14 seconds ahead of Marc Coma, with the Argentinean Pizzolito third. Cyril Despres (KTM Red Bull) finished in 13th place, 1’48 behind the winner, with team mate Ruben Faria 8th at 1’18. Cyril Despres “Really nice to be back on the bike again – it is my favourite way to start the New Year! This morning was particularly nice, as for the first 25 kilometres or so the special ran along the seashore and there were many people out to cheer us on.
Then after the special we had a long liaison stage. The road was really
straight and there was a very strong headwind. Tomorrow morning we again have
a 400 kilometre liaison before a 295 kilometre special to San Rafael. The race
is finally underway!” PRE-START PODIUM IN MAR DEL PLATA
Very early tomorrow morning the lead bikes will leave the parc ferme at Mar del Plata to start the first stage of the 2012 Dakar. In total 742 bike, car and truck competitors will head out of the resort town, with the firm intention of reaching the capital of Peru 15 days and 8, 373 kilometres later. Cyril Despres "As always, after several days of packing, unpacking, testing and scrutineering, I am more than ready to start racing. Tomorrow we only have 56 kilometres of special, but a very long 820 kilometre stage to get to our first bivouac in Santa Rosa de la Pampa. I honestly don’t expect it will be the most challenging stage of the rally but the fact that, for the first time since 2007, the Dakar is itinerate, definitely adds to the anticipation. To go from the Atlantic Ocean, south to north, over a huge mountain range, to finish three countries later on the Pacific coast, gives a sense of scale to the vast distances we will cover. As always I will endeavour to keep you informed of my progress. A very Happy New Year to you all."
The first, long special of the 2012 Dakar went to Marc Coma, 1’18 ahead of Cyril Despres (KTM Red Bull) with Barreda third at 2’33. Overall Cyril moves up from 12th to third, 2’52 behind leader Coma, with Lopez second at 2.30. Cyril’s team mate, Ruben Faria, finished the special in 15th place and is this evening 13th overall. Cyril Despres “The first part of the special was very fast and starting 12th this morning I was a little concerned of getting stuck in everybody’s dust. As it turned out my ‘colleagues’ were all very considerate and let me through with virtually no hold up. Then I made a micro-error in the dried up bed part of the special and dropped the bike – fortunately without damage. The final part of the day was a short, 12 kilometres of so section, of dunes. By the time we got to them it was really hot, about 40 degrees, and the bike cut out a couple of times. Despite that I am pretty happy with how the day went. Apparently I still know how to turn the throttle in the right direction!" Stage 2 1 - COMA - 03:07:21 2 - DESPRES - 03:08:39 - variation 00:01:18 3 - BARREDA BORT - 03:09:54 - variation 00:02:33 4 - LOPEZ - 03:10:05 - variation 00:02:44 5 - PRZYGONSKI - 03:11:38 - variation 00:04:17 Overall 1 - COMA - 03:40:12 2 - LOPEZ - 03:42:42 - variation 00:02:30 3 - DESPRES - 03:43:04 - variation 00:02:52 4 - PRZYGONSKI - 03:45:04 - variation 00:04:52 5 - BARREDA BORT - 03:48:28 - variation 00:08:16 STAGE 3 – San Rafael > San Juan – 561 km Victory on the third special went to Cyril Despres (KTM Red Bull) ahead of Franz Verhoeven with Goncalves third. Overall Cyril moves up to first place 10’12 ahead of Marc Coma with David Casteu third at 17’16. Cyril’s team mate Ruben Faria finished 17th and is 15th overall at 34’50. Cyril Despres “The strange thing about rally-raid is that often you don’t know whether or not you are having a good day until it is over. Up to about 10 kilometres from the finish all I knew was that it was a very, very tough day. It started badly this morning when I tore a finger nail putting on my boots. Then at about kilometre 160 my compass stopped working. And finally, on the really technical last 70 kilometres, in the dried up river bed, I damaged my rear brake disc. They are all the sort of things that can cost you time, so I was surprised when, on a remade piste near the end, I couldn’t see any tracks ahead of me. Then I noticed that the TV helicopter was flying over me. But it was only when I actually arrived at the finish line was I certain that I had won the special. Obviously I am pleased with the result, but I have been doing this long enough to know that it is just another detail in the long route to Lima. Stage 3 1 - DESPRES - 03:48:38 2 - VERHOEVEN - 03:57:15 - variation 00:08:37 3 - GONCALVES - 03:57:17 - variation 00:08:39 4 - RODRIGUES - 03:58:41 - variation 00:10:03 5 - CASTEU - 04:00:20 - variation 00:11:42 Overall 1 - DESPRES - 07:31:42 2 - COMA - 07:41:54 - variation 00:10:12 3 - CASTEU - 07:48:58 - variation 00:17:16 4 - LOPEZ - 07:49:19 - variation 00:17:37 5 - RODRIGUES - 07:51:31 - variation 00:19:49
Starting from behind this morning Marc Coma attacked hard to win the 4th stage 2’02 ahead of Cyril Despres (KTM Red Bull) with Verhoeven third at 8’26. Overall Cyril maintains his lead and is now 8’10 ahead of Coma with Lopez third at 26’48. Cyril Despres "I have never ridden 122 kilometres down a riverbed before – that was a very hard – the concentration demanded by the navigation was almost as exhausting as the riding! Opening the piste this morning the plan was to take it easy and above all not to make any big mistakes. When you employ that tactic you accept to lose a little bit of time, so I can’t tell you how pleased I am to lose just 2 minutes! It could have been so much more. I made a small error with the road book right at the beginning, but instead of getting worked up, I stuck to my plan and minimised the damage. Then towards the end I was feeling good, and the bike was working well, so I decided to attack a little and got some of the time back I lost this morning back. A great day of rally-raid. Tomorrow we have another tough day to Fiambala and I will again need to stay very focused." Stage 4 1 - COMA - 04:16:43 2 - DESPRES - 04:18:45 - variation 00:02:02 3 - VERHOEVEN - 04:25:09 - variation 00:08:26 4 - RODRIGUES - 04:25:44 - variation 00:09:01 5 - GONCALVES - 04:28:01 - variation 00:11:18 Overall 1 - DESPRES - 11:50:27 2 - COMA - 11:58:37 - variation 00:08:10 3 - RODRIGUES - 12:17:15 - variation 00:26:48 4 - LOPEZ - 12:20:17 - variation 00:29:50 5 - CASTEU - 12:21:04 - variation 00:30:37 STAGE 5 – Chilecito > Fiambala – 416 km Starting second this morning, Cyril Despres (KTM Red Bull) eventually caught the man opening the piste, Marc Coma and in so doing won the day’s stage. Overall Cyril increases his lead to 9’51 over Marc with Helder Rodrigues third at 47’56. Cyril Despres “There was a good chance that I would catch Marc in the dunes, as the
first bike leaves a track that is easy to follow. Given that, I thought he
might not ride too fast and maybe try some tactical riding, like slowing the
pace down. But when I finally caught up with him, and we started to ride
together, there wasn’t much in the way of tactics, we just rode flat out all
the way to the end!” STAGE 7 – Copiapo > Copiapo – 573 km The last stage before the rest day, the now famous Copiapo – Copiapo loop, was won by Marc Coma ahead of Cyril Despres (KTM Red Bull) with Goncalves third. Overall however, Cyril preserves his lead over Marc by 7’48 with the third placed man, Helder Rodrigues already a significant 49’39 behind the leader. Cyril Despres “This morning it was fast, I wasn’t really in attack mode and, as I expected, Marc caught me up. Then, over the last 120 kilometres in the dunes above Copiapo we attacked really hard and I have to say it was a lot of fun. It wasn’t as if we were on holiday exactly but it was a good reminder of how much fun you can have riding a motorcycle! Now we are at the bivouac where we will stay for tomorrow’s rest day. The idea is to take it easy and recharge your batteries ready for the second week of racing. It will also be a chance for me to go through my bags, sort out my stuff, talk to my team… If everything goes according to plan I might even squeeze in a siesta." STAGE 8 – Copiapo > Antofagasta High drama at the start of 8th stage, when a mud hole threatened to block the whole rally. Second man through, Cyril Despres (KTM Red Bull) got stuck for 8 minutes and after the seventh bike organisers ASO were obliged to modify the route. As a result the federation gave the first seven riders back any time they lost in the bog. Marc Coma won the special and in the process takes the overall lead 1’26 ahead of Cyril with Rodrigues third at 49’01. Cyril Despres “I was on the rally route when I hit the mud hole and decelerated so hard I went straight over the handlebars! Then Paulo Goncalves got stuck and helped pull me out. I can’t thank him enough – he was a real gentleman. After that I managed to keep my head, clean the mud out of the radiator and then rode as steadily as possible to the finish. Obviously I am relieved that the federation reacted quickly and that I recovered the time I was actually immobile. On the other hand the whole incident cost me a lot more time than that and the overall lead into the bargain. The important thing is that I am not hurt and I can start tomorrow under good conditions." STAGE 9 – Antofagasta > Iquique – 665 km Starting 7th this morning, after getting stuck in a mud hole yesterday, Cyril Despres (KTM Red Bull) attacked hard over the day’s two specials to win the day 3’54 ahead of Marc Coma with Barreda third at 8’28. Overall Cyril regains the lead 2’28 ahead of Marc Coma with Helder Rodrigues very nearly an hour behind in third. Cyril Despres "Obviously I started this morning with the firm intention of pulling back some lost time. Unfortunately things didn’t go quite according to plan as I got stuck behind another rider for over 100 kilometres! Still I finished the first special about three and a half minutes up. Then on the second special both Marc and I attacked very hard. So hard in fact that we took about seven minutes off third placed man Barreda in 90 kilometres - and he’s a quick moto-x rider! Physically I didn’t feel too bad on the bike, after yesterday’s excursions in the mud, but now, having arrived at the bivouac I’m feeling pretty stiff all over." STAGE 10 – Iquique > Arica – 694 km Spaniard Joan Barreda won his first ever Dakar special today ahead of Marc Coma with Cyril Despres (KTM Red Bull) third. Overall Cyril hangs on to his lead by just 21 seconds. Cyril Despres “Another hard day and another tough battle with Marc. Starting first this
morning I managed to stay out in front until around kilometre 230. Then Marc
and I took it in turns to open the piste until the dash for the line where I
finished in his dust. Congratulation to Barreda for his maiden victory.
Apparently he hurt his foot quite badly in the special but still managed to
take the win. A fine performance. STAGE 11 – Arica > Arequipa – 705 km Starting second this morning, Cyril Despres (KTM Red Bull) caught and overtook piste opener Marc Coma to win the stage and increase his overall lead from 21 seconds to 2’22. Cyril Despres “Another hard day today, but apart from a small, low speed crash I’m pleased with how the stage went. Once again Marc and I had a real tough battle, swapping the lead several times before I finally got in front at the finish of the second special. If it carries on like this, with the two of us taking back two minutes from each other alternate days, it is going to be a very exciting end of rally for the spectators and a very nerve racking one for us!” STAGE 12 – Arequipa > Nasca – 504 km Opening the piste today, on sandy ground, Cyril Despres (KTM Red Bull) was eventually caught by Marc Coma who wins the stage and in the process takes the lead from Cyril by 1’35. Cyril Despres “I managed to stay out front on my own until nearly the end of the
special, but the last dune section allowed Marc to catch me and we then had
another rush to the line, which I got to just before him. Although I lose the
overall lead I had a really great day on the bike. It is to ride specials like
this that I train hard all year and why I love to ride motorcycles in the
desert. Absolutely magical! STAGE 13 – Nasca > Pisco – 375 km Starting 4th this morning and 1’35 overall behind Marc Coma, Cyril Despres (KTM Red Bull) chased hard to regain the lead. At the end of a stage rich in drama the Frenchman eventually finished 11’03 ahead of his rival with just a short 29 kms special tomorrow. Cyril Despres “Obviously when you start the last real special one and a half minutes
down, but with the possibility to pull back just enough time to win, there is
a lot of pressure. That pressure is the first thing you have to manage. Then
you actually have to ride the bike fast enough to regain those precious
seconds. Up until CP1 everything was more or less under control. Every corner
I cut was a little time gained – and I was cutting lots of corners! Then at
the refuelling I didn’t know what to think. Did Marc have a problem or was
there some tactic I hadn’t thought of? With that playing on my mind I made a
few mistakes and lost a little time. Fortunately I managed to pull myself
together and then at the finish line I realised he had a mechanical problem.
Now it is looking good for tomorrow. I am not superstitious, but until I have
crossed that final finish line I am not declaring myself the winner.” STAGE 14 – Pisco > Lima – 283 km No last minutes surprises on the 2012 Dakar, with the final victory going to Cyril Despres ahead of Marc Coma. The Portugese rider Helder Rodrigues was third. Cyril Despres “Without doubt this fourth Dakar victory was the hardest – both physically and psychologically. From the very first stage, all the way to the end of the last real stage, Marc (Coma) and I battled it out and mentally that made it particularly exhausting. We are so close in terms of outright speed and navigational ability that the slightest error can allow the other to pull out a decisive lead – there is never a moment to relax. To have such a rivalry doesn’t make either of our lives easy, but it does add to our sport’s excitement and gives our victories greater merit. Once again we were both blessed with excellent machinery and a fantastic road book with which to fight our battle, so a very sincere ‘thank you’ to KTM for producing such a great bike and ASO for organising such an excellent event. The last part of the rally in Peru provided some of the best terrain I have ever raced over, the 12th stage in particular left a lasting souvenir. Finally, a big thank you to my team and my sponsors for making this fourth victory possible.”
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Taddy
too was satisfied with his first ever stage. “I took it a little bit easy
because I have to get used to navigating with the road book and I didn’t
want to get into any difficulties on my first day. There was a lot of Enduro
style riding in the first test so that suited me but the second test was very
slippery and fast so I decided to take it easy and not get into any
difficulties. It was fun for me but it is very different,” he said from the
bivouac.
Cyril Despres takes the lead in the Desafio Litoral
Despres
wins Stage Four and improves overall lead in Desafio Litoral
It
was also a good day for Taddy, especially as when he crashed out on Tuesday he
had somewhat aggravated an old shoulder injury. “When I first started riding
this morning I was in quite a lot of pain, but it got better as the day went
on,” he said. “Today was a good day and for sure the riding is getting
better. I still have a lot to learn with the road book and navigation, which
is not easy at such high speeds but now it’s becoming more automatic and I
am having fun.” Taddy is riding a KTM 450 series model rally bike similar to
the one used by KTM Enduro Factory Rider Johnny Aubert in the 2012 Dakar
Rally, also his first venture away from the rigors of Enduro racing.
“Team
KTM / Cyril Despres” in Sardegna Rally Race, but without Cyril...
Despite
the excitement of starting another Dakar I decided to take it easy and set a
gentle pace. The track was a little tricky in places and a couple of minutes
here or there at this stage in the race aren’t going to make much
difference.
STAGE 2 – Santa Rosa de La Pampa > San Rafael –
693 km
STAGE
4 – San Juan > Chilecito – 750 km