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General Moto | Off-Topic Posts
Dakar has started...Yam 450 2 wheel in first!!
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[QUOTE="Tony Eeds, post: 711186, member: 32023"] [b][i]For those without cable (or even TV in my case) I will post the daily info from the Yahoo KTM site that Tom writes up.[/i][/b] Stage 1: REGION D'AUVERGNE > NARBONNE Special 1 km Liaison 395 km Total 396 km Four hundred competing vehicles including 195 bikes, 142 cars, 63 trucks were on the start line of the 2004 Telefonica Dakar rally. Add 195 assistance vehicles, close to 600 vehicles took off from the Auvergne area to head to Narbonne. Add to that a total of 1800 people following the event in the early stages. The Dakar Rally is popular; somewhere between 5000 (according to web news sources) and 35 000 spectators (according to the police) braved the extremely snowy conditions to watch. PG Lundmark*: "The prologue was wet, to say the least. We ran in reversed order so I started sixth from last. Lukas was still pulling dust but when 25 bikes remained there was sleet. And slippery, like the chalk dirt at the Gotland Grand National. I rode like a chicken." PG is riding a 660 Rally, not the 950 that I erroneously suggested yesterday. Cyril Despres: "This snow was great. I don't know how many snowmen were in the crowd, but with the number of fans I really felt like a rock star. . . It really is strange to see all this snow and all these people, whereas in a week or two, we'll be really hot alone in the desert." These early European stages give lesser known riders a chance for glory: take a smaller bike and ride aggressively, finish in the top three, and get interviewed on international sports news. This 1.5 km was won by Matteo Graziani of Italy on a KTM 450 EXC. However, standings at this point mean little, and the goal is to avoid crashing, and show off the bike and all its sponsor stickers to the crowds and news media cameras. Nani Roma: "It was absolute fun today. It was like a show-off for the audience. But I didn't risk to much. The race is only starting." Jordi Arcarons: "The prologue was surely a spectacle for the visitors. But for us it was more important not to take any risks. We can live with the results which make up tomorrows starting order." The usual suspects accounted for the top positions Despres, Sainct, and Pujol in 2, 3, and 4. David Fretigne on the two wheeled drive Yamaha finished 5th. I'm excited to see how that new technology fairs this year. Fabrizio Meoni: "This year the race is tougher on me than before. I've got a daughter waiting at home. She is only 10 months old. Oh well, I don't have any illusions. I get older and there are many top riders here this year which are able to decide the race for themselves." Alfie Cox: "It gets harder and harder in the motorcycle category. It's not just the close competition between our team riders. There is also competition between the private drivers and the team drivers. Each were equipped by KTM with the same material. I hope, that I can keep up with the best for the whole race. . . When I left home (in South Africa) it was 35C°, so it was tough for me. This weather is not for me, I'm a man for the sun. " In the cars, Kenjiro Shinozuka set the fastest time in his Nissan. Shinozuka suffered terrible head injuries last year when he misjudged a dune, taking it at high speed and smashing his head on the steering wheel. Saw that on SpeedTV - it was gruesome. His life was in danger but the 55-year old pulled through and was back to his brilliant best on today. Lundmark*: The VW team has two racing Touareg where I hope that my personal favorite Jutta Kleinschmidt will win. They can't complain of lack of service, the German organization is faultless with a staff of 53 people. Apparently some anti-global activists have barricaded the planned transport stage so there was a detour of some 100 km, to Narbonne for tomorrow's stage. *I have another, new source of information about this year's Rally. PG Lundmark is posting a daily diary, and Mikael Laine of the paris-dakar list is translating it to english. Those who want to read it can certainly log onto that list: [url]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Paris-Dakar/[/url] Tom Warr [email]drthomaswarr@bresnan.net[/email] [/QUOTE]
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MX, SX & Off-Road Discussions
General Moto | Off-Topic Posts
Dakar has started...Yam 450 2 wheel in first!!
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