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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: 711729, member: 32023"] [b][i]Here is Stage Four[/i][/b] :cool: [i]I want to go!![/i] Stage 4 - 4 January 2004 - TANGER > ER RACHIDIA Liaison 233 km Special 75 km Liaison 444 km Total 752 km Africa at last. Today's stage was relatively short, but interesting, and beautiful. Across the Atlas mountains, the route included some snow and beautiful green forests. The road rutted, with plenty of mud and a few deep, up to the tank water crossings. Apparently, there was about 5 miles of pavement (!),k allowing the 950 KTM of Meioni to go 125 mph, about 20 mph faster than the 660cc KTM singles of everyone else. Maybe that's why Meioni won, today. Bigger is better. Riding a heavier, though more powerful, bi-cylinder KTM 950cc, Meoni had dropped almost three minutes in the sinuous European stages. But once out in the open desert, the twice Dakar winner was today simply unbeatable. The fast, flowing tracks proved ideal for his big KTM and he crossed the line 43 seconds quicker than South African Alfie Cox. Meanwhile, Richard Sainct crashed: "6 km after the start I crashed to the ground on the slippy surface. It was my mistake. I underestimated the composition of the ground. . . I still don't understand how it happened. I was riding at 100km/h on a flat road. I'm OK (stitches on the arm) but I broke the clutch handle. That's why I took it easily after that". Sainct came in 29th and was about 7 minutes behind the leader. The exhaust and the side covers were especially damaged on his KTM 660 Rally. Furthermore, his number 1 sticker was scratched, hopefully only on the outside. Jean Brucy also crashed shortly after the start. "I rode right behind Fabrizio and wanted to stay close to him. I thought I could fly across three successive little peaks all at once. I did not make it." The first doctor's diagnosis states that Jean Brucy might have bruised his hip. He was subscribed some pain relievers. Frenchman David Fretigne got lost on his 2WD Yamaha, and finished in 39th position, almost ten minutes down on Meoni. Fretigne is now 23rd overall. Britain's Patsy Quick safely negotiated today's first real test, bringing her KTM 660 home in 155th position, 26min 59sec down on stage winner Meoni. As a result, Patsy now finds herself 148th overall 38min, 45sec adrift of Esteve Pujol. Thiery Hupin, supposedly first on a motorcycle only two weeks ago, still has the rubber side down, and is in 191st. Fabrizio Meoni was first on the day, now 2nd overall: "My goal wasn't to win. It's important to win specials in the other half of the rally, not now. The course was strange, the first half was very difficult because of mud. The other half was technical on sand." Alfie Cox finished 2nd: "The special was great. The wet sand, mud and forest reminded me of the one from 1992.The worse part was the two long liaison sections (233 and 444 km). Just a joke. The riding started today. the holiday's are over !" Esteve Pujol was 3rd on the stage, leads overall: "It's the first time in seven Dakar rallies that I lead the overall. I had already won specials but this is even better. I can't quite believe it yet. It's a good feeling because I really prepared a lot this year, and only for the Dakar. It was a fast special but also very technical and that's better for me. That's probably why I'm first overall. I hope I'll do as well inn navigation stages because for the moment it isn't that important to lead." Team Red Bull KTM USA for the stage: 10th Larry Roeseler (Team Red Bull KTM USA) + 2´35 15th Scott Harden (Team Red Bull KTM USA) + 2´53 22nd Paul Krause (Team Red Bull KTM USA) + 4´49 and overall, down in the standings, but trailing by only minutes: 11. ROESELER USA KTM Rally 660 03' 54" - 21. HARDEN USA KTM Rally 660 06' 15" - 29. KRAUSE USA KTM Rally 950 09' 05" - Team Farmerlips Ullevalseter is 10th and PG Lundmark is 15th. Lundmark: "I started this morning by going flat out, but after two hours I rode through the woods and thought about the trees having the right dimensions for cutting. That got me mad, because if you have time to see that, you're slow. Sure enough, a bit later Meoni caught up with me and I waved my arm to let him pass. Then I threw away my tourist visa and dusted off my racing licence. Riding behind Meoni and see him handle his KTM twin is something else. I wish I had had a camera on my helmet. He rides brutally, decisive and very powerful, the only way to ride these twins. The film would have been the perfecto introduction on how to slide. After 20kms Brucy caught up and placed himself between us. I was flat out, working my racing licence, until Brucy crashed rather badly. I slowed down to see how he was but, miraculously, he didn't seem hurt. He was probably doing around 90-100kph at the time, but got up immediately and started tearing at his demolished roadbook. I decided not to stop, but was cured from continuing at max, at least for today. My top speed for the day was 186kph, downhill, sun in my back and a vanishing Meoni in front helping me." In the cars, 4-time Dakar winner Ari Vatanen will celebrate tonight after securing his 50th career stage win after clocking the fastest time on Sunday's 75km test between Tanger and Er Rachidia: "Stats are not the most important thing in life. But I have the ambition of going up to 100. Seriously, it was very fast and we had to take advantage of that. I won't attack every day but tomorrow after 5kms I might change my mind." The Dakar legend, winner in 1987, '89, '90 and '91, Vatanen beat Stephane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi) by ten seconds, with Miki Biasion was third. Britain's Colin McRae enjoyed is first true experience of the desert with the fourth best time, just 41 seconds down on Vatanen, rising him to sixth overall on his Dakar debut. Peterhansel's steady start in previous stages now gives him the overall lead, 1min 07secs ahead of team-mate Biasion, and 1min 28sec ahead of BMW's Gregoire De Mevius. Vatanen is fourth (+1.28), defending champion Hiroshi Masuoka is 5th (+1.37) and World Rally champ McRae 6th (+1.51). Stephane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi): "I was surprised by the course. I was expecting a technical special but it was very fast despite going through forests. It was impossible to make big gaps. We'll have to wait for longer stages. By then, the gaps will be counted in minutes. We've been very consistent from the start which explains our position in the overall. For the moment we're not asking the car too much, we're still checking things. Tomorrow, serious stuff is starting with the dangers of African stages. We'll have a better idea of the gaps. We now know that it's going to be very difficult because all the teams are very close to each other." There are some great human interest stories on the Dakar web page, under Dakar Magazine, including one about 9 business executives who decide to race Dakar as a team. Interesting what the Dakar will bring out in people. [url]http://www.dakar.com/2004/us/index.html[/url] PG's final comments: My experience tells me that 33 percent of all riders will give up for lack of stamina or crashes, 33 will have technical problems and 33 will reach the finish. But in the beginning everybody says they will ride till they're there, which is what it says on the swinging arm of my bike. Lac Rosé is, to a Dakar rider, as full of myth and legend as the Holy Grail where the Ten Commandments were kept. [url]http://www.pgdakar.com/race/2004_dakar/en/dagar/dag_4_en.html[/url] Tomorrow morning the riders leave the bivouac on the plateau at the edge of the Wadi Ziz, then south from Er Rachidia to Ouarzazate. The day will get underway with a 56km liaison before the start of the substantial 337km stage. After all that fun, a 182km liaison will take them to Ouarzazate. The route has many quick turns and it leads at times across sandy at other times across rock invested ground. Finally it reaches the Erg Chebbib that is difficult to cross. This year, a new A.S.O. regulation: the top three drivers can choose their starting place the next day, rather than first place starts first the next day. The idea behind the change is to introduce more excitement: Who is best at navigating? Who likes to have his track set, catch up, and pass rather late? Who likes to ride in the tailgate of a competitor to keep his lead? Not everyone agrees to this regulation: The KTM team-riders agreed to not to follow the regulation at all. Hans Trunkenpolz, technical manager at KTM: "We have got many extremely great riders in our teams and don't think it is fair that the ones in 4th and 5th place cannot choose their starting position and in the end even have to set the track for the others." The team managers had the riders decide if they wanted to follow the regulation or not - in secret. Fabrizio Meoni: "We all agreed that we did not want to go according to this regulation. We, the team-riders, will start in the same order that we have reached the finish line." If you ask me, they should follow the rules, and not team orders or schemes. Tom Warr [/QUOTE]
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General Moto | Off-Topic Posts
Dakar has started...Yam 450 2 wheel in first!!
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