Home
Basic Dirt Bike How-To's - Video
Dirt Bike How-To's - Video
Living The Moto Life - Video
Bike Tests | Shoot-Outs - Video
Forums
What's new
Latest activity
Log-In
Join
What's new
Menu
Log-In
Join
Navigation
Install the app
Install
More options
Close Menu
Forums
MX, SX & Off-Road Discussions
General Moto | Off-Topic Posts
Dakar has started...Yam 450 2 wheel in first!!
Reply to thread
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Message
[QUOTE="Tony Eeds, post: 714525, member: 32023"] [b]Stage Seven[/b] Stage 7 - 7 January 2004 - TAN-TAN > ATAR Liaison 345 km Special 701 km Liaison 9 km Total 1055 km Imagine: after a rough day racing yesterday, there must have been some bike maintenance. Do it, then leave at 1 am, ride 5 hours through the cold, grab a quick breakfast, then set off over 500 miles of very rough desert, and hope you finish while it's still light. Well, that was stage 7 of the Dakar. >From the KTM web page: We want to offer our respect for anyone who has reached the finish at Atar or is still to reach it throughout the night. On a day like this everyone is a hero. The stage was extremely tough on the riders and tortured them beyond thought. If the schedule wasn't bad enough, Erg Oumaghawaba was placed at the end of it all. The rim of the dunes are not really all that large, only about 10 to 30 meters, but they are facing in a direction that hides whatever looms behind them to the riders. 150 km of these dunes. Probably impossible to cross at night, too. Alfie Cox: "I suspect that half of the drivers will drop out today. This stage was extremely tough." Fabrizio Meoni probably lost his chances for the title after a flat tire cost him 2 hours. Isidre Esteve severely damaged his bike after a crash. Richard Sainct finished the stage with some painful backache. Jean Brucy also crashed. Richard Sainct won the special. Second was Jean Brucy, third was Despres, then Cox, Roma, Lundmark, Ullevalseter, and Australian privateer Caldecott in 8th. In the new overall, Despres takes the lead ahead of Roma by 3min03 and Sainct by 3min21. Richard Sainct (FRA - KTM, 1st) - 001 "I didn't expect it to go that well today. But in the sand, my arm is less painful than on rocky paths. I was already tired this morning at the start. Now I'm exhausted. My back is aching. I don't expect to see a lot of competitors at the finish of the stage. Especially the privateers! I had problems and I have quite some experience, those who don't have experience will be in trouble." Cyril Despres (FRA - KTM, 3rd) - 002 "We started in first positions. It was very difficult, very physical. From the start, I was lost on a wrong track but I didn't panic. We managed to get back on track but lost some energy. It was tough for us and we have good bikes, know how to ride them well, had sufficient rest and have good assistance whereas the privateers . . . This special will remain in the history books. I can't remember riding such a tough one. . . Now, I'm just glad to be here at the bivouac. To get some rest is the only thing important today." At around km 580 Fabrizio Meoni (KTM 950, n°3) has suffered serious rear tyre problems. He was given a spare tyre tube by David Casteu (Cagiva n°41). He lost 2 hours on the leaders, and probably any chance of winning this year's Rally. Meoni: "I had a bib mousse problem and once again I won't achieve a good result this year. I was really motivated. Once again, it's a mechanical problem, like last year. I don't have long before the end of my career and it could be a sign saying "stop" ! After last year's Dakar, I found it hard to have the will to start again. I told myself that if I won this year, I would quit. If I didn't I would carry on for another year. Now I don't know. I won't take a decision now. Tomorrow, I'll be back on my bike to try and have fun, go at a good rhythm and especially finish in Dakar." After leading the rally, Isidre Esteve Pujol (KTM n°19) had his bike quit at km 650 with mechanical problems. The Spaniard had crashed earlier in the day, and lost his navigation system. Apparently however, his Rally 660 had suffered worse damage then it was assumed at first. The mechanics are working feverishly to get the bike working again, though, like Meoni, his chances for winning this year's rally have vanished. Nani Roma had unique, Dakar-style adventures: " . . . the police stopped me. They wanted my passport and 50 Euros. I started getting angry and took off. They didn't catch me but I was rather worried because they had guns." Alfie Cox (RSA - KTM, 4th) - 010 "Half of the field will never make it today ! It's impossible. Those who will finish late won't see anything in the dark. This is the kind of day that shows how hard the Dakar is." >From KTM web page: Ralf Pariasek, physiotherapist, faces a lot of work. Every one of the riders turned to him looking for help after reaching the bivouac. Well, poor them. Imagine being a privateer and not having a "physiotherapist" to massage your aching muscles. This, and the horde of professional mechanics and spare parts ensures the KTM factory riders will win the rally each year. Team Red Bull KTM USA: Scott Harden finished 18th, Larry Roeseler 19th, and Paul Krause, on the other KTM 950 finished 26th, ahead of Meoni who was in 34th after his tire woes. Yamaha Motor France's David Frétigné and his two-wheel-drive Yamaha WR450F 2-Trac, who stayed out of serious trouble to finish the stage in 16th place, still the leading non-KTM in the race, 14th overall. Frétigné: "Finally I've arrived! Today's special was really hard work. I 'managed' the kilometres and my motorcycle with great care - without worrying about my results - and never went above 120 kph on the straights. . . The soft dunes were pretty easy with the two-wheel drive system but I nevertheless managed to get stuck once. When I did I simply got off the bike, leant it over slightly, accelerated a little and out she came, with absolutely no effort made on my part. It is clear that on this type of special the 2-trac is a real bonus!" Other privateer results: Australian Andy Caldecott (KTM n°72) crossed the finish line in 9th - with a broken ankle, according to some web sites. If true, he will have to withdraw, which is way too bad, considering how well he has been doing, currently 7th overall. Charlie Raseau, privateer from San Francisco lost a few places after today's stage, finishing 86th place overall. It took him 12 hours to finish the stage, about 4 hours longer than the front runners. No masseauses waiting for him at the bivouac. He's now 131st overall. Bertil Marcusson, who rode his XR650 from Sweden to the starting line in France, is still upright, listed as 89th in the overall standings. No sign of Patsy Quick in the standings, nor of British team riders, Simon Pavey and Nick Plumb on the BMW F650 GS Dakar motorcycles, as of this writing. The two Canadian women, Maryline Lambelin and Marie-Christine Paré, competing on Bombardier Quads are listed as withdrawn after stages 6 and 5, respectively. No other info, but Raymond Loizeaux of France is riding a BMW R100 GS, currently in 92nd overall. Current overall standings: 1 002 DESPRES KTM 00' 00" 2 004 ROMA KTM 03' 03" 3 001 SAINCT KTM 03' 21" 4 010 COX KTM 1 " 05' 01" 5 009 BRUCY KTM 11' 26" 6 015 ULLEVALSETER KTM " 20' 14" 7 072 CALDECOTT KTM 1 " 23' 22" 8 008 DE GAVARDO KTM " 24' 47" 9 006 LUNDMARK KTM 29' 56" 10 045 GRAZIANI KTM 1h 06' 58" 11 023 CZACHOR KTM 1h 10' 35" 12 005 DE AZEVEDO KTM 1h 13' 21" 13 022 FLICK KTM 1h 15' 05" 14 025 HARDEN KTM 1h 22' 58" 15 012 FRETIGNE YAMAHA 1h 24' 54" 16 011 COMA KTM 1h 38' 46" 17 171 COAKER KTM 1h 40' 13" 18 003 MEONI KTM 1 1h 46' 18" 19 183 VINTERS KTM 1h 50' 43" 20 030 STANOVNIK KTM 2h 05' 59" 21 027 ALGAY KTM 2h 10' 04" 22 016 ROESELER KTM 2h 14' 38" 23 020 MARCHINI KTM 2h 18' 08" 24 017 KRAUSE KTM 2h 24' 51" 25 029 VERHOEF KTM " 2h 34' 57" 05' 00" 26 049 CHEVALLIER KTM 2h 37' 33" 27 031 RAYNAL KTM 2h 37' 39" 28 032 PEREZ KTM 2h 56' 50" 29 024 CHARBONNEL KTM " 2h 57' 29" 30 179 BORSI KTM 2h 58' 58" 31 021 PELLICER ALFER 3h 05' 10" 32 155 VERCOELEN KTM 3h 06' 13" 33 041 CASTEU CAGIVA 3h 06' 38" Note the last rider, David Casteu, french, riding a Cagiva Elefant. Big bike. He is the one that loaned Meoni a new rear inner tube. In the cars, the Mitsubishi's of Masuoka and Peterhansel dueled with each other, but were otherwise not challenged in today's stage. The Frenchman eventually went on a wrong track while the Japanese flew to success. Peterhansel: "We were focused and got lost. It's a pity. We had a good start but a bad finish". Third place of the special went to Jean-Louis Schlesser (Schlesser Ford n°200) on his two wheel drive buggy: "We managed to climb up the standings but the two Mitsubishi cars are untouchable. It'll depend on their mistakes". De Mevius in the BMW was 4th, and Nissan newcomer Colin McRae was 5th. Colin McRae (UK * Nissan, 5th) - 202 "Everything was going well at the beginning. We were in a group of four cars : with Masuoka, Peterhansel and Schlesser, close to each other in the dunes. Unfortunately in the last dune, we got stuck and lost around 20 minutes. The speed of Peter in the dunes is unbelievable. I was surprised. For the moment everything is possible. I'm still learning." Gregoire De Mevius (FRA - BMW, 4th) - 212 "The Mitsubishi cars are just too fast. It isn't over for us but with the experience that the two leading drivers have and the gap hey managed, we'll have to wait for a big problem on their behalf. It's like last year. We thought we could compete with them but we were naïve." American, Mark Miller is in 31st overall, after finishing 51st on stage 7. He is driving the Chevy ProTruck that has won the Baja 500 several times. The fun continues tomorrow: The stage from Atar towards Tidjikja leads the rally crews through sections where they have never been before. Competitors familiar with navigating will have it easier to find the hidden passes and favorable entrances into the field of dunes. The 8th special is 355 km long. Tidjikja was founded in the XVIIth century by the Idoualis, that came from the Ardrar. They made the city an important cross-road for trading and a religious settlement. Today the town is divided in two on each side of the Tidjikja oued. Tom Warr [/QUOTE]
Verification
Which ocean is California closest to?
Post reply
Forums
MX, SX & Off-Road Discussions
General Moto | Off-Topic Posts
Dakar has started...Yam 450 2 wheel in first!!
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
Accept
Learn more…
Top
Bottom