BikerzBay.com Dakar 2009: American Jonah Street shines in Stage 5 on KTM, Dakar 2009 - Scrutineering & Team Presentation, Motorcycle competitors race away as Dakar Rally leaves Buenos Aires, Interview with Red Bull KTM rider Cyril Despres , Commanding lead for Coma on Stage of Dakar

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Dakar 2009

Dakar 2009 - Viladoms wins Stage 10

Wednesday, 14 January 2009 07:02 Motorcycle Racing

Spanish rider Jordi Viladoms, on a KTM, won the motorbike section of the 10th stage of the Dakar Rally.

Spanish rider Jordi Viladoms, on a KTM, won the motorbike section of the 10th stage of the Dakar Rally.

Viladoms finished 1min 06sec ahead of Franco-Malian rider Alain Duclos (KTM) and 8:29 ahead of Portuguese biker Helder Rodriguez, also on a KTM.

Viladoms' compatriot Marc Coma retained the overall lead and increased his lead over second placed rider David Fretigne of France despite finishing 12min 17sec behind the stage winner.

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DAKAR 2009 Stage 11 cancelled

Wednesday, 14 January 2009 06:50 Motorcycle Racing

As the weather forcast for tomorrow announces heavy fog on the whole route of stage 11 and as the timing of the stage cannot be altered due to the crossing of the Andes and the crossing of the border between Chile and Argentina, the organizers of the Dakar have decided to cancel the portion of stage 11 between Copiapo and Fiambala that should have been against the clock. The participants will be getting to the Fiambala bivouac in liaison.

Guerrero's life in danger

Wednesday, 14 January 2009 06:42 Motorcycle Racing

Spanish rider Cristobal Guerrero was in a coma on Tuesday after a heavy fall in the 10th stage of the Dakar Rally, organisers said, and a scan showed that his life was at risk.

Guerrero, riding a KTM, fell at around the 160km of the 430km stage and was taken to Copiapo hospital where he underwent a scan. The scan, according to doctors at the hospital, did not give cause for optimism for the 48-year-old father of two, who was in 76th place overall on his first Dakar.

"After undergoing scans doctors assessed his condition to be critical," read a statement from the race organisers.

According to Ana Quiroga, head of the regional health service in Atacama, where the accident took place, he is suffering from a brain oedema and that the next 24 hours would 'be decisive'.

"The most critical time when one has a brain oedema are the first few hours," she said. "That is why the next 24 hours are crucial in terms of how his condition evolves. First of all we must stabilise him. He is in a coma and has lost a lot of blood through his ears."

Guerrero is the third serious accident of this year's race, following the death from natural causes of 49-year-old French motorcyclist Pascal Terry and two British competitors who were placed in an artificial coma last week.

Coma still the front runner in Dakar 2009 after Stage Nine

Tuesday, 13 January 2009 09:16 Motorcycle Racing

Written by KTM Press Release

KTM factory rider Marc Coma continued his quest to be the first winner in the first Dakar Rally to be held in South America consolidating his overall lead in the standings after Stage Nine.

Tricky navigation today allowed those starting further down the field to catch the front runners – a situation that bought some relatively unknown names into the top 10. It was KTM rider Frans Verhoeven who won the stage after starting at 33rd ahead of David Frétigné (at 3’09) with local hero Francisco (Chaleco) Lopez third (at 3’40). Coma (Repsol KTM) came home in fourth place trailing the leader by just 4’59 and factory teammate Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) was fifth (at 6’03). KTM factory riders, Alain Duclos (Kaestle KTM) was tenth (at 17’18) while Jordi Viladoms was behind him at eleventh (at 18’14).

While stage winners come and go the overall leader board remains remarkably static with Marc Coma managing his lead in imperial style. There was virtually no change in the order after the dunes of Copiapo this evening, with Frétigné second (at 1h04’38) and Despres third (at 1h34’38).

Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) 4th (at 4’59) and 1st overall
Today was a typical day of rally-raid, the sort you might find in Africa, in fact it reminded me a lot of certain types of terrain in Morocco. Early on we came quite close to the sea and there were tracks everywhere – and it wasn’t easy to find the right one! Me, Chalico (Lopez) and Cyril (Despres) rode much of the day together, occasionally joined by Frétigné. Overall I’d say it was a hard stage, made harder by tricky navigation. The good news is that my rear mousse performed perfectly.

Dakar 2009: Another Win For Despres In Stage 8

Monday, 12 January 2009 08:57 Motorcycle Racing

KTM factory riders Marc Coma (Spain) and Cyril Despres (France) continued on Sunday to show why they are the world best rally riders with Despres winning Stage Eight of the Dakar 2009 in front of Coma who continues to retain a commanding lead.

In fighting form after the rest day, the stage victory went to Despres (Red Bull KTM) 1′49 ahead of Coma (Repsol KTM) with local hero Francisco Lopez (KTM) third (at 2′56). David Frétigné, Jonah Street and Ullevalseter all ran into problems allowing Cyril to move up two places to third overall. He is now less than 30 minutes from second-placed Frétigné in the overall standings. Coma continues to maintain an impressive lead of 1h06′28 over Frétigné. He also has a 1h33′34 over Cyril. Alain Duclos (Kaestle KTM) had his best day of the rally so far, finishing fourth (at 12′39) with Jordi Viladoms fifth (at 13′12).

Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) 1st and 3rd overall (at 1h33′34)

The man who makes the modification to the road book, Jean-Pierre Fontenay said in his notes that today was more rally and than rally-raid and he wasn’t joking, we must have taken 2000 corners. We were riding on something like a smooth white laterite piste and there wasn’t much grip. I tried to stay standing up the whole time, shifting my weight back when braking and then moving it to the middle when accelerating. At refuelling I saw that I had come back on Marc and Lopez and that Fretigne and Street were losing time. Then just after the CP1 we had a tricky bit of off-piste. Towards the end Francisco really attacked and that suit me fine as I wanted to put as much time between me and the guys behind me. Moving up to third has really given me a boost.

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