450cc for bikes!!!, IMHO this will be a good thing for the private entry guys. Factory bike will most likely still win anyway as usual, but at least there can be a somewhat more level playing field. http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/off-road/2009/06/03/dakar-rally-goes-to-450s and from the source http://www.dakar.com/2010/DAK/presentation/us/r3_2-aspects-sportifs.html the problem I see is the power restriction "bridle" for the big machines,,,,restricting power on those beasts may be a danger as much as having way too much power/speed. Slower speeds and less get over/out of obstacles power may increase crashes of the (heavy) open rally bikes.
Definitely good news for Yamaha, Suzuki & Honda. The increased wins of those brands in South America + the higher degree of availability of Japanese brands to the average South American wallet will likely generate a significant increase in sales. Kinda surpirsed at KTM's decision. They're definitely banking on the Euro & Dollar to carry them.
Husaberg is quietly making a semi-formal run at the upcoming Australian Safari. It will be interesting to see where it all goes.
Its pretty much a team put together by Garry Connell. He is very passionate about the brand and is a good rider (he lives very close by and I have ridden with him on quite a few occasions). Along with Garry are Ben Green (another local chap), Annie Seel, and a couple of other well known Aussie riders, some with a Dakar medal hanging in their homes. They have 8 riders on the team, and are aiming to get the 1st ever 'Berg rider on the podium. The reigning champ, Ben Grabham (last 2 years a winner for the GHR Honda mob) is now signed to KTM and will be riding orange the August.
Boy, talk about alienating manufacturers. KTM devotes serious time and resources developing a dakar bike. They start winning, and their efforts pay off only to have the rule changed so they don't keep winning. What a great reward for doing what the others couldn't. "Great bike, thanks for racing, congrats on all your wins, now get out"
racing needs diversity and needs people to join the race. Manufacturer participation is important for tv and publicity. IMHO the dakar folks should just do a an enduro style 3 class breakdown to get some real fun participation, E1 E2 E3 for the bikes
David Fretigne and whoever he brings along, probably have the upper hand at this point. Yamaha France has a few years up on everyone else with the 450's. Honda has been expanding into dakar lately. I have to wonder who will win the marathon class victory. Its hard to get a single 'modern' 450 motor all the way to the finish. Its almost always the crank bearings that go. Ceramic hybrid bearings would cure that, but nobody bothers. Maybe an old XR400 or DRz400 or even a TE410 will be the privateer/budget bike of choice... Maybe thats what BMW should do. WEC didnt really work out. Dakar would be a better event for that G450....surely the motor is up to it. Surely Touratech is alreay working on that. How fun would it be to see some Huskys over there. Ty and Nick and Annieseel? That would be my vote.
I see KTM have withdrawn the factory team from the Dakar (and all support as well). Its a bad thing the way Dakar did this - IMHO - as ktm said; they have 50 690's and about 30 paid for and under build for 2010 entrants. The cost to those people who have ordered (now essentially banned bikes) is huge. I mostly think its a push by certain brands and rallye 'prep' companies...if Dakar was serious they would also limit cars and trucks as well.
http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/off-road/2009/06/23/ktm-and-the-dakar-defiance more info on the big Africa race
Nice! Either I was unaware or have forgotten about this new race that happened last year (this year?) for the first time. www.africarace.com
Africa Race announes KTM will offer factory support for this event! I gotta tell ya: The fans want to see an event from Europe to Dakar. KTM and others throwing their weight behind this event is gonna really change things. ASO who puts on the Dakar events has the media coverage thing all shored up, and thats big. BUT--what everyone really wants is a crazy race accross the Sahara, or at least part of it. Easy to see this new Africa Race event picking up steam in years to come.
It seems like now would be an ideal time for the Japanese manufacturers to field a competitive team, no?
I know Johnny Cambell has come out in public with an interest in going back to Dakar. I would guess they must be sending some emails around. Lots of Dakar expereince at Husky/BMW..... Yamaha up it a bit for Fretigne? Suzuki has a new 450 off road bike for Baja 1000 vet Travis Pastrana? For sure its too late for a full factory team to jump in at this point, it takes a year minimum to build and test a new rally bike, plus put the team together. Maybe in '11? Its an expensive game...and its not exactly a hot economy. But yeah--a factory backing a satellite team like Zip Ty or JCR or Yamah France or several fast and experienced guys from Spain and Portugal...not out of the question down the road.
