Dakar Rally Day 5: KTM versus KTM

1. Coma (Repsol KTM), 14:09:18h 2. Despres (Gauloises KTM), 14:10:43h, + 01:25 3. Esteve Pujol (Gauloises KTM), 14:15:46h, + 06:28 4. De Gavardo (Repsol KTM), 14:21:10h, + 11:52 5. Casteu (Gauloises KTM), 14:36:15h, + 26:57 6. Caldecott (Repsol KTM), 14:36:12h, + 26:54, Penalty: 02:00 7. Fretigne (YAMAHA), 14:41:22h, + 32:04 8. Sala (Repsol KTM), 14:49:40h, + 40:22 9. Ullevalseter (KTM), 14:51:50 h, + 42:32 10. Katrinak (KTM), 14:59:49 h, + 50:31 11. Blais (Red Bull USAKTM), 15:04:53h, + 55:35 12. Faria (KTM), 15:08:24h, +59:06, Penalty: 12:00 13. De Azevedo (KTM), 15:09:45h, + 01:00:27 14. Agra Carrera (YAMAHA), 15:15:04 h, + 01:05:46 15. Gau (Gauloises KTM), 15:15:51 h, + 01:06:33 16. Farres Guell (YAMAHA), 15:17:45 h, + 01:08:27 17. Street (KTM), 15:32:03 h, + 01:22:45 18. Amaral (KTM), 15:32:21h, + 01:23:03 19. Duclos (KTM), 15:32:35h, + 01:23:17 20. Rivera (KRM), 15:44:47h, +01:35:29

STAGE 3

“For me it was an annoying stage”, said the new race leader, Gauloises KTM Team member Cyril Despres. “Because of a new instrument installed on our console that we have to check continuously. The new rule of the Dakar imposes a speed limit of 160 km/h (about 100 miles per hours), and a monitor connected with the GPS warns us when we are reaching this limit.

“Unfortunately is the same alarm of the “sentinel”, the overtake warning, with the same “beep”. So with this new “entertainment” we are obliged to drive and open the gas intermittently. In addition I had a little problem with the bolts of the instrumentations, and the “traditional” stony tracks of Morocco completed the today’s “Menu”. Anyway I finished third and I reached the finishin first overall and I am in the game. This is the most important thing.

Despres’ main protagonists today were the two “Andys”: Caldecott and Grider. Australian Andy Caldecott won the stage, and American Andy Grider was second.

“Too many rocks and stones everywhere, then many changes of direction“, said the Australian. “I am used to being fast when the track is fast, and I like large open spaces”.

For Andy Grider, the first African stage of the rally was also the first African stage of his career, as he is a Dakar debutant. “Everything was new for me,” said the debutant of the Red Bull KTM Team.

“Our Manager Joe Barker has trained us in the American desert, but this is completely different. Every time you learn something, you feel a bit more confident. I enjoyed the stage. I started fast this morning but the landscape changed and suddenly I felt completely alone in the middle of the desert. I also felt comfortable so I kept the gas open. Then I noticed a cloud of dust in the distance and when I reached it, it was Andy (Caldecott). We rode together until the end of the special test, and there we discovered we were first and the second.”

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