Honda preparing Dakar assault

great history lesson. Thanks Troy.

Yeah, thanks troy!!

Troy...

I salute you sir

Thanks Troy - better info than I was hoping for.

Kinda makes me feel guilty at not putting more effort into the question....

Thanks Troy! Nice analysis!

Indeed it was not, Auriol participated in the first Dakar (1979) on XT500 - 12th overall (mixed classification cars and bikes).

In 1980, there were already 2 BMW 800's enlisted by BMW France (Auriol and Fenouil). Auriol DNF'd and Fenouil finished 5th (overall bikes). The bikes were already prepared by HPN.



Sorry for the off-topic memorabilia: just had a little fun looking that up in http://www.dakardantan.com and http://micapeak.com/bmw/gs/rally/pd1980.htm and wanted to share.

Troy,

I may be missing part of the point but doesn't it seem like the '99 BMW F650 fits the bill of a "debut" win. No factory-level support for a number of years and then a win with a new bike? I think that scenario most closely matches the question of all the examples given.

BTW, I almost felt like I was reading text from a history book. Do you have a big binder full of rally notes or is this all in your memory? Impressive either way.

- Ken

Well done Troy

A little bit of Honda history (since I am bored)

1982 Honda wins its first Dakar with rider Cyril Neveu The win is slightly overlooked by the media hype of Marget Thatchers son getting lost in the desert. Cyril rode an xr550




In 1986 Cyril again won the Dakar, this time on a NXR750. Once again the media spot light was redirected with the passing of the founder of the race (Thierry Sabine) in a heli crash.



1987( Cyril Neveu), 1988 (Cyril neveu) and 1989 (Edi Orioli) all saw Honda at the top of the podium.

Honda bikes have remained a constant in the Dakar and up to 2010 there had been 52 bikes entered. The bikes have come in all shapes and sizes with different companies backing the riders and teams.































Sorry, just random info from the web. Stoked HRC is coming to play

Nope... no binder full of notes... most of what I write (90%) is basically from memory (often I just ramble away... People who have shared camp fires with me can confirm this ), and sometimes I will refer to the web to confirm some minor detail (dates and records about the early days - pre 1985 - are pretty fuzzy and sometimes hard to verify) - that's where the enthusiasm of some of the other ADV f5 dakar officionados come in handy. Some of the euro forum guys that have followed the sport since many years back - thanks again to fellows like Carlos M, Flood, Gian and others etc. as well as the US mainstays like Doyle and PackMule for what they bring to f5/ADV (We sometimes waffle on via PM's during january like a bunch of old nerds... but the enthusiasm is infectious ).

Personally, I've been a rally/Dakar/Safari-head since about 1985... so along with my own enduro/mx/rally involvement over that time... I dunno why, but much of the trivia stuff has just fastened in there.

Cheers all!

Cheers to you too Troy. Sincere thanks for sharing your Big Dakar Brain with us. It's nice to have this place on the internet where we can share and learn about this "thing" that 99% of our real life friends & family roll their eyes at or say DakWhat?

Loving all this speculation for the new teams hitting Dakar this year.. with so many new teams throwing their hat in the ring, and as a Brit, at least 10 riders i can think of that have applied for entry this year, its shaping up to be a cracking future!

Deadly, I had to have a double take looking through your post... as my bike is one of them! Cant wait to hear who gets a ticket this year.. cant be long til news is released now?

Thanks Troy - a question for you then, when was it the last time a Brit was a focus of a major Dakar challenge, with Honda selecting young Sam, for the reasons that have?

The last time we had any true British contenders, and by that im going to stretch the basket slightly, would have been John Deacon [best finish 6th], who rode BMW and KTM, before he passed away. Following his lead would have been Patsy Quick [amateur, but KTM did eventually supply 2 bikes for her and Zippy, her co rider], Mick Extance [26th on a Honda 450 in 09] Nick Plumb or Stan Watt [Irish!], all have been essentially privateer efforts, with varying levels of support from the industry.

Aside from these names, there have been a multitude of riders having a go, but I would say all are far from being contenders.

It seems to me, that Sam is the first Brit to be on a full factory deal for the Dakar, which is no mean feat, when you consider how anti motorsport the UK can be. Theres no denying that living in the world's biggest sandpit has to have helped his cause and I wish him every success!

That is a handful

So, it was a bit boring at work tonight, i thought id do a bit of research to put together a list of all Brit finishers in the history of Dakar Moto.. funnily enough the hardest year to find results has proven to be 2011!

Ive always wondered who and how many had done it, having been told somewhere in the region of 20 finishers so far..

<style> <!--table {mso-displayed-decimal-separator:"\."; mso-displayed-thousand-separator:"\,";} @page {margin:1.0in .75in 1.0in .75in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in;} td {padding-top:1px; padding-right:1px; padding-left:1px; mso-ignoreadding; color:windowtext; font-size:10.0pt; font-weight:400; font-style:normal; text-decoration:none; font-family:Arial; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-charset:0; mso-number-format:General; text-align:general; vertical-align:bottom; border:none; mso-background-source:auto; mso-pattern:auto; mso-protection:locked visible; white-space:nowrap; mso-rotate:0;} --> </style> <table style="border-collapse: collapse;width:224pt" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="224"> <colgroup><col style="width:53pt" width="53"> <col style="mso-width-source:userset;mso-width-alt:2773;width:65pt" width="65"> <col style="width:53pt" span="2" width="53"> </colgroup><tbody><tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt;width:53pt" height="12" width="53">YEAR</td> <td style="width:65pt" width="65">NAME</td> <td style="width:53pt" width="53">POSITION</td> <td style="width:53pt" width="53">BIKE</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">1996</td> <td>Graham</td> <td align="right">22</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">1996</td> <td>Morgan</td> <td align="right">41</td> <td>Honda</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">1997</td> <td>Deacon</td> <td align="right">17</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">1997</td> <td>Graham</td> <td align="right">29</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">1998</td> <td>Deacon</td> <td align="right">8</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">1998</td> <td>Pavey</td> <td align="right">40</td> <td>Honda</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">1998</td> <td>Craigie</td> <td align="right">46</td> <td>CCM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">1998</td> <td>Fitzsimon</td> <td align="right">49</td> <td>CCM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">1999</td> <td>Deacon</td> <td align="right">6</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">1999</td> <td>Maisey</td> <td align="right">38</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">1999</td> <td>Hague</td> <td align="right">41</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">1999</td> <td>Graham</td> <td align="right">42</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">1999</td> <td>Pavey</td> <td align="right">50</td> <td>CCM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2000</td> <td>Hammond</td> <td align="right">21</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2000</td> <td>Dehaan</td> <td align="right">68</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2001</td> <td>Deacon</td> <td align="right">6</td> <td>BMW</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2001</td> <td>Hughes</td> <td align="right">64</td> <td>Honda</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2002</td> <td colspan="2" style="mso-ignore:colspan">No Brits finishing</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2003</td> <td>Edmondson</td> <td align="right">33</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2003</td> <td>Extance</td> <td align="right">42</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2004</td> <td>Coaker</td> <td align="right">25</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2004</td> <td>Hague</td> <td align="right">49</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2005</td> <td>Extance</td> <td align="right">48</td> <td>Honda</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2006</td> <td>Extance</td> <td align="right">27</td> <td>Honda</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2006</td> <td>Plumb</td> <td align="right">78</td> <td>BMW</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2006</td> <td>Quick </td> <td align="right">88</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2006</td> <td>Town</td> <td align="right">89</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2007</td> <td>Broome</td> <td align="right">101</td> <td>Honda</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2007</td> <td>Malone</td> <td align="right">106</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2008</td> <td>NO DAKAR</td> <td>
</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2009</td> <td>Extance </td> <td align="right">26</td> <td>Honda</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2009</td> <td>Watt</td> <td align="right">38</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2009</td> <td>Bounds</td> <td align="right">54</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2009</td> <td>Ennis</td> <td align="right">87</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2009</td> <td>Buchan</td> <td align="right">90</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2010</td> <td>Carlyle</td> <td align="right">72</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2010</td> <td>Noone</td> <td align="right">83</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2010</td> <td>Jones</td> <td align="right">87</td> <td>Yamaha</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2011</td> <td> No Brits finishing
</td> <td>
</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" height="12">
</td> <td>
</td> <td>
</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" height="12">
</td> <td>
</td> <td>
</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" height="12">
</td> <td>
</td> <td>
</td> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2012</td> <td>Watt</td> <td align="right">34</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> <tr style="height:12.0pt" height="12"> <td style="height:12.0pt" align="right" height="12">2012</td> <td>Younger</td> <td align="right">96</td> <td>KTM</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

By my reckoning, thats 27 riders that have crossed the line, registered as British/Irish [including Mr Pavey, who gets a little confused where he's from!]

I was pretty impressed to see how successful the entrants from the USA have been, considering their low volume of starts. Far more successful then us Brits in terms of standings, if only you guys could get some serious interest in the media, who knows what would happen!

Thanks Biggles - no pressure on him then - Lol

Whatever happens there won't be a fitter and more prepared rider out there - as you say the sandy bits won't present too many problems - well, consider that it is the Dakar !

With Brit, Focus and Major Dakar Challenge in your question, Mark Thatcher springs to mind!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/12/newsid_2523000/2523841.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/15/newsid_2530000/2530725.stm

For the Brits he was to the Dakar what Eddie the Eagle was to ski jumping