2013 Dakar Pre-Event Discussion

[doyle]

Originally Posted by troy safari carpente

...if he spends the whole time looking towards the door in November...?

Word is his actual contract only includes Dakar 2013. I don't quite agree on the bivouac effect though. He's been with KTM a long time yes, but certainly it's not unheard of in many circles for long time love affairs to make a change. For all Schumi did for Ferrari they nearly pushed him out the door as thanks. F1 is not the right comparison, but in nearly all other aspects of motorsport, there have been long pairings, seemingly unbreakable that have indeed broken and gone on, some to fail, some to flourish. KTM are no dummies. They would be keen to begin the process of grooming replacements as they did with Aubert and Zanol last year, neither of which panned out to Mattighoffen's liking though.

[doyle]

Originally Posted by Flood

...Coma is retiring...

Speaking of...Having recently had his big sponsor dollars pulled, he also just separated from his management team, he's in a tough spot as well especially as his injuries are rumored to be worse than broadcast.

The F5 rumor mill is in full swing.

[ThomasVolomitz]

This thread is getting almost as much action as the race thread, love it. Thanks for putting it in high gear!

[dashmoto]

Originally Posted by troy safari carpente

; spend most of your fitness time on the mountain bike (the pundits claim they're safer... but after watching some of those Danny McCaskill Youtube videos... I reckon the jury's still out on that verdict )

Dunno, my bro-in-law sold his motorbike after a crash that broke his wrist and meant he missed a summer of MTBing. Fast forward a couple of years and he's currently recovering after riding into a tree on the MTB and separating his collarbone. I've certainly not been winding him up by suggesting he get a nice safe motorbike, or threatening to buy him some stabilisers. Oh no

Originally Posted by Mad Cow

Neil, that's a really bugger about the leg, hope it's a clean break and heals ok

I sympathise as this was me just before the 2012 Dakar, mind you it did mean I could fully participate in the 2012 F5 Dakar



Suspected fracture of the tibial plateau (not good), luckily it turned out to me ligament and muscle damage only, although I didn't finish physio until September, although I did seven days of rallying in the mean time

Fixed for you T.

[Myway]

Download the assistance route at the kml format (save as .kml )

Assistance Route Average Times

Bivouacs GPS Points

Santiago assistance park Map – Parque O’Higgins



San Antonio harbor map – Santiago

.

[tehdutchie]

Originally Posted by doyle

OK, I'll spill it...

Helder's contract was only for Morocco and Dakar. Word has it that Cyril has done a deal with HRC and they will not pay for two top riders.

I thought you had news.. The above has been buzzing since the Australasian Safari

Cyril nearly signed for Aprilia 2 years ago.. Nearly..

[troy safari carpente]

Originally Posted by Flood

I also think that IF the rumor is true, the background could be KTM retiring from the Dakar. Manufacturer of the year or not, they still aren't totally stable financially and they have been hurting since 2008. Keeping up the huge factory effort for the Dakar is a completely different thing for KTM than for a company like Honda.

Maybe KTM says 11 wins is enough, Coma is retiring and Despres is out to earn some more money at HRC?

This makes sense... if Mattighofen are going to pull the plug on Dakar to minimise the corporate expenditure in the GFC climate, and the Sapnish Alien is winding up, then perhaps the brass at KTM would give Despres the heads up and effectively a green light to make the switch to HRC (after january... if Doyles contract info' is on the money) on mutually agreeable terms...

In which case the motivation for CDP to "go out on a winning note" with the old guard could provide the focus and team spirit necessary... see below...

Originally Posted by doyle

Word is his actual contract only includes Dakar 2013. I don't quite agree on the bivouac effect though. He's been with KTM a long time yes, but certainly it's not unheard of in many circles for long time love affairs to make a change. For all Schumi did for Ferrari they nearly pushed him out the door as thanks. F1 is not the right comparison, but in nearly all other aspects of motorsport, there have been long pairings, seemingly unbreakable that have indeed broken and gone on, some to fail, some to flourish. KTM are no dummies. They would be keen to begin the process of grooming replacements as they did with Aubert and Zanol last year, neither of which panned out to Mattighoffen's liking though.

Excellently made counterpoint Mr Doyle (as always) Like you pointed out in a previous post, Cyril is the consumate professional and marketing/PR pin up boy... not to mention his immaculate planning and execution (99% of the time)... so given the premise that Flood outlined above... Yeah, I see the possibility in that scenario (KTM bowing out gracefully) that Cyril and the team would be keen to make one last hurrah for the Orange brigade together, before that chapter is closed and he moves on to the HRC page...


Though as Brodo points out; it is somewhat worrying/dissappointing if KTM decides to hang the banner in the workshop and not compete at factory level in rally any further... also it would not bode too well for the sport. No one team is irreplaceable sure, and though the other teams have started to flourish under the formula 450 revolution, no one entity is big enough to make up the hole left by KTM... unless HRC come in as the new factory power/heir apparent to the throne.

Meanwhile the snipers at Husky/Speedsprain are quietly and stealthily weighing their options...

Man this is turning into a soap opera of Hollywood proportions... you just can't make this stuff up...


Oh... that's right... we are!!!

[Deadly99]

I was scratching my head lately wondering why ktm weren't focusing on grooming some up and comers....terminating their Dakar effort would make sense.

I don't see Cyril owing anything to ktm, he has repaid them a few times over for their "investment" in him. I don't see him leaving as a dishonest or non honorable thing.

Coma retiring? F5preseaon...

What next? Jin Cheng buying Coma and Helder

The valve to the firehose is slowly being opened

[troy safari carpente]

Originally Posted by Deadly99

Coma retiring? F5preseaon...

Originally Posted by doyle

Speaking of...Having recently had his big sponsor dollars pulled, he also just separated from his management team, he's in a tough spot as well especially as his injuries are rumored to be worse than broadcast.

The F5 rumor mill is in full swing.

In light of the above (coupled wit KTM's rumoured withdrawal), it's not inconcievable that Marc is considering hanging up the boots; much of the sponsorship/PR wave that he rode and rose to fame as a part of (2002 to 2007) was coupled to the Dakars boom period in Spain/Portugal... the various starts in Barcelona/Lisbon special stages in both countries before the rally's departure to Africa... and the big sponsor budgets like Repsol, Gauliouse, Red Bull etc.

The GFC has hit Spain's economy hard, maybe not so easy to secure the dollars needed anymore (especially now the race is in Sth America) so - this too - could be a logical, natural progression?

Maybe the era of the "Aliens" is drawing to a close... and one of the "Predators" are about to take over...?

[Myway]

.gdb http://perut.org/index.php?topic=1323.0

[Deadly99]

Originally Posted by Myway

.gdb http://perut.org/index.php?topic=1323.0

Assistance route ?

[Pilbara]

Originally Posted by Brodovitch

Cyril has the added benefit of his manager which I am told holds extra weight with the ASO

He works for them...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Myway]

Originally Posted by Deadly99

Assistance route ?

think so not checked it looks like the kml above of the assistanca route.
from this link on the bottom

http://perut.org/index.php?topic=1323.0

[Dread Pendragon]

It seems like it's extremely difficult to ever keep quiet about big shifts in the world of sports. For such dramatic shifts, I bet that having to manage the fallout from untimely revelations is the rule, while being able to release the information at the desired time is the exception.

[too old]

Originally Posted by tehdutchie

I thought you had news.. The above has been buzzing since the Australasian Safari

Cyril nearly signed for Aprilia 2 years ago.. Nearly..

Just maybe this is very latent rumour stemming from last April when HRC were putting their team together, they could have had discussion with a variety of people?