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	Dakar 2005 - 30th December 30 December 2004   File under  Racing Dakar Race   Author: Mike Werner   Location: Barcelona, Spain After a reasonable night sleep, Bob J. (a fellow motorcyclist who lives in Barcelona, and who has kindly enough been looking after us here), Jacques and myself set out for the main Dakar point:- the technical scrutinizing area. The technical area was set up in the mountain/hill central of Barcelona. It's the former Olympics area, and houses a massive stadium. Outside the stadium were not only a lot of camper cars (for those not using hotels), but also a lot of the trucks, cars and motorcycles participating in this Dakar edition. The vehicles were inspected already at the outside, ensuring that only authorized ones drove in. You could see all the vehicles parked in the waiting area, waiting to be allowed in for the technical inspection. On the left we saw a flock of KTM motorcycles. No matter were you looked, you always ended up seeing a KTM.... In the mean time the motorcycles (and others) kept on coming. Again, a KTM. And then the Euromaster team arrived. And when we looked, we saw this angel appear out of no-where. Yes, she is a competitor, and many men would wish to have only half of her riding talents. It's Ludivine Puy, running number 35. She's the youngest rider this race (you're not supposed to ask, but she's 21) and she's a police officer ! The well prepared and professional looking MD Sport team. While walking towards the central area, we saw this unusual camper van. You don't see that many in Europe. Notice the KTM motorcycle garage in the rear of the van. Very nice !!!! And this is the central technical scrutinizing area. At the far end are the trucks, then the cars and then the motorcycles. Vehicles keep on coming. Every few minutes, a new one appears. It takes about an hour to check each one. The Dakar organization even had setup a motorcycle museum, displaying a lot of the motorcycles that had played an important part in the history of the Dakar. This is one old BMW Motorcycle. In the main hall, they were showing on the central screen images of former races, and you could see this Beemer !! Or how about this old Moto Guzzi ??? Did you always wonder how those dorsal numbers stay on during these heavy duty races??? And never come off, even after a crash. Well, here's the answer. The dorsal numbers are hammered into the jacket !!! All media attention was on the Mitsu team, specially Nani Roma (a motorcycle rider who turned to the dark side of the force).. And that in stark contrast with Kevin Heath, a private KTM entry from the USA. Here he was, and he seemed to have a scrutinizing issue, that he had to resolve on his own. That, in my eyes deserves more media attention that any professional!! I already wrote about him last week {link} And then someone dropped Denis Comte's motorcycle with a loud bang ! Lucky for him, nothing was damaged, but if I were in his shoes, I'd start doubting myself.... And here's Nani Roma himself, swapping his fantastic motorcycle for a lowly 4WD car...... how could he go to the dark side of the force??? Who said you have to be tall ?? Who said your feet need to reach the ground in order for you to race the Dakar. Not Francois Vulliet..... Then we headed back, Bob J. (aka Spanish Bob), Jacques & myself, riding through Barcelona traffic... While we were walking towards a great restaurant (if you're ever in Barcelona, go to Restaurant L'Olivé), we heard a God-almighty roar and saw Nani Roma passing us in the street..... We saw these signs, getting ready for tomorrows event..... several roads will be closed. Hope to be there and show you photo.... 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