Dakar 2009: Day 14-Honda Motorcycles Report from Bikes in the Fast Lane

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Dakar 2009: Day 14-Honda Motorcycles Report

January
2009

  File under Dakar Race Honda
  Author: Honda Press Release
  Location: Paris, France

A safe bet for Team Honda Europe

After several very intense and tough days the riders of Team Honda Europe play it safe. All the competitors who managed to reach these last days before the finish try to make sure they reach it. Today's stage was a very fast one, in which you need concentration for every corner. Driving it like it's supposed to means risktaking beyond what one could win.

Jurgen van den Goorbergh © Honda

Jurgen van de Goorbergh, who has managed to reach the top 20 in his first Dakar almost crashed twice. "It was a mean stage, you had no opportunity to relax. Luckily I could keep my bike under control, but after the second time I got the point. To be honest, this would be my kind of stage, but not today."

"Halfway through the stage the arrow pointing in the right direction showed up on my GPS!", Mick Extance says. "Everyone had it, so it must have been a software-bug or something similar. Much easier than trying to figure out all these roadbook changes, so it was easy navigation today". There were so many people along the route it looked like a Tour de France. "You really could not go wrong on the route today".

Mirjam Pol also had a relaxed day. "I tried to keep a steady pace today, even when other riders were faster. This was a day to finish." Annie Seel is still in the rally, but didn't finish before Mirjam today.

In Cordoba, millions of people were supposed to be waiting for the Dakar. Perhaps the team is too much focussed on the rally, but because the bivac is next to the main ighway, they did encounter the kind of crowds they had expected.

Christopher Jarmuz © Honda

After a few cool days the temperature has gone up. Luckily the assistance isn't too busy. Since the restday there have not been many big problems. Only two exhausts had bent, that's it. Tomorrow the assistance will go to an asistance parc, and the bikes will go to a parc ferme. Tonight more into on the assistance, with interviews on the website with Hans, driver of the 6x6 servicetruck and Wolter, the physiotherapist of Team Honda Europe.