Dakar2012: Day 3 from Bikes in the Fast Lane

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Dakar2012: Day 3

January
2012

  File under Dakar Race KTM
  Author: Mike Werner
  Location: Normandy, France

We're already in day 3 of the Dakar

race, and the number of motorcycle entries is reducing fast. Day 3 was a tough one, with enduro, trial, motocross and real rally riding for all contestants.

The American contingent took a beating, with Jonah Street out on a mechanical (plus he announced that he's retiring, but then we've heard that before from others, but they came back the following year), and Quinn Cody made a massive shunt. Watching the TV footage, it's a miracle he came out of it with only a broken collarbone. That leaves only 4 USA riders in the race.

This Dakar race is turning into one with many bad motorcycle accidents; one dead, and already in day 3 a few are in hospital. On day 2, one biker hit a cow at full speed (the motorcycle, not the cow) and he's in hospital, but recovering. They discovered yesterday evening a French biker who had wondered off the track and took a spill. He was unconscious in the blistering heat with a body temperature over 40°C.

Frenchman Cyril Despres

won the stage and takes the lead. Here's what he had to say: "The strange thing about rally-raid is that often you don’t know whether or not you are having a good day until it is over. Up to about 10 kilometres from the finish all I knew was that it was a very, very tough day. It started badly this morning when I tore a finger nail putting on my boots. Then at about kilometre 160 my compass stopped working. And finally, on the really technical last 70 kilometres, in the dried up river bed, I damaged my rear brake disc. They are all the sort of things that can cost you time, so I was surprised when, on a remade piste near the end, I couldn’t see any tracks ahead of me. Then I noticed that the TV helicopter was flying over me. But it was only when I actually arrived at the finish line was I certain that I had won the special. Obviously I am pleased with the result, but I have been doing this long enough to know that it is just another detail in the long route to Lima."

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