Yamaha pushing for Dakar glory as 2012 edition nears
Thursday 22 December: The months and weeks of preparation for some of the bravest off-road riders in the world will shortly come to a head when the 34th Dakar Rally sets off from Buenos Aires for the 9000km two week race, regularly dubbed as one of the toughest in the world.
Yamaha will count on a fine representation of 40 riders from the 188
entrants of the motorcycle class and over half of the 32-strong Quad category
once the clock starts on New Years day.
The bike
division has now clearly been fixed at a 450cc capacity that will allow the
potential of the WR450F and YZ450F Rally machinery to come into its own. One of
the brightest hopes on two wheels will be Helder Rodrigues (pictured).
The 2011
FIM Cross Country Rallies Champion broke into the top three for the first time
last January and also won a stage; his fourth success from the last four
attempts. The Portuguese is gathering form and experience of the Dakar and hasn’t
dropped out of the top five in four of the five editions he has now contested.
His success in the FIM series will be well noted among his rally rivals, many
of whom were part of the four round campaign this year and know that the 32
year old cannot be discounted from a realistic shot of overall victory. "My
objective is to finish even better,” he said to the official Dakar website. "Like
last year I worked all season to improve. This year's route should allow me to
show that I know how to take on the pitfalls and complexities of the rally.”
Other
notable riders include several Frenchmen. Enduro special Olivier Pain conquered
a stage of the ’11 incarnation but was then unlucky to be ruled out through
injury approaching the halfway point when he crashed and broke his left wrist.
He classified ninth in 2010 and at the age of 29 is one of the younger
competitors in the crop. Countryman David Casteu was a Dakar vice champion in
2007 and now joins the Yamaha Motor France-backed team alongside Pain with
serious goals on his eighth run at the rally before a look towards the
four-wheel category in the coming years. "It means a lot to me to ride for
Yamaha,” he told www.dakar.com. "It is a constructor with a soul and a history
on the Dakar. I am part of the generation that was spellbound by Peterhansel's
wins on a Yamaha. Now, what I wish is to end my career as a rider with Yamaha
and then create projects for the next generation. Today, our goal is to win the
Dakar. Rodrigues rides for Yamaha Portugal and at Yamaha France we have two
lead riders, Olivier Pain and myself. The bike has made progress compared to
last year and for my part I will make a few changes to my strategy. I will set
off a little slower and ride with a ‘wait and see’ approach.”
Outside of
a strong French line-up another rider to watch will be Jonah Street, who will
again be steering WR450Fs from the confines of his own team for the second year
in succession. The American suffered an inconsistent rally in 2011 but his
victory in stage nine was the undoubted highlight. He classified 12th in
January but is now hoping to reach the same level of performance that guided
him to seventh place overall in 2010.
While
Yamaha will look on with relish at the competition among the bikes, they can
feel highly confident when it comes to the Quads; now fixed with a 750cc limit
for the engines. Argentina boasts a plethora of extremely capable drivers in
this discipline and at the top of the tree are the Patronelli brothers, Marcos
and Alejandro, who have claimed the last two Dakars between them on their
Yamaha YFM700Rs. It was the latter, Alejandro, who grasped the crown while
nursing a hand injury this year as 2010 winner Marcos had to retire with
physical problems. The older sibling (Alejandro) has notched seven stage
victories in two years and the pair has yet to classify outside of the top two
in their attempts at the Dakar. Following the Patronellis’ is fellow countryman
Tomas Maffei, also Yamaha Raptor mounted, and a stage conqueror back in
January. Another stage victor from the previous Dakar is Czech veteran Josef
Machacek, who will also roll into the Argentine capital. Among the Women’s
competition FIM Cross Country Rallies World Champion Camelia Liparoti will be
aiming to better her previous finish of 10th. Yamaha owned eleven of the
thirteen 2011 Quad stages with five different riders; anything approaching the
same level of achievement will be outstanding.
The 2012
Dakar will involve two extra days of racing – now fourteen – as the bikes,
quads, cars and trucks, plough a course from the Atlantic ocean on one side of
the continent to the Pacific on the other. The diverse terrain of the Andes and
the Atacama Desert now with a trip into the heart of Peru awaits; mountain
paths, canyons and forestry will turn to dunes and beach backdrops. Endurance,
resistance, mechanical guile and navigational skill are just some of the
characteristics that will prove vital.
Copy and image courtesy of Yamaha
Motor Europe N.V.