KTM and Kamaz win to extend their Dakar dynasties

Some famous manufacturers once again came out on top as South America delivered its toughest ever Dakar Rally. A display of dominance at the 2014 Dakar Rally saw Marc Coma collect his 4th title at the desert classic, bringing home another victory for the Red Bull KTM Factory Team in the process. VALPARAISO (Chile) – The Catalan biker led the general rankings from Stage Five onwards to eventually cross the finish line with a gap of almost two-hours from his team-mate Jordi Viladoms in 2nd place. Although Jordi struggled to keep pace with Marc he did finish as the best of the rest to add an extra element of celebration to the Austrian manufacturer claiming its 13th consecutive title at the Dakar. Third place went to Oliver Pain who held off a late podium charge from fellow Frenchman and Yamaha Factory Racing rider Cyril Despres who finished 4th. Five-time Dakar champion Cyril was in flying form throughout the second week of the rally and will surely be back at the business end of the race next time around. Cyril’s team-mate Michael Metge also proved his value as a support-rider during the contest to finish in 13th overall. Helder Rodrigues concluded this edition of the Dakar as Honda HRC’s top placed rider with the Portuguese biker in 5th place. 20 minutes behind Helder in 6th place was Poland’s Kuba Przygonski who found the tough conditions in South America brought the very best out of him. It was a close contest in the trucks as Gerard de Rooy crossed the finish line in 1st but had to wait for news on the Team Kamaz Master machine of Andrey Karginov. An accident in the car category had halted Karginov’s charge but he was later declared the winner by over three minutes when his time on Stage Thirteen was reassessed. Behind De Rooy came the Kamaz trucks of Eduard Nikolaev, Dmitry Sotnikov and Anton Shibalov to see the Russians fill four of the top five spots in the general classification. These results mark another impressive team performance by Kamaz, adding to Karginov securing their 12th victory at the Dakar. The final podium of the car race contained three Mini crews with winner Nani Roma followed home by Stephane Peterhansel in 2nd and their team-mate Nasser Al-Attiyah in 3rd. South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers drove his Toyota Hallspeed vehicle into 4th place with the help of co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz. Also inside the top 10 were Marek Dabrowski and Jacek Czachor as the Polish crew recorded a remarkable 7th place in their Dakar debut car race. Ski-jumper turned rally racer Adam Malysz and co-driver Rafal Marton continued their improvement at the Dakar with 13th position overall in the cars while a strong second week saw the Red Bull SMG Rally Team pair of Ronan Chabot and Gilles Pillot take 18th place in the general rankings. With half the competitors who entered the 2014 Dakar Rally unable to reach the finish line we salute the efforts of this year’s squad of determined Red Bull Desert Wings. QUOTES Marc Coma #2 – Red Bull KTM Factory Team: “Last year I went through a very difficult situation not being able to compete because of injury and now I’ve come back to win the race. I think this says a lot about the people I have around me.” Jordi Viladoms #4 – Red Bull KTM Factory Team: “I’m overwhelmed with my second place finish. It’s a big thing for me, especially after the year I went through. I’m over the moon with this result.” Cyril Despres #1 – Yamaha Factory Racing: “It was important for me to leave with no regrets. It was a fun, positive experience and another Dakar under my belt. I can tell you it’s not easy to develop a motorcycle for the Dakar in a matter of months but we tried.” Michael Metge #17 – Yamaha Factory Racing: “There are a lot of very positive things in regards to all that we did with Cyril. I have improved a lot, both physically as well as on the bike.” Helder Rodrigues #7 – HRC Rally: “This was the most difficult Dakar I have ever raced so reaching the finish feels like a good achievement. Honda built a great bike for me to race and this was proven by not having to change the engine during the Dakar.” Kuba Przygonski #15 – Orlen Team: “This was the toughest Dakar there has been in South America. The combination of the terrain and also the navigation meant there were no easy days at the race. I hope it gets even tougher next year because I like to test myself in these type of conditions.” Eric Khayrullin – Team Kamaz Master spokesperson: “The route in the second week was very well suited to our trucks and we were able to take advantage of that. Our Team Leader Vladimir Chagin gave the drivers their instructions and the crews were able to carry out these directions, giving us another great result to bring back to Russia.” Giniel de Villiers #302 – Toyota Hallspeed: “We didn’t have the pace of the Minis, especially in the sand and at altitude. We did the best job we could after a difficult start. Now we need to do more homework so we can bring a faster car to the race next year.” Marek Dabrowski #328 – Orlen Team: “Before the race I was thinking that finishing inside the top 20 would be a great achievement. Jacek said that we could finish between 8th and 12th and I told him if we did that I would shave all my hair off. We have finished 7th so I’ve told him the bet we made is not valid.” Adam Malysz #322 – Orlen Team: “Our car really took some punishment during this race and we are happy to have been able to bring it over the finish line. We finish this Dakar in 13th position in the overall so we have been able to improve our previous result once again.” Ronan Chabot #312 – Red Bull SMG Rally Team: “The second week at this Dakar was more favourable to us than the first but that’s what rally-raid racing is all about. You have to deal with all the aspects that make this race what it is.”]]>