Two Wheels

[wino]

Dovizioso fractures collarbone in training accident


Friday, 6 January 2012
The Italian rider will have an operation in Bologna on Saturday and his Team Manager Hervé Poncharal is confident he can recover in time for the first Test of the year in Malaysia, which takes place at the end of January.
Andrea Dovizioso fractured his right collarbone on Thursday in a training accident, when he fell whilst riding a motocross bike. The Italian rider, who will ride a Yamaha M1 in 2012 with Hervé Poncharal's Tech 3 team, received immediate medical attention and will undergo surgery at Bologna Hospital on Saturday.
Manager of the French team Poncharal explained that until Dovizioso's operation had taken place it would be difficult to give any indication with regards to the amount of time the rider will need to recover.
Speaking to motogp.com, Poncharal said he was not overly concerned "because there are three weeks before the Sepang Test, which is only the first Test of the year. Also, both Colin (Edwards) and Cal (Crutchlow) recovered very quickly from similar injuries last season."
Dovizioso's personal manager, Simone Batistella, revealed how the unfortunate accident happened: "Andrea was training on Thursday and riding a motocross bike. It was a training session like any other, but then Dovi had this crash which he himself described as a minor one. However, the way in which he landed when he fell resulted in a fracture to his right collarbone."
"As far as the Sepang Test goes, the first impressions of the medics who examined him are that he should not have any major problems, and they expect and hope for a speedy recovery. Tomorrow (Saturday) he'll have an operation and then we'll know if everything's going to plan or if there are any problems. The only certainty is that he'll have a slight delay to his preparations for Sepang."
Dovizioso will be operated on by Dr. Porcellini, the same specialist who treated Valentino Rossi last year when the nine-time World Champion suffered a similar accident in pre-season.

 

[mrln]

 

[wino]

Preziosi: "90 percent of the bike is new"

Preziosi on 2012 Ducati development​

Wednesday, 11 January 2012
The Ducati Corse General Manger previewed details of the new Desmosedici GP12 in a press conference at Wrooom on Wednesday.​

The annual Wrooom event in Madonna di Campiglio held its traditional press conference on Ducati’s new MotoGP bike on Wednesday, wherein Ducati Corse boss Filippo Preziosi previewed the technical details of the 2012 Ducati Desmosecici that Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden will ride this season.
Preziosi announced that the GP12 is a complete redesign of bike tested by Rossi in Valencia, but warned that it will look deceivingly similar. It will still sport an aluminum perimetric frame and carbon swingarm, but they are new editions and the only components that actually remain the same are parts of the front (forks and steering components). He assured that the rest of the bike is completely redesigned, stating: "Ninety percent of the parts are brand new."
He continued: "We significantly changed the distribution of weight and the bike dimensions to be in the middle of the adjustment range." This suggests that a greater range of adjustments will be able to be made according to rider preference and track condition.
He also offered that with new chassis, the engine position will be able to be adjusted more, though declined to provide details regarding changes to the V angle (the angle between the two banks of the four cylinders) of the GP12 engine, which Ducati has traditionally run at a larger angle than their competitors using a V-four configuration.
Preziosi explained that it usually takes two years—from the initial design to the first race—to have a completely refined race machine "but we are accelerating the process with forced steps. It’s a courageous decision, but not impossible." He went on to say that the design process is complete and that Hayden and Rossi’s mechanics are currently at the factory in Bologna assembling the new bikes.
"The rider makes a difference," said Preziosi on the subject of how much of bike development depends on the rider. "Though we didn't contract Valentino as a rider thinking that he'd solve our problems, but to give us information, as he has won on several different bikes."
Preziosi confirmed that Franco Battani and Carlos Checa will ride the GP12 in a private test at Jerez next week, and concluded the press event stating that Rossi and Hayden will have both the bike tested in Valencia and the brand new GP12 at the Sepang Test in three weeks.

 

[wino]

oi Magoo !!

 

[magoo]

Hmmm time to take up dirt bike riding me thinks

 

[wino]

where did you find that knackers

 

[magoo]

same place as this one

 

[wino]

call again

 

[magoo]

only a yamaha

 

[magoo]

and another one

 

[magoo]

keeping it dirty

 

[wino]

not sure which asian country this is but FFS !

 

[wino]

holy fuck !

 

[wino]

The FIM has announced the provisional entry list for the 2012 MotoGP World Championship, which gets underway on April 8th with the opening round in Qatar.
The provisional list is as follows:
1 CASEY STONER AUS - HONDA TEAM, HONDA
4 ANDREA DOVIZIOSO ITA - YAMAHA TECH 3, YAMAHA
5 COLIN EDWARDS USA - FORWARD RACING, SUTER*
6 STEFAN BRADL GER - LCR HONDA MotoGP, HONDA
8 HECTOR BARBERA SPA - PRAMAC RACING TEAM, DUCATI
9 DANILO PETRUCCI ITA - IODA RACING PROJECT, IODA*
11 BEN SPIES USA - YAMAHA FACTORY RACING, YAMAHA
13 ANTHONY WEST AUS - SPEED MASTER, ART*
14 RANDY DE PUNIET FRA - ASPAR TEAM MotoGP, ART*
17 KAREL ABRAHAM CZE - CARDION AB MOTORACING, DUCATI
19 ALVARO BAUTISTA SPA - HONDA GRESINI, HONDA
20 ALEIX ESPARGARO SPA - ASPAR TEAM MotoGP, ART*
22 IVAN SILVA SPA - BQR, BQR-FTR*
26 DANI PEDROSA SPA - HONDA TEAM, HONDA
35 CAL CRUTCHLOW GBR - YAMAHA TECH 3, YAMAHA
46 VALENTINO ROSSI ITA - DUCATI TEAM, DUCATI
51 MICHELE PIRRO ITA - HONDA GRESINI, FTR*
68 YONNY HERNANDEZ COL - BQR, BQR-FTR*
69 NICKY HAYDEN USA - DUCATI TEAM, DUCATI
77 JAMES ELLISON GBR - PAUL BIRD RACING, ART*
99 JORGE LORENZO SPA - YAMAHA FACTORY RACING, YAMAHA
*CRT

 

[wino]

 

[wino]

One on one with Casey Stoner


Stoner talks babies, riding the number 1 and Ducati
Friday, 20 January 2012
The reigning MotoGP World Champion took time out of his winter break to share with motogp.com his views on fatherhood, his rivals, the switch to 1000cc bikes and how he will defend his title in 2012 in this exclusive interview.
How was your Christmas break and your reception back at home in Australia?
"It was pretty uneventful, just a nice quiet time with family and friends, and a chance to get away from hustle and bustle. We had to get back to Switzerland early to get ready for the baby, so it was nice to have some time to relax and recover and get ready for this year."
How is your wife Adriana doing? You two will be parents soon, are you nervous?
"Adriana is doing great, there are no issues and she’s in perfect health. We are crossing our fingers that everything will continue this way. We’re not nervous at all, we both have been waiting long enough now, and actually it seems to be going extremely slowly! We just want these last few weeks to go as smooth as possible. I hope I can be home for the birth as it’s due right in the middle of both tests, so I’m crossing my fingers I can be home for it."
How do you think mixing fatherhood with racing will go?
"I’m good at separating my personal life from racing. When I’m at track it's race time, when I’m away from it, other than the fact I’m training to be fit for it, there is nothing at home that makes me even want to think about racing, I just want to enjoy my life and by the time the next race comes around I’m ready and excited for it."
Your home is here in Switzerland, how do like living here?
"I think it’s a beautiful country, we enjoy the way of life and the people we live around. Where we live, we have a little creek and trails for mountain biking, so when we’re here we can completely switch off, spend some time alone and prepare for each race without interruptions. It’s a beautiful way of life here and we enjoy it, especially the winter."
Up here in the mountains, do you prefer snowboarding or skiing?
"I prefer skiing but I can do both. I have no problem doing both but with skiing there are more places I can go, I like adventuring. With snowboarding you have to unclip and walk out of places where with skiing we can just paddle ourselves out."
Your lifelong friend Chaz Davies just won the World Superport championship. It’s great you both claimed World titles in same year.
"It’s fantastic. Chaz has had a tough career, he hasn’t had many opportunities--I had some hard times too but nowhere near as bad as Chaz--and for him to keep bouncing back, keep pushing forward, and finally to get the right opportunity to show what he can do, I’m so happy for him and for us both to win Championships in the same year - not a lot could have been better."
How are you feeling about the new season and running number one plate?
"I’m looking forward sporting the number one plate, a lot of people think it’s a jinx, but you are world champion and you should be wearing number one. It’s another challenge for me and I like it. This season should again be very tough; we are starting in a new category so we have a lot of testing to do to get the bike to a point where we are happy. We left the last test satisfied, but not perfectly happy, we still have a lot of prep to do on the bike. These next tests will be important and we hope we can come out of them with a lot of data."
Based on the feedback you gave the team at the last test in Valencia, what changes you are going to see on the bike?
"There will be slight chassis changes. With the new tyres, the chatter has increased so we have to adjust our chassis around them, which can be frustrating. We have to make the bike work better, when you get off the brakes the bike wants to chatter a lot. The last step we made at Valencia we made progress but we still need to make a big step forward. We also have to improve the engine braking. The engine acceleration is good, there is a lot of feeling with the 1000cc, and making it smoother into the corners should give us a small advantage."
Changing to a 1000cc this year it won’t be like the 990cc era, how do you envision the changes with the step to 1000cc bikes this year?
"To be honest, I don’t see it changing too much from 800s. With the electronics everyone has, the spin won’t be high, it will be there, but the electronics will fix it for some of the riders. We are on different tyres than we were on with the 990s, there was competition with the tyres then but now there isn’t. I don’t see it being a lot different from the 800 class, but we will see. I enjoy the 1000s more, they have more grunt and power, they are more tricky to get around smaller track, especially with low gearings, and we are having wheelie issues, with every shift it wants to pull up, so it will be a challenge to reduce that but in general it’s nice to be back on a 1000."
That’s not the only change this year, we have Claiming Rules Team (CRT) bikes and 21 bikes on the grid. You have been vocal about your views on the future of CRT, but do you think about them this season?
"We will wait and see. Looking at lap times - it’s not impressive. I’m sure there are some teams that will get it together and will have the right riders and should be quite competitive, but there are some out there that I don’t think will be competitive at all. I think they are just out there to make up numbers, which to be honest I’m happy about, but when they aren’t on competitive bikes and riders haven’t really proven themselves, it’s difficult to say how competitive everyone will be, but time will tell."
Who do you see as your contenders this season?
"My main rival will be Jorge (Lorenzo), he was first in 2010 and second in 2011, he will always be there fighting. All the factory guys as well as Andrea (Dovizioso) will be pushing up there on the Tech 3 Yamaha, it’s the same crew as in the past. Unfortunately we will be missing Marco (Simoncelli), who I’m sure would have been up at the front. Year by year it changes, so we will see who can put it together for the whole season."
How do you think Ducati will do this year?
"They are saying that they completely revamped 90 percent of the bike, but they did that in the middle of last year: They changed the bike back to front and top to bottom and nothing much changed. I’m hoping, for Ducati’s sake, that they can put together a competitive bike this year because the Championship needs it. Regardless of what the riders want, everyone needs as many manufacturers at the front as possible. Yamaha and Honda want competition; unfortunately Kawasaki and Suzuki are gone from the Championship, so we need all bikes at the front."
Who do you think are the up and coming talents in the paddock and who do you think will be competitive in the future?
"No one can look too far past Marc Marquez, he’s had a really impressive two seasons and proven himself to be a worthy champion. It will be interesting to see how he returns after his eye surgery, it’s scary a setback to be coming back from. It’s going to be hard to tell where the level is at, there are some riders who were in 125cc for a long, long time and those were the frontrunners. I think Viñales has been doing a great job. But it’s hard to tell who will be competitive until they get into MotoGP to see how far they will go."
There is talk that Marquez has already been marked as a future team-mate of yours.
"I like Marc a lot; he is a bit of a character. He has made some mistakes in the past, but he has the right attitude toward racing and he's an apt learner. He moves forward instead of stagnating and that’s impressive about Marc. It doesn’t matter who my team-mate is, you are still racing with the same group, whether someone is your team-mate or not, in the end you still have to beat them. Hopefully Marc will be one of those one day."
A lot of people are already saying 2012 is your year. How are feeling about this year compared to last?
"I see this year as possibly being a bit more difficult in some ways, if we can get the bike well sorted at the beginning of season it could go very well for us. But as we saw in race two last year, we got put on the back foot immediately, and then we were the ones who had to really chase hard. We had to put a perfect season together without any more mistakes, if we made one more, it could have gone very different for us. The way the Championship runs these days, it’s who gets their stuff together at the beginning of the season--and who doesn’t make mistakes--you make one mistake these days and it’s very hard to come back from. We feel confident about the season, but will have to see at the halfway point where we are and how much harder we have to push."

 

[wino]

Hopkins has finger-top amputated


Monday, 16 January 2012 09:53

Crescent Suzuki's John Hopkins has undergone surgery to amputate the top of the ring finger on his right hand. Following numerous surgeries and complications after his crash at the Brno MotoGP event in 2011, the Crescent Suzuki World Superbike rider is now positive that, after the operation in California, it will not adversely affect his Championship challenge this year.

He visited his consultant on Thursday and was given a set of options, the best being to remove part of the finger up to the first knuckle. This allows Hopkins to start physiotherapy in 10-11 days time and then be back on a bike in just three weeks.

John Hopkins: "I went to see my doctor for a progress report and the news was not great. It's never good news when you have to lose a body part, but this was the best scenario all round because otherwise the situation could've dragged on for some time, with not necessarily a better result in the end.

"Apart from the actual pain of the surgery, I must say that it's feeling better already. I now have about 10 days when I cannot do any physio, but then I can start again. This is a bit of a setback, but really not too bad because I have been training and getting fit for some time now, so my base level is very good. I'll be able to train fully again soon and be able to get on a bike in three weeks, so I'm sure I'll be ok for our first tests in Australia.

"I know the bike well and I've raced at Phillip Island before, so at least I will not be starting from scratch. Our GSX-R1000 has a very good base setting and I am confident that we're not going to be struggling at the start. The level of competition is tough for sure, but I think we're going to be competitive right from the start."

 

[wino]

Andrew Pitt announces retirement


Monday, 16 January 2012 16:28

​

Double World Supersport Champion Andrew Pitt has confirmed that he is officially retired from racing following a stellar career that spans 15 years, 10 of which were in World Championship competition. The 35-year-old Australian first made an impact on the road racing scene in Australia in 1996 when he finished runner up in the hotly contested 250 Production Championship. Just three years after his first road race Andrew was Australian Supersport Champion and runner up Superbike Champion, riding for Team Kawasaki Australia. This led to a three year contract with the Factory Kawasaki Racing Team in the World Championship. For the 2000 racing season Pitt moved to Europe to take on the best in the world, finishing 10th in his first WSS season.

Then, in only his second year abroad Andrew became Supersport Champion of the World in 2001. After a couple of seasons in MotoGP, he made a full time comeback to World Superbike riding for Yamaha for two seasons finishing eighth and fifth in the respective championships with a race win and six podiums. A return to Supersport in 2008 with Ten Kate Honda saw Pitt win nine races and take his second World Supersport Championship along the way. Andrew continued in Supersport in 2009 before moving to Superbike in 2010 with the ill-fated Reitwagen BMW team. Towards the end of the 2010 season Andrew was drafted into the Yamaha Superbike team to contest selected British Superbike rounds where an injury sustained in a crash at Brands Hatch in August caused irreversible nerve damage to his left shoulder. As a result, Pitt is not able to compete at the top level of racing and feels it is time to retire from competition.

Andrew Pitt: "When I first came to Europe in 2000 I could never have imagined I would spend 11 seasons racing in the World Championship. It really has been a fun ride and I have gained lots of great memories, as well as some painful ones, along the way. Winning the World Championships was something that I will have forever and never forget. And riding some of the best machines in the world has been incredible."

"I will miss the good days on the podium for sure but I will continue to ride in testing and training roles, as well as pursue my motorcycle magazine and television work. I want to stay in the motorcycle industry and I still have the same passion for bikes now as I did when I was 10-years old."

"I'd like to say a very special thank you to first of all my fans, who stuck with me in good years and not so good years. Also, my family, particularly my father Carl, have always been there for me and backed me in my racing, my personal sponsors who have stood by me always. Thanks also to all of the thousands of officials, marshals, medics, volunteers, mechanics, crew members and journalists that have helped me over the years".

 

[wino]

MotoGP™ gets in motion with 2012 pre-season testing

​

Monday, 23 January 2012
With the traditional winter break coming to an end, MotoGP™ teams and riders are about to tackle their pre-season testing schedule for the 2012 season.​

This year will see a brand new generation of MotoGP™ bikes on track with regulations changes increasing the maximum engine capacity to 1000cc. As manufacturers have been developing this new breed of bike since last year, the pre-season tests will be crucial for them to put the finishing touches to their 2012 contenders.
Teams and riders will have to make the most of the three, 3-day testing sessions, with a first test from 31/01 to 02/02 in Sepang, another at the Malaysian track from 28/02 to 01/03, before a final test in Jerez from 23/03 to 25/03, just two weeks before the start of the season in Qatar on the 8th of April.
The key factory teams will see their riders' line-up unchanged, with Casey Stoner set to defend his World Title alongside Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa; the Yamaha Factory team will again be represented by Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies, while Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden will be hard at work with the Ducati team in order to push the Italian outfit at the front of the MotoGP pack.
The off-season saw some major migrations including that of Andrea Dovizioso, who will make his debut on a Yamaha with Tech3 alongside Cal Crutchlow, and Alvaro Bautista, who will spearhead the Honda Gresini team effort. Hector Barbera will now be the sole rider of the Pramac Racing Team while Karel Abraham will continue his career with Cardion AB Racing Team.
Colin Edwards and Randy de Puniet joined the ranks of Forward Racing and Aspar Team respectively, for which they will ride the new CRT-spec machines. With the new CRT entries, a total of 21 riders will form the MotoGP grid this year, giving newcomers such as Danilo Petrucci, Ivan Silva, Michele Pirro and Yonny Hernandez a chance to shine in the premier class, and also a path back into MotoGP for the likes of Anthony West, Aleix Espargaro and James Ellison.
Another noteworthy entry is 2011 Moto2 World Champion Stefan Bradl, who will join the LCR Honda team as he graduates into the MotoGP class.
The next two months will also have riders from the lower classes getting into gear as the Valencia and Jerez circuits will host testing sessions for the Moto2 and Moto3 classes.
The Moto2™ class promises to be as entertaining and unpredictable as ever, with favourites such as Marc Marquez, Andrea Iannone and Scott Redding facing 125 World Champion Nico Terol and his runner-up Johann Zarco, in addition to the inaugural Moto2 World Champion, Toni Elias, who is set to make his return to the category that saw him take the crown in 2010.
Pre-season testing will be particularly important for the Moto3™ class contestants as the new 4-stroke 250cc bikes replace the old 2-stroke 125cc motorcycles. It will be interesting to see how the likes of Maverick Viñales, Sandro Cortese and Hector Faubel will fare on the brand new machinery.
Testing calendar:
- Sepang 1 MotoGP, 31/01-02/02
- Valencia Moto2/Moto3, 08/02-10/02
- Jerez 1 Moto2/Moto3, 16/02-18/02
- Sepang 2 MotoGP, 28/02-01/03
- Jerez 2 Moto2/Moto3, 19/03-21/03
- Jerez 1 MotoGP, 23/03-25/03

 

[wino]

-- Despres takes fourth Dakar title; Eleventh win for KTM​

Results Stage 14
1, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM 22 minutes 26
2, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM 23:34
3, Stefan Svitko, Slovakia, KTM 24:09
4, Gerard Farres Guell, Spain, KTM 24:27
5, Alessandro Botturi, Italy, KTM 24:37 ​

Overall Results after final Stage 14
Victory by Despres gives KTM its eleventh consecutive Dakar title
1, Cyril Despres, France, KTM, 43 hours 28 minutes and 11 seconds
2, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM at 53:20
3, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha at 1:11:17
4, Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM at 1:40:56
5, Stefan Svitko, Slovakia, KTM 1:47:28
Other KTM
6, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM at 2:11:56
7, Gerard Farres Guell, Spain, KTM at 2:14:22
8, Alessandro Botturi, Italy, KTM at 2:59:04
10, Felipe Zanol, Brazil, KTM at 3:25:56
12, Rubin Faria, Portugal, KTM at 4:13:10
13, Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM at 4:39:09
14, Johnny Aubert, France, KTM at 4:39:39

- KTM Report​

Red Bull KTM factory rider Cyril Despres on Sunday rode into Lima in triumph to seal his fourth career Dakar title and to present KTM with its eleventh consecutive win in this, the toughest event on the annual motorsports calendar.​

His KTM teammate Marc Coma finished second overall in what was one of the most epic two-way battles in the rally’s history.​

KTM has now won the motorcycle division of the Dakar rally every year since 2001, with the exception of 2008 when it was canceled because of security threats. In the 2012 edition, eight of the top 10 finishers and 15 of the top 20 rode KTM machines underlining the dominance of the Austrian brand’s sports bikes.​

The race was a personal triumph for French-born Despres who first won in 2005 and repeated the victory in 2007, 2010 and again in 2012. His KTM factory teammate Marc Coma, who won the rally in 2006, 2009 and 2011 finished second after one of the Dakar’s most historic and closely fought battles. Both riders set the scene for a two-way competition right from the first stage and remained minutes apart until the penultimate stage on Saturday. Coma won five stages in the 2012 edition and Despres four but it was the turn of the Frenchman to ride in triumph into Lima.​

Cyril Despres: Today we won and it's simply fantastic. This is without a shadow of a doubt the toughest Dakar I've ever raced in. It was difficult physically, but even more psychologically. Challenging yourself every morning and fighting on the course takes its toll on your mind. It's not like a 42-kilometer marathon; here, you have to earn your place every morning. All victories are beautiful, but this one is special because it came down to the wire and was decided at the last minute. This was an unimaginable scenario, with the leaders separated by mere seconds. I've done 90 or 85 rallies throughout my life, and this one was the one where I had to fight the hardest. Today will leave its mark on me.”​

The final stage from Pisco to Lima was largely ceremonial with a 254 km liaison section along the Pacific coastline of southern Peru and a brief 29 km timed special, a final encounter with the coastal dunes in the middle of the liaison section. Riders started in reverse order for the final stage that completed this marathon, almost 9,000 km ride from Mar del Plata in Argentina to Lima. Along the way they encountered vastly different terrain ranging from the Argentinean pampas to the high Andes, the daunting Atacama Desert of Chile and finally the southern coastal plains and rios of Peru. It was the first time that the rally had included Peru and the first time it represented a dash from the Atlantic coastline to the Pacific​

The last timed special went to Pal Anders Ullevalseter of Norway (KTM) who finished ahead of Coma in second place. Despres, who said after the penultimate stage that the effort to stay ahead of Coma had cost a huge amount of physical and mental energy coasted home in tenth place.​

Only minutes had separated the two KTM leaders going into the penultimate stage and the competition was fierce. Since the beginning of the rally both riders had never let up in speed and determination. But in the heat of the battle on Friday, Coma made a huge jump on the bike and when he landed he knew he had gearbox problems. He nursed the bike back to the bivouac but also made a navigational error in the process and this was enough to give his rival the lead he needed.​

A new Dakar rule in 2012 penalizes riders 15 minutes for the first change of engines and 45 minutes for the second. As the factory team had decided to change out both engines in the lead riders bikes one stage into the second half of the rally this meant that when Coma’s engine was changed a second time he was given another 45 minutes penalty, effectively handing the title to his teammate.​

Alex Doringer, Team Manager for KTM’s factory team said he was delighted that his top two riders had taken first and second place. “The battle between them was amazing,” he said from the finish in Lima, adding the team was also very happy that Johnny Aubert from the KTM Enduro Factory Team finished in overall fourteenth place in his rookie Dakar ride. Johnny rode a standard series model KTM 450 Rally Replica and went into the rally with a mission to learn and enjoy.​

KTM’s motorsports expert Heinz Kinigadner, himself a former Dakar rider said it was a great day for the company. “This battle between Cyril Despres and Marc Coma was one of the tightest and one of the most interesting in the history of the rally. They were virtually wheel on wheel in almost every stage. They both gave everything both physically and mentally and they both deserve to go into the Dakar record books for this great effort. It is naturally unfortunate that Marc had some gearbox problems in the penultimate stage and picked up a 45-minute penalty for the engine change. Otherwise their times at the finish line would have been only minutes apart.”​

- Husqvarna Report​

The Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain offers a positive summary of the recent Rally Dakar. Four out of five riders reached the finish in Lima. This debut result is highly encouraging for the team and the Husqvarna brand, as the new bike proved its worthiness right away - completing the race without a single technical failure.​

The highlights were six podium finishes and one stage victory. This was part of the initial objective, which the team had targetted for the Dakar 2012. The team was consistenly fast with two riders regularly up front - even if the aim to put one pilot on the overall podium couldn´t be fulfilled.​

The outstanding motivation of the team was tested with the jury decision against Paulo Goncalves. Also, Joan Barreda experienced bad luck during the stages three and four, when the talented Spaniard suffered from a crash and a broken rear wheel, which costed him a lot of valuable time. Barreda couldn´t make up the loss until the race end.​

"Joan has the speed to run with the two best riders in the race," says team principal Wolfgang Fischer. "His stage results definitely give proof and he would have deserved to stand on the overall podium". Paulo Goncalves was most likely a top five finisher in Lima, if not for the incompehensible jury decision.​

By the way: Joan Barreda was by many considered the revelation of this year´s Dakar. He was matching the speed of the top riders and is regarded as a man of the future.​

Jose Manuel Pellicer performed as an excellent team addition. He was always there when needed, i.e. helping Barreda out of his rear wheel problem. Pellicer was a last-minute replacement, but he nevertheless integrated himself seemlessly into the team and earned everybody´s respect right away. Zé Hélio rode a steady race to finish inside the top twenty. His final result shows the depth of the field. Each year the Dakar becomes more and more competitive, especially at the front.​

The Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain would like to use the opportunity and thank all sponsors and fans worldwide, who virtually followed the team throughout this spectacular race.​

Finally, the team would like to extend the very best wishes to Ike Klaumann, their fifth rider. The Brazilian is on his way to a full recovery, after having to quit the race following a crash. The team returns home on Tuesday after the podium ceremony, where preparations for the new season will go underway.​