Cyril Despres
Cyril Despres (born January 24, 1974 in Nemours, France)[1] is a French rally racer and resident of Andorra.[2] He won the Dakar Rally five times, in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2013;[3] riding a KTM motorcycle. He also won the Red Bull Romaniacs, one of the toughest hard enduro events on the planet, three times, in 2004, 2005 and 2007 and the Erzberg Rodeo in 2002 and 2003.[4]
On January 10, 2012, at the 2012 Dakar Rally, Portuguese pilot Paulo Gonçalves pulled Despres out of the mud but Cyril did not return the favour. Out of 7 riders all but the Spaniard Marc Coma got stuck, the organisers therefore changed the course. At the end of the stage, the time lost was credited to Despres. Goncalves received a penalty of 6 hours for receiving external help. Coma was not credited the time he lost by going around the mudhole.[5][6][7][8][9]
After a closely fought battle with his KTM teammate, Spaniard Marc Coma for the victory, Despres got back into the lead on the penultimate stage (Stage 13) thanks to a mechanical failure on Coma's bike. Despres managed to maintain the lead until the end of the rally. Thus Cyril Despres gained his fourth overall victory on the Dakar Rally, equaling former Honda and Cagiva rider, Italian Edi Orioli's performance.
A new chapter began in his Dakar career in 2015 when he joined the Peugeot team as a driver alongside Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel, who previously switched from the motorbike to car category with great success. His co-driver was Gilles Picard. Despres/Picard finished 34th, in 2016 Despres came in 7th overall, his co-driver was David Castera.[10]
In July 2016, he and Castera won the cars' category at the Silk Way Rally.[11]
Dakar Rally results
| Year | Class | Vehicle | Position | Stages won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Motorbike |  Honda
|
16th | 0 |
| 2001 |  BMW
|
13th | 1 | |
| 2002 |  KTM
|
DNF | 0 | |
| 2003 | 2nd | 3 | ||
| 2004 | 3rd | 4 | ||
| 2005 | 1st | 2 | ||
| 2006 | 2nd | 4 | ||
| 2007 | 1st | 2 | ||
| 2008 | Event cancelled – replaced by Central Europe Rally | |||
| 2009 | Motorbike | KTM
|
2nd | 4 |
| 2010 | 1st | 3 | ||
| 2011 | 2nd | 3 | ||
| 2012 | 1st | 3 | ||
| 2013 | 1st | 1 | ||
| 2014 | Yamaha
|
4th | 3 | |
| 2015 | Cars |  Peugeot
|
34th | 0 |
| 2016 | 7th | 0 | ||
References
- ^ Cyril Despres – Red Bull profile
- ^ World Xtreme Enduro Championship – Cyril Despres
- ^ Rider sheet – Cyril DESPRES
- ^ Cyril Despres, the 07 RB Romaniacs Rally and the brand new 2008 model KTM 300 EXC-E
- ^ Cyril Despres’s Blog: Dakar Rally | Muddy mayhem, Cyril Despres, 2012-01-10.
- ^ Cyril Despres gives Marc Coma a commanding lead with mistake on stage eight of the Dakar Rally, 2012-01-10, foxsports australia.
- ^ 2012 Dakar Rally: Fair Play Abandoned in the Mud (Video), dave on dailypicsandflics with the video of Despres deserting Goncalves, 2012-01-10.
- ^ Barreda in the top five again, Goncalves speedbrain Team site, 2012-01-10.
- ^ Goncalves Penalized 6 Hours In Dakar, 2012-01-12.
- ^ Organisation, A.S.O. - Amaury Sport. "General ranking stage 13 car page :Dakar". Retrieved July 30, 2016.
- ^ "THE SILK WAY FLAMETHE SILK WAY FLAME". www.silkwayrally.com. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
External links
