Cyril Despres

Cyril Despres leaves KTM for new challenges

Cyril — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 20:23:26 +0000

After 12 years and 10 Dakar podiums, 5 of which were victories, Cyril Despres and KTM have jointly agreed to go their separate ways, leaving Cyril free to explore new challenges and new horizons.

Cyril Despres

“I have spent a large part of my career to date with KTM, so as you can imagine it wasn’t a decision that was taken lightly. They were great years, very fruitful, both professionally and personally, and I owe much to everyone at KTM , especially the ‘boss’ Stefan Pierer, whose enthusiasm for the sport of rally-raid matches my own. I would also like to say a big ‘thank you’ to Heinz Kinigadner and Head of Motorsport Pit Beirer and everyone in the rally department. When I arrived it was run by the much missed Hans Trunkenpolz, who taught me how to develop a rally bike, and whose work is now being very ably continued by Stefan Huber. Finally, I say a very fond farewell to my factory mechanic throughout all that time, Roland Bruckner, and my support rider during the last four Dakars, Ruben Faria, who I wish all the best for the future.

Although I say goodbye to all these people, I am sure I will be seeing many of them again very soon, as, with the continued support of my long-time partner Redbull, I will most definitely be staying in the sport. It is a little too early to give any more details, suffice to say I am extremely motivated by the new challenge I am about to embark on and look forward to giving you further details in the very near future.”

All the best

Cyril

PS: As the explorer Mike Horn would say “it’s not the end of the story, it’s just the beginning of a new one…”.

Scoop – I will ride now on 4 wheels !

Cyril — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:37:47 +0000

Video chat Tuesday, January 29, 2013 at 18:00 on redbull.fr

Cyril — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 00:22:55 +0000

Hi everybody, I look forward to seeing you Tuesday, January 29, 2013 at 18:00 on redbull.fr for a live video chat from Red Bull France offices!

News cut from January 20th during the 2013 Rally – Red Bull Content Pool

Cyril — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 05:27:17 +0000

2013 Dakar – Final stage

Cyril — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 23:45:31 +0000

Arriving in Santiago, KTM Redbull rider Cyril Despres took his 5th Dakar victory, with his team mate Ruben Faria reclaiming the second place ahead of the Chilean Chaleco Lopez.

Cyril Despres

“The Dakar is never easy but always unpredictable. This year the start in Peru meant a lot of sand and a lot of navigation right from the first day. And things got even more complicated, when half way through the rally I had to make an engine swap on the marathon bivouac, away from my assistance. Happily I was able to overcome these challenges and fight my way to the overall lead during the second half of the rally.

For me this victory is special in a number of ways. Firstly because it has been a while since anybody has managed to win two consecutively. If my memory serves me correctly I think Richard Sainct was the last rider to do it. My team mate Ruben taking the second place also makes me very happy. This is the fourth year he has been alongside me and in that time he has really matured as a competitor.

Now of course everybody is asking me if I want to carry on and try and equal Stephane Peterhansel’s record. The answer is ‘yes’ I want to carry on, but not to break any records. It is quite simply because this race fascinates and excites me as much now as it did when I first entered back in 2000. And as long as that is the case I will keep returning! Many, many thanks to the team members, KTM, Redbull and all my other partners for making it possible.”

General ranking – Final stage

1 DESPRES (FRA) 43:24:22
2 FARIA (PRT) 43:35:05
3 LOPEZ (CHL) 43:43:10
4 JAKES (SVK) 43:48:16
5 PEDRERO (ESP) 44:19:51

2013 Dakar – Stage 13

Cyril — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 23:44:21 +0000

The penultimate stage of the 2013 Dakar went to a hard charging Chaleco Lopez ahead of Cyril Despres with Paulo Goncalves third. Overall Chaleco’s win puts him up to second place 08’15 behind Cyril, while Cyril’s team mate Ruben Faria is now in third at 14’41.

Cyril Despres

“It was a good stage today with some tricky navigation on parts of the first special. There were a lot of spectators out there who’d made some tracks and that made it even more complicated. Definitely not a day to push too hard…
Of course this evening everybody is asking me if I think I have won the race, but I have too much respect for the Dakar to declare myself the winner with one stage still left to go. On this race anything can happen, that is one of the reasons it is so special, and also the reason I will be staying very concentrated all the way to the final finish line.”

General ranking stage 13

1 DESPRES (FRA) 41:37:18
2 LOPEZ (CHL) 41:45:33
3 FARIA (PRT) 41:51:59
4 JAKES (SVK) 42:02:03
5 PEDRERO (ESP) 42:20:49

News cut from January 16th during the 2013 Rally Dakar / Red Bull Content Pool

Cyril — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 23:23:01 +0000

2013 Dakar – Stage 12

Cyril — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 23:20:48 +0000

Crossing the Andes today the stage was won by Frans Verhoeven ahead of Ruben Faria with Barreda third. Overall Cyril Despres maintains the lead 05’39 ahead of Ruben with Chaleco Lopez still third at 13’40.

Cyril Despres

“Today we switched roles and I worked for Ruben for a change. When he came into the 15 minute refuelling neutralisation, just before I was about the leave, he told me had a problem with his front wheel, so I gave him my spoke key. Then, instead of opening the piste, and pulling Ruben’s rivals for the second place further away from him, I slowed the pace right down and ‘encouraged’ the others riding with me to have a go at the navigation. It was a tactic that paid off as nobody was able to pull away and in the end Ruben increased his lead over Lopez by 2 minutes, something that might prove very important coming into Santiago.

It might seem a little strange to actually slow down with just two stages left to run but look a little closer and it isn’t so strange at all. Lopez started four minutes behind me and as I expected he caught me up. Once he’d done that, whether I’d ridden flat out or slowed right down the time difference between us wouldn’t have changed. Plus it meant I took less risks and economised my machine. Effectively it cost me very little to help Ruben and gave me great pleasure to repay him a little for all he has done for me over the last 4 years.”

General ranking stage 12

1 DESPRES (FRA) 37:46:59
2 FARIA (PRT) 37:52:38
3 LOPEZ (CHL) 38:00:39
4 JAKES (SVK) 38:07:15
5 PEDRERO (ESP) 38:28:13

2013 Dakar – Stage 11

Cyril — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:58:11 +0000

On a short stage, made extremely complicated by recent rain, Kurt Caselli took his second stage victory ahead of Paulo Goncalves with Cyril Despres third. Overall Cyril increases his lead on his team mate Ruben Faria to 13’15 with third placed man Chaleco Lopez now at 18’03.

Cyril Despres

“Today was not a day to win the Dakar but definitely a day to lose it. Something always happens at Fiambala and this year it was no exception, with the weather once again taking the starring role. When we started off it was pretty hot, and then we went into the mountains where it was so foggy I couldn’t get my bearings. After that we came down again and it started to rain really heavily with a lot of water in the riverbeds. About 6 of us grouped up, me, Caselli, Goncalves, Pedrero, Barreda… and then Kurt and I broke from the others about 60 kilometres from the end. Kurt was riding ‘Baja style’, jumping off everything and gave me a great ‘tow’ to the end. In the end the day turned out much better than expected.”

General ranking stage 11

1 DESPRES (FRA) 33:48:29
2 FARIA (PRT) 34:01:45
3 LOPEZ (CHL) 34:06:37
4 JAKES (SVK) 34:12:02
5 BOTTURI (ITA) 34:18:01

News cut from January 15th during the 2013 Rally Dakar / Red Bull Content Pool

Cyril — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 18:35:54 +0000