THE END OF A SERIES?

Whith three wins apiece, Cyril Despres and Marc Coma ate tied in te roll of honour of the Dakar. But it is not a done deal that one of the twoo champions wil forge ahead of the other in 2012; the Aprilia, Yamaha, Husqvarna and Honda pilots, as well as their KTM teammates, are ready to overtake them without the silghtest hesitation.

Cyril Despres and Marc Coma have spent the last six years taking turns at winning the rally and do not seem to feel the burden of the years weighing on their shoulders. The two stars of this sport may very well end up crossing swords again, racing on identical KTM 450 motorcycles and with the same lieutenants as last year: Ruben Faria and Juan Pedrero, respectively. Racing in the same colours and being based in the same truck in the bivouac has provided an opportunity for the two Dakar favourites to smooth ruffled feathers. "We have toned things down a bit", explains Despres. Coma adds that "there is no need for sparks to fly between two sporting rivals". Although a quick glance at the rally's palmarès reveals that KTM's stars have the best shot at victory, their performances so far this year have exposed chinks in their armour which their rivals could exploit. Despres won the Rally dos Sertões but was later forced to abandon his last race in Australia, one of the few times in his career that he had to withdraw from a rally. Coma triumphed in the Pharaons Rally, the Rally di Sardegna and the Dubai Rally, but mechanical issues prevented him from finishing higher than 10th in the Morocco Rally, his last test before defending his title in South America.

I choose this piece of neew because I love the Dakar since I was a child. It's amazing how they can overcome all the obstacles that they find during the race so I decided to dedicate this piece of my blog to all the Dakar participants.