Cyril Despres

Cyril Despres in 2009

Cyril Despres (born January 24, 1974 in Nemours, France)^[1] is a French rally racing motorcycle rider, 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 three times, one of the toughest hard enduro events on the planet, in 2004, 2005 and 2007 and the Erzberg Rodeo in 2002 and 2003.^[4]

On January 10, 2012, at 2012 Dakar Rally, Portuguese pilot Paulo Gonçalves pulled Despres out of the mud but Cyril did not return the favour. As out of 7 riders all but the Spaniard Marc Coma got stuck, the organisers changed the course. At the end, the time lost was credited to Despres. Goncalves received a penalty of 6 hours for receiving external help. Coma got not credited the time he lost going around the mudhole.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

After a hectic 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, which he managed to keep on the last stage. Thus Cyril Despres has gained his fourth overall victory on the Dakar Rally, equalling former Honda and Cagiva rider, Italian Edi Orioli's performance.

Dakar Rally results

• 2000 : 16th
• 2001 : 13th, 1 stage victory
• 2002 : Did not finish
• 2003 : 2nd, 3 stage victories
• 2004 : 3rd, 4 stage victories
• 2005 : Winner, 2 stage victories
• 2006 : 2nd, 4 stage victories
• 2007 : Winner, 2 stage victories
• 2009 : 2nd, 4 stage victories
• 2010 : Winner, 3 stage victories
• 2011 : 2nd, 4 stage victories
• 2012 : Winner, 3 stage victories
• 2013 : Winner, 1 stage victory

References

1. ↑ Cyril Despres – Red Bull profile
2. ↑ World Xtreme Enduro Championship – Cyril Despres
3. ↑ Rider sheet – Cyril DESPRES
4. ↑ Cyril Despres, the 07 RB Romaniacs Rally and the brand new 2008 model KTM 300 EXC-E
5. ↑ Cyril Despres’s Blog: Dakar Rally | Muddy mayhem, Cyrill Despres, 2012-01-10.
6. ↑ Cyril Despres gives Marc Coma a commanding lead with mistake on stage eight of the Dakar Rally, 2012-01-10, foxxports australia.
7. ↑ 2012 Dakar Rally: Fair Play Abandoned in the Mud (Video), dave on dailypicsandflics with the video of Despres deserting Goncalves, 2012-01-10.
8. ↑ Barreda in the top five again, Goncalves speedbrain Team site, 2012-01-10.
9. ↑ Goncalves Penalized 6 Hours In Dakar, 2012-01-12.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cyril Despres.

• Official website