More Monday Morning Moto News - Dakar Rememberances

The 2010 Rally Dakar is over and the scores, times and names are in the books. However, it was a huge event and there was at least one story for each competitor - if not more. So, let's take a look at some of the interesting news which came from the event and look back on the incredible race that it was.

First comes a story about the fourth Canadian to ever finish a Dakar event - Patrick Trahan. This was his third trip to the event, but first time to go all the way to the finish. That is not uncommon due to the harsh conditions and the ever-increasing risks associated with riding at this level. What a story...

http://tinyurl.com/ybl96p5

Next, of course, comes the story from the Italian Aprilia team, Team Aprilia Giofil. They had a very tough road and competed in a few other rallies before venturing to Dakar. They also put on one hell of a show at the event by winning stages and having one rider, Francisco Lopez, finish overall third. And, to make it even more interesting, this was the first Dakar ever for the Aprilia RXV 4.5 Africa.

http://tinyurl.com/ybjuhbl

A final overall race report - and it is long: http://tinyurl.com/ydmodfm

Next is the expected report on the winner of the motorcycle event, Cyril Despres: http://tinyurl.com/y9ava5c

Some great and colorful photos: http://tinyurl.com/ybewv5g

Sunday Morning Moto News - Dakar Stories for All

Well, the Rally Dakar is over now and we all know that Cyril Despres and his KTM won the event in convincing style. But, what we may not know are all of the stories around the event which ended several hours ago. First up are some stories on the victor, then there is a story about the American rider, Jonah Street. The rest of these come from various sources and will give you full coverage of the event. So, since it is Sunday, sit back and click on some links!

http://tinyurl.com/ye67crb

http://tinyurl.com/y96hycw

http://tinyurl.com/ycqhnxv

Jonah Street: http://tinyurl.com/yel8srb

Team Aprilia Giofil report: http://tinyurl.com/ye2d3cy

Saturday Morning Moto News - Dakar Winner!

This will have to be a Stage 13 and Stage 14 report as all of the news now is about the winner. Stage 13 saw the KTM 690 machines take the advantage over the Aprilia machines, with KTM's Pal-Anders Ullevalseter taking the S13 win, Cyril Despres in second and Marc Coma finishing in that order. The Aprilia team did manage a high position of fourth in S13. Lopez sat in third overall by the end of S13. In Stage 14, Despres took the stage victory, Ullevalseter took second and Francisco Lopez rounded out the podium.

These results give the overall victory to the constant leader Cyril Despres! He now has his third Dakar victory and looks to still be a threat for the next running of this historic event. It's an impressive career so far, and it only looks to be getting better. This means that Francisco Lopez has taken victory in the 450 class, but he ended up third overall in the Rally Dakar - and it was his first. Look for Lopez to be a real threat in all such rallies in the future; his Aprilia team is very capable of winning any of these events.

Stage 13 Results: http://tinyurl.com/ygzx3vh

Stage 13 Aprilia Report: http://tinyurl.com/y92o6v5

Stage 13 Video: http://tinyurl.com/yaztz6s

Stage 14 Article: http://tinyurl.com/y8qmbvb

More on the Despres victory: http://tinyurl.com/y8u8tld

Friday Morning Moto Racing News - Dakar and WSBK

Well, we finally get updates on Stage 11's issues and the corrected times of everyone who was sent the wrong way by incorrect course markers. So, yesterday's results may have changed, though I did post the 'fixed' list yesterday. So, on to Stage 12 and we hear that, indeed, Francisco Lopez took the stage victory, with Yamaha's French rider David Fretigne in second and KTM mounted Norseman Pal-Anders Ullevalseter rounding out the podium. Stage 12's route really favored the 450 machines and the results demonstrate that. Of course, Cyril Despres is still in the overall lead, but Aprilia's Lopez is now firmly in second.

http://tinyurl.com/ylsygyz

http://tinyurl.com/yjvyhsl

http://tinyurl.com/yje6aw4

http://tinyurl.com/yffwhgm

Early Stage 13 results: http://tinyurl.com/ygzx3vh

Speaking of Aprilia, we wonder if the Borciani-Guandalini with Aprilia deal has gone through. It appears to have been decided, though nothing has been officially announced, based on a leaked World Superbike entry list. They have hired Jakub Smrz to ride on the satellite Aprilia team. (There are other little tid-bits here too.)

http://tinyurl.com/yfal6xy

Thursday Morning Moto Race News - Dakar and Aprilia WSBK

Rally Dakar has finished Stage 11 now and the teams are now back into Argentina as of the end of this stage. Cyril Despres still holds a commanding overall lead after taking the win in this stage. Right behind him was the American KTM rider Jonah Street, with third place going to French KTM rider Alain Duclos. At least that is what the article says about Stage 11. According to the actual results, everyone is in a different order with Marc Coma taking the win. At least the overall standings match up right. According to one article, Francisco Lopez is in third overall, but the stat page shows him in a solid second place. Apparently, the confusion arises due to a policeman sending riders down the wrong path and they had to loop back around and join the rest of the race later. So, according to reports, the final/corrected Stage 11 rankings are in the first link.

http://tinyurl.com/ylsq82w - official results

http://tinyurl.com/yzaf6v5 - early report on Stage 11

http://tinyurl.com/yfqtnyn - Team Aprilia Giofil report

Early Stage 12 reports: http://tinyurl.com/yffwhgm - http://tinyurl.com/yzuxacf - Lopez looks to have won another Stage

Staying on the Aprilia theme which is part of the Dakar story, let's have a look at a short piece/interview with Aprilia's World Superbike team manager Luigi Dall’Igna. After 2009, we can all imagine that this team will be on top again in the 2010 season...

http://tinyurl.com/yhxkalh

Tuesday Morning Moto Racing News - Dakar and, uh, James Ellison

Yep, we are getting near the final and important stages in the Rally Dakar. Stage Nine ended yesterday and our former champion (who has little chance of winning this year, unfortunately) KTM's Marc Coma won the stage by only four seconds to take his third stage victory in 2010. Right behind him was current points leader - and likely winner of the 2010 event - Cyril Despres on his KTM. Aprilia's Francisco Lopez ran in third for this stage and remains in third place overall. For more, take one or all of the following links.

http://tinyurl.com/y96uz24

http://tinyurl.com/ycebsnd

http://tinyurl.com/y9bxhq6

http://tinyurl.com/ybze7tm

And, in other racing news, we hear that British Superbike star James Ellison has been in Texas training with Ben Spies for the 2010 season. Given his appearances in the final events of the 2009 season of BSB - with Leon Camier, who took first as Ellison took second - one would think he would also have a ride in 2010. But, that is not the case. However, if someone should pick him up, he will be in great shape to challenge for the championship in any series!

http://tinyurl.com/ye86ewr

Monday Morning Moto Racing News - WERA and Dakar

Suzuki mounted Chris Ulrich managed to take two victories at this past weekend's WERA West Races held at Auto Club Speedway in California. He had to take the victories from Honda CBR1000RR rider Jeremy Toye in both of those events - Formula One and A Superbike. Toye then managed to win the C Superbike race riding a Yamaha R-6. There were several races held all weekend and for the full list of results, please take the link.


http://tinyurl.com/yhxx2hy

Though this may have been better posted at the top, I can only go in order that I dig things up. So, on to Stage 8 of the Rally Dakar in South America - they are in Chile now. Aprilia's Francisco Lopez won yet another stage yesterday and put himself into third overall. But, right behind him was Marc Coma - who has decided to continue despite the penalty he was assessed two days ago. Overall leader Cyril Despres continues in first, but the best he could finish in this Stage was fifth due to tire issues. For more, check the links below.

http://tinyurl.com/ygbtp3h

http://tinyurl.com/yg92ouk

http://tinyurl.com/yfzajhm

Video: http://tinyurl.com/yentbow

Saturday Morning Moto News from Dakar

Out of Rally Dakar we now have Stage 7 results. KTM's Cyril Despres and Marc Coma took the 1 -2 positions on the day and proved why they are racing in this event. Despres now has a commanding lead on all the motorcycle racers, with Coma right behind him in the overall points. Aprilia's Francisco Lopez has now fallen back to 5th place overall. Take the links to learn more...

http://tinyurl.com/y9ef82l

http://tinyurl.com/yb7mhsg

http://tinyurl.com/yeaw3xa

Friday Moto News - Dakar Edition

Wow, another busy news day around here. First, on to Rally Dakar...

First of all comes news that rider Luca Manca of Sardinia crashed hard and was evacuated to a hospital for serious cranial trauma - no work on how he is doing now, though. It appears that Francisco Chaleco Lopez managed a fourth place finish in Stage 6 and remains in second place overall with Cyril Despres still at the top of the leader board. For more, please see the numerous links below.

http://tinyurl.com/y95euwb

http://tinyurl.com/yfnov5n

Day to day run down of victors for most classes: http://tinyurl.com/ybzay9k

Some photos and videos of the Dakar action in Stage 6: http://tinyurl.com/y928s3j

More photos from Stage 6 (all classes): http://tinyurl.com/ybafhpn

Thursday Morning Moto News - Dakar and More...

Some interesting Rally Dakar news as Aprilia mounted Francisco Lopez Contardo (and the various authors change his name around constantly) wins a stage during the fifth day. This is huge as it brings Lopez into second place overall for now. Frenchman David Casteu crashed hard and is now out of the race due to tearing a muscle. For more information, take the following links - there are plenty.

http://tinyurl.com/yforzzj

http://tinyurl.com/yl5z6kj

In some very good news from Asia, we hear that the Sepang International Circuit has reached an agreement with Dorna to hold the Malaysian Grand Prix until 2015. That will help many Malaysian wildcard riders get a better chance of making it to the series full-time. Plus, the area around the track will enjoy the economic shot in the arm that the MotoGP Championship brings with them.

http://tinyurl.com/yfux2cu

In the World Superbike Championship, Ducati's factory team has made some personnel changes. Of course, you already know about the team manager moving over to BMW (Tardozzi). Well, now the whole team organization has changed in order to replace him and move other personnel into key positions. For a comprehensive guide to the new arrangement, take the link and have a read.

http://tinyurl.com/yzjmz75

Welcome to Wednesday! More Rally Dakar News for All of Us

It is a rather news-filled morning, so not all of it will make it into the first post - there will be more news in the next one or two.

Starting out, of course, you will probably want to get updated on the Rally Dakar. They have entered Chile now. First of all, let's look at the raw results:

http://tinyurl.com/yfq2cke

Next, on the same site, we have a story about the Aprilia contingent, Team Aprilia Giofil. Apparently, they are starting to get some good results - at least with Francisco Contardo Lopez, who sits in seventh overall. But, they keep running out of fuel - not good in the Dakar.

http://tinyurl.com/yb7f5ro

And, of course, KTM's Marc Coma has finally won his first stage of the event by beating out Sherco's David Casteu.

http://tinyurl.com/y853nzw

That's about it for the Dakar information for today. If there are more stories which come in during the day, I will add them here.

Saturday Morning Moto News - Racing Reports

One important mention here is the news that Roger Lee Hayden will be riding a Kawasaki ZX-10R for Pedercini Racing in the 2010 World Superbike Championship. This means that Rog will be joining his brother Nicky on the world racing stage. It is really about time that another Hayden brother makes it to that level - they are all quite skilled at riding motorcycles.

http://tinyurl.com/ybtms6p

Now, an update or more from the Rally Dakar which began yesterday in South America. As you would expect, there is not a great deal of information on how well anyone is doing, but at least we can see how the first day started off. So, jump on over and have a read. The first link is an update on the Giofil Aprilia Racing Team from before the start, and the second link is really just another introduction to the event itself - and a bit about the first day in Argentina.

http://tinyurl.com/y9ppvhe

http://tinyurl.com/ya5mpz9

Aprilia Will Back Team Giofil’s Dakar Rally 2010

The Aprilia RXV 4.5 race bikes have already won the Rally of the Pharoahs in both 2008 and 2009. Now, with the factory support of Aprilia, Team Giofil will have a real chance at winning the Dakar Rally in 2010. Their team consists of proven racers Paolo Ceci, Gerard Farres, Francisco Lopez and Alex Zanotti. It will be an interesting race in the South American backroads next year.

http://tinyurl.com/yjfy5ub

Team Aprilia Giofil Getting Ready for 2010 Dakar Rally

They have announced their team now - Francisco "Chaleco" Lopez, Gerard Farres, Paolo Ceci and Alex Zanotti - the usual suspects for this off-road team's purposes. They will be riding the Aprilia RXV 4.5 in the event against some competitors with engines almost three times a large. But, the RXV did take victory in the 450 class at the Pharaon's Rally in Egypt. For the team, this is a dream come true!

http://tinyurl.com/yk7ynv9

Update from Pharaons Rally in Egypt - Seventh and Final Stage

Yeah, this is also late...it is increasingly tough to get English language updates from the Pharaons Rally. So, without any more excuses, here we go. Paolo Ceci has won the 450c.c. class at the rally, coming in fourth place overall against many larger machines. Francisco Lopez finished 46 seconds after Ceci and that gave him second in class; if not for an electrical gremlin back in Stage 3, he very well might have finished first overall! Alex Zanotti, who won this class last year, crashed out in Stage 4. If only we had TV coverage...

http://tinyurl.com/yjchf8x

http://tinyurl.com/ygsztvd

From Stage 6: http://tinyurl.com/yjymlog

Update from Stage 4 of the Pharaons Rally in Egypt

It seems that many of the competitors had some issues in this stage - even the solid Aprilia team has had their issues. But, rider Francisco Lopez managed to win an important test in the event - and beat the larger KTM 690 machine with his 450c.c. Aprilia in the process...

http://tinyurl.com/yloe8dv

Better Update from Egyptian Pharaons Rally

From a series of press releases comes some solid news about the Pharaons Rally running currently in Egypt. We hear more about Francisco Lopez and his troubles with his bike. Also, there is news of Alessandro Zanotti, leader Cyril Despres, Paolo Ceci and more! This is the latest news that I have found on the rally as press coverage is oddly missing from many front-line moto news sites.

http://tinyurl.com/yeaxrza

Update from Pharaons Rally in Egypt

This article is not the best as far as grammar and spelling - I think it was just translated using software - but it at least gives us an update of the Egyptian Pharaons Rally. It seems that Cyril Despres is making up time lost early in the rally and is closing on leader Francisco Lopez. For more info, just click the link and see if you can understand it...

http://tinyurl.com/ydu4j76

Team Aprilia to Tackle Pharaons Rally in Egypt

The Giofil Team Aprilia will run well-known rally champion Francisco "Chaleco" Lopez on their Aprilia RXV 450 Africa twin. He will ride alongside Alex Zanotti and Paolo Ceci. This is an important race for them as they are very likely to ride in the Dakar rally next year and they need to get some racing done first!

http://tinyurl.com/kjhmhw