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

Wednesday Morning News - Moto Style - Dakar

We head to New Zealand before we get to South America to read about Robbie Bugden, who is the current New Zealand Superbike champion is getting ready for the 2010 season. Taking the title is only half the battle in some cases; defending the title is even tougher. Bugden will ride for Triple R Mack Truck Suzuki on a GSX-R1000. The series is only five rounds long, and riders come in from everywhere to compete in the event - most from the U.K. and, obviously, Australia....good story and the season begins this weekend (16 - 17 January 2010 at Ruapuna!


http://tinyurl.com/yhewkd5

Given the weird pace of results coming in from Dakar, it appears that I am behind by a day or so. I am just now reporting on Stage 10, while I have already seen results from Stage 11. So, in an attempt to simplify things, I will be placing the Stage 10 results and stories below and the Stage 11 information I find below that. In SS10, Marc Coma took the victory, but he was followed by some riders who are usually not that close to him - David Fretigne and Helder Rodrigues. The overall standings did not change much, though, but go and have a look...

http://tinyurl.com/ydjjm4o

http://tinyurl.com/ybbpkw2

http://tinyurl.com/yethw9x

Early Stage 11 reports: http://tinyurl.com/yejx8l7 - http://tinyurl.com/ybevgaj

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

Sunday Morning Rally Dakar Update - Rest Day News

So, yesterday was the rest day at the Rally Dakar, thus we only have some news from the event in South America. The usual suspects are in the lead at the half-way point, so nothing new there. Well, except for Marc Coma's penalty, which may have dropped him from the competition altogether (he will certainly not win now). And, Cyril Despres is in a commanding lead while all the other riders are now fighting for second and third behind him.

http://tinyurl.com/ydfguxr - Some truck and car news as well.

http://tinyurl.com/yeb8dpu

http://tinyurl.com/yb8syh4 - The President of the Republic of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, visited the bivouac during the rest day.

Rally Dakar Update from Stage 7 in Chile - Marc Coma Penalized

KTM rider Coma was assessed a 6 hour penalty by the organizers for what they say was an illegal tire change during Stage 7. Moto course director Marc Ducrocq has stated that they have photos of him changing his wheel behind a house along the route. Coma is claiming innocence and says that the organizers cannot prove anything at this point. Either way, he will suffer for the 6 hour addition to his time and that leaves KTM rider Cyril Despres more likely to take victory.

http://tinyurl.com/ylovxj6

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.

Rally Dakar Update from Day 1 in Argentina

Day one is finished in the Rally Dakar and we have an interesting finish on our hands. David Casteu, who is running the Rally with his own Sherco-based team, took victory in the first race of the two week event. Behind him were the KTMs of Frenchman Cyril Despres and Spaniard - and 2009 champion - Marc Coma. So far, the event has had no major problems and it all seems to be going smoothly, at least from the spectator side of things. We will see more results throughout the Dakar and I will post all I see.

http://tinyurl.com/y9cwv8t

New Year's Eve Moto News - Rally Dakar Edition

That's right, the Rally Dakar is coming around very quickly now and we have some news about the event to go over in preparation.

First off, it seems that they have set up the course to be even more grueling than it was in previous years. 9000 Km of rough riding or driving across the South American nations of Chile and Argentina. It is some of the toughest off-road conditions in the world and it will be a real test of endurance, drive and determination for every participant. It all starts tomorrow, 1 January 2010, so get ready!

http://tinyurl.com/yzqjypg

Aprilia has released photos and information on the 2010 RXV 4.5 Dakar, which Team Giofil will be using in the Rally Dakar. Paolo Ceci, Gerard Farres, Francisco Lopez and Alex Zanotti will all ride the Italian off-road machine starting tomorrow, 1 January 2010. The team had a great 2009 Rally of the Pharoahs, so they are a real threat for the Dakar this year...

http://tinyurl.com/yhmrq49

http://tinyurl.com/yhdt3qy

Here are some important milestones of the Dakar:

http://tinyurl.com/yb9sajs

On the USA Today website:

http://tinyurl.com/ycuw7lj

There were other stories, but most of them were simply re-writes of these few, so we will stay with this group for now. More news to come...

Tuesday Morning News from the Moto World - Part 2

Now, we head on over to the second part of this morning's news...

First story here is an interview with current Rally Dakar champion Marc Coma. He is getting ready for the 2010 running of the event and the author caught up with him to ask him how it is all going. The 450c.c. limit - and the restriction of bikes with larger displacements - is a major area of discussion. Have a good read...

http://tinyurl.com/ylx8p2h

Apparently, earlier reports of John Hopkins joining the MotoGP FB Corse team are not accurate. His manager has now related that Hopper is considering many options and he is working with FB Corse now, but has signed nothing.

http://tinyurl.com/yg9jbzx

We also hear from some of his companions (Cal Crutchlow and Troy Corser) in the World Superbike Championship for 2010, James Toseland will enjoy and prosper in the series. They state that the culture there is much better suited to Toseland, even if it has changed since the last time he raced there.

http://tinyurl.com/ygx3v4j

Marco Simoncelli and Hiroshi Aoyama have finished up with their testing at the Sepang track in Malaysia. The first days of testing were hampered by bad weather, but the remaining time was very useful for both riders as they prepare for their first year in MotoGP in 2010.

http://tinyurl.com/yfp75d8

Team Pan-Am Sent Off from San Francisco for Rally Dakar

The team is based around rider Jonah Street, who will be riding a KTM 690 in the Rally Dakar in South America. The San Francisco Motorcycle Club was the location for the send off party held this pas weekend. There is much here about the Club, which was founded in 1903, and the company supporting some of the riders participating in the Dakar, Rally Management Services.

http://tinyurl.com/ydu4n47

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

Rally Dakar Ready for 2010 Running in South America

For the second consecutive year, the Dakar Rally will be held in South America running between the nations of Argentina and Chile. It will be the usual competitors for the most part, but some newcomers are also expected to shine during the event. So, get yourself ready and take the link...

http://tinyurl.com/ygmm5bf