2007 Dakar Rally Stage 1 Results

Stage 1: Lisboa – Portimão

January 6, 2007 - KTM Team Report
The opening stage of the 29th Dakar was a pretty nasty one, with cold, fog and deep sand making for tough going.

As promised, it was sand straight from the start. And it was very soft sand. Two local stars Ruben Faria and Helder Rodrigues took the holeshot.  But they had seen the stage so often, they might as well have ridden it blindfolded.

KTM Gauloises-rider Isidre Esteve was best of the rest.  The Spaniard was only five minutes behind the Portuguese.  "I fell off on a fast bend and then just three corners from the end I stalled the bike.  It took me at least a minute to start the engine again.  Apart from that it was a good warm up, you just had to be careful overtaking the amateurs."

David Casteu was just seven seconds behind his teammate Esteve. The Frenchman couldn't avoid some trouble.  Having to brake for a slower rider in front of him, Casteu missed out on a corner and ended up in the audience.  Nobody was hurt, except Casteu himself, but the injury on his leg is a minor one.  "Nothing serious," he added, pointing at the tape to keep his pants in one piece.  "This will not stop me from trying to win the Dakar."

Title holder Marc Coma (KTM Repsol) didn't take any risks.  He was satisfied with his 13th position.

"It was a tough stage," the Spaniard said. "The sand was very soft and that made it pretty hard work.  I didn't want to spend too much energy on a first stage.  You can't win the Dakar here, only lose a lot of time."

Dutchman Frans Verhoeven, newcomer in the KTM Gauloises-team, did exactly what he had to do: stay as close as possible behind leader rider Cyril Despres.  The gap between Despres (10th) and his backup pilot (11th) was only two seconds.

Results Stage 1 - Lisboa - Portimão

Photos and text courtesy of KTM Motorcycles.  Edited by webBikeWorld.

Chris Blais - U.S.A. Takes 7th Place Stage 1 Finish
Chris Blais and his "new" KTM survived, somewhat uneventfully, the 100km mostly sand special.  As the official start of the rally, the prologue doesn't serve much in the way of determining who's going to shine in the brutal African stages -- it's much more a showbiz spectacle which serves as a showcase for the event organizers and sponsors to kick off a spectacular event in a spectacular way.

Based on his returning for a 3rd got at the Dakar and having finished just minutes off the podium in 2006, Chris is an early favorite for rally watchers and according to Doc Edwards he's getting lots of attention from print and TV reporters covering the 2007 rally.  Doc is seeing a more aggressive rider in Chris and we all hope that this portends an early attack mode for the easy going California desert specialist.

NOTE ABOUT CHRIS' #9 KTM 660 Rallye:  While many on the KTM factory (Galoises and Repsol teams, for instance) are riding the newer, potentially faster 690 KTM's, Chris has opted for what he believes to be the more dependable 660 machine, virtually identical to what Cyril Despres and Marc Coma rode in the 2006 Dakar.  Only time will tell but Chris and chief technician Matt Spencer believe that the proven reliability of the 660 model, the same bike that took Chris to 4th place in 2006, will give up little to the newer, larger KTM's.

 

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