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2016 Dakar Rally – Stage 4: Big Red Rises

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Stage 4 of the 2016 Dakar Rally saw competitors racing mostly in a 420km loop near Jujuy, Argentina. Stage 4 is also the start of the marathon stage of the Dakar Rally, where this year team mechanics and competitors are forbidden from working on their machines, until the next day’s liaison section.

Always a decisive moment, it means that riders especially need to ensure no harm comes to their race motorcycles over the course of the stage, as they will not have the benefit of their support crews.

In that way, concentration is very much a key element to winning The Dakar, which as a segue, is something HRC rider Joan Barreda is learning the hard way.

Despite being the fastest man on Stage 4, another speeding penalty on the liaison section means that Barreda had five minutes tacked onto his time for the day, which drops him to third overall. With his pace in the special section, Barreda should be leading this edition of The Dakar, but the unforced errors are costing him.

Meanwhile, teammate Paulo Gonçalves continues to benefit from Barreda’s mistakes, and thus gets the stage win after the times for Stage 4 were tallied.

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2016 Dakar Rally – Stage 3: Hat Trick?

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Stage 3 of the 2016 Dakar Rally saw another modified route, as the competitors worked around the weather in Argentina. This means that the timed special section was reduced to roughly 200km.

With the shorter route, the navigational challenges were virtually non-existent for the motorcycle competitors, though plenty of radar speed traps were on the course, which caught a few riders out.

The day was most fruitful for Honda, as the fastest three riders through the timed section were all HRC riders, with Joan Barreda leading the pack.

Unfortunately for Barreda though, the Spanish rider got another one-minute penalty, which officially knocked him back to fifth for the day, robbing Honda of its scorecard domination.

“Today was a great day after yesterday, when I had to open the track, but today we started from behind which gave us a good position to attack from,” said Barreda.

“We were very focused throughout the stage, which had very little navigation but plenty of radars that you had to be careful of. I kept a great pace throughout the 200 km and I’ve got the leadership back.”

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2016 Dakar Rally – Stage 2: Beginning, In Earnest

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Racing almost 800km from Villa Carlos Paz to Termas de Río Hondo, Monday marked the first earnest day of racing in the 2016 Dakar Rally, after the timed section of Stage 1 had to be canceled because of the incredibly weather at play in Argentina.

This doesn’t mean Monday was without weather though, as the special section was trimmed from 450km to 354km, because track conditions had deteriorated after Sunday’s thunderstorms.

That slight respite proved to be a boon for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Toby Price, as the Australian took the first Stage win of The Dakar. Price finished just 20 seconds ahead of Husqvarna’s Ruben Faria, lining up a duel that is likely to be a major part of this year’s edition of The Dakar.

While KTM might be without Marc Coma and Cyril Despres, both riders now having retired from two-wheel racing, KTM has a strong showing so far in 2016, with Stefan Svitko of Slovakia rounding out the podium, third in Stage 2, though he carries a one-minute penalty from the day.

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2016 Dakar Rally – Stage 1: Canceled

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The 2016 Dakar Rally is off to a poor start, as the first stage of the event had to be canceled today, on account of the weather. While yesterday’s prologue in Rosario was under 104°F sun, lightning storms prevailed in South America today, along with heavy rain.

The intensity of the rainfall saw the river crossings swell in size, while the heavy wind and rain meant that the safety helicopters couldn’t safely operate. As such, the ASO had no choice but to scrub today’s stage, citing safety concerns for the competitors.

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Husqvarna Factory Rally Team Members Announced

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We already knew that Husqvarna would be entering the competitive world of rally raid racing, but now the Husqvarna Factory Racing Rally Team has finally announced its team members.

Headlining the Husqvarna team is Ruben Faria, the Portuguese rider a familiar name for anyone who has been following rally raid racing or the Dakar Rally. Faria will be joined by two-time Enduro World Champion Pierre-Alexandre Renet from France, and Dakar stage-winner Pablo Quintanilla of Chile.

The team doesn’t have long before the 2016 Dakar Rally, but Husqvarna hopes for a podium result at the iconic race. The team will campaign on the Husqvarna FR450, which we assume will closely resemble the KTM 450 Rally.

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Peru Scrubbed from the 2016 Dakar Rally Route

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The 2016 Dakar Rally has already has the setback of Chilé being removed from its rally raid course, and now today we get word that the ASO is making another alteration to next year’s event, as Peru is being removed from the course as well.

The news comes about after weather forecasts predict a particularly strong El Niño this year, which has lead the Peruvian government to declare an emergency in 14 regions of the country.

This has also lead to the cancelation of the Inca Desafío race, and of course nixes the country’s involvement in the 2016 Dakar Rally.

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Husqvarna Will Race in the 2016 Dakar Rally

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There has been a lot of movement in the rally raid scene lately. First, Laia Sanz jumped ship from Honda to KTM, then Marc Coma announced his retirement from racing and that he will become the new Sporting Director for the Dakar Rally, and now we get word that Husqvarna will enter the world of rally racing with a factory team.

The move is perhaps not that surprising, considering that KTM now owns the Husqvarna brand, and that the Austrian company is a fierce rally raid competitor, but this means also that the historic Husqvarna name will return to one of the most iconic races in the world.

Making a strong debut, the Husqvarna factory team effort is comprised of riders Ruben Faria of Portugal and Pierre-Alexandre Renet of France, who will in-turn race upon the the Husqvarna FR 450 Rally bike, which is likely to be very similar to the KTM 450 Rally race bike.

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Marc Coma Retires from Racing…Sort Of

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When Marc Coma hinted at a return to the Dakar Rally for 2016, everyone assumed it would be on a bike and with KTM. The famous Spanish rally-raid racer has other plans now, announcing his retirement from the sport, and also that he will begin working as a Sporting Director for the Dakar Rally.

This makes the announcement a double-shock, one because we expected to see Coma vying for his sixth Dakar Rally win, and two because it was expected that when he did stop racing motorbikes, he would follow the path by many competitors, and race in the four-wheel classes.

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2016 Dakar Rally Route: Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina

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After the news that Chilé would be dropped from the 2016 Dakar Rally because of extensive flooding near the course area, the iconic race and its organizers had to go back to the drawing board to find a challenging alternative for The Dakar’s 8th race in South America.

The ASO believes they have done just that, announcing that the 2016 Dakar Rally will go through Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina, with stages in the Andes Mountains being the highlight of rally raid competition.

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Laia Sanz Drops HRC for KTM in Enduro and Rallies

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A bit of shocking news in the rally raid world, as Laia Sanz has jumped ship from HRC to KTM for the Women’s Enduro World Championship.

The move means Sanz will also compete as a factory KTM rider in the various FIM World Championship rallies, including the Dakar Rally, though only where the schedule permits, as the Women’s Enduro World Championship is her racing priority.

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Chile Removed from 2016 Dakar Rally

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With massive floods devastating northern Chilé, the Chilean government has had no choice but to end the country’s involvement in the 2016 Dakar Rally.

The decision was made in conjunction with the ASO, the Dakar Rally organizer, who will have to sort out a new route for the next Dakar, likely one that differs considerably from past events, as Chilé has been an integral part of the iconic rally raid since it moved to South America in 2009.

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