INTERVIEW
P62
CYRIL DESPRES
Despres faces
a little bit of
everything in the
rally, including a
water crossing
here and there.
of the 2013 edition. So in January, at the age of
38, Despres won his fifth Dakar Rally and second
in succession in South America as the race was
moved there from Africa in 2009 when political issues in Africa deemed it no longer safe for the participants and their teams.
We had the opportunity to sit down with the likeable Dakar legend during the Dealer Expo in India-
napolis last week to talk about all things Dakar.
Was it different this year without your great
rival Marc Coma?
Definitely because for the past seven years we
are fighting with Marc for the title of the Dakar. He
won three times, I won four times and this year was
the fifth time. He had an injury in the shoulder in
October during the Morocco Rally. Of course, be-
