Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128306
Esteve Leads Dakar Rally paniard lsidre Esteve extended his overall lead in the Dakar Rally on Monday, january 5, the Repsol KTM rider winningthe fifth stage of the tortuous race through Africa by 16 seconds CM!!" the KTMof countryman Joan Roma. Esteve 's vict ory in the stage gave him a 22-second lead in the overall standings ahead of another KTM, th is one ridden to a th ird-place finish in stage fIVe by Italian Fabrizio Meoni. Meanwhile, last year 's winner, Richard Sainct. only managed an eighth-place finish in stage five, the Spaniard suffering from an arm injury from a aash in stage four - which was won by Meoni. Afu!r five stages, Sainct was five minutes and 14 seconds behind Esteve in the overall standings. S The American trio of Worry Roeseler, Seer Harde n and Paul Krause were faring well in th e event as of january 5, with Harden having his best outing of the rally w ith a 16th- place finish in stage flve . The result moved Harden ahead of his Red Bull KTM teammate Roeseler in the overall standings, with the off-road racing legen d dropping to 23rd overall. Krause, meanwhile , is battling with a knee injury and was 28th overall at the end of stage five. The early surprise of the Dakar Rally was the performance of Frenchman David Fretigne and his two-wheel- drive Yamaha WR4S0. Fretigne won the second stage of the rally, a IS-S-m ile run in muddy ccnditions in the French town of Narbonne that favored the two-wheel-drive Yamaha. "I clocked the best time without really taking any risks," Fretigne said later in a press American Scat Harden sits 15th averall after the fifth stage. 51 5 e leads the 26th running af release. "I didn't fee l I was ridthe Dakar Rally. ing fast. It's the first time I use the bike in mud , and it rea lly helped me . Having a twoThen when the race hit the beach for stage three, it was again Fretigne and the wheel-drive bike helps a lot going out of little Y aha on top. The next day, however, in stage four, th ings started to so ur for am bends. I felt great. Winn ing the special and the Yamaha as speeds picked up and the KTMs started to shine . Fretigne ended lead ing the overall is, of course, good. Th e stage four some 10 minutes beh ind Meon i and dropped to 39th overall. hardest is yet to come , however." What's A 2-Trac? Skinner the Winner Sunny skies and superb crack conditions greeted the hundred s of riders that tu rned out at Gatorback Cycle Park for the opening ro und of the Florida Winter Am Series in Gainesville, Florida, jan uary 3-4 , and Ame rican Suzuki/WMR Competiti on Pe rformance/$ hift-backed Shaun Skinne r ruled the A and Pro divisions over the two days of racing. The two-time Loretta Lynn's champ proved he 's mo re than ready to make the transition into the Pro class scoring three out of four over , all wins that he competed in. Had it not been for a mistake when he stalled his bike off the line and then lost th e left grip on his handlebar Yamaha opened some eyes las we ek wh en Frenchman D avid Fret igne w on t two stages of the Dakar Rally on a two -w he e l-d rive W R4S0F, o r what Yamaha calls its 2-Trac. Fretigne w on in t he mud , then he w on in the sand, and it wasn't unt il the rally reached its w ide-open, high-speed stages that t he bike dro pped out of serious contenti on. So what is it? in Saturday's 250cc A-classopening moto, he may very well have swept them all - as he came back to win the second outing ahead of overa ll w inner Jacob Saylor, who took to p honors with a pair of runner-up finishes. Performance Honda's new recruit, vet her o Ear l M ay, w as the other trip le winner, scoring wi ns in the 25-, 35- and 40-Plus classes on his Honda. Some of the other class w inners included Kaw asaki rider Kyle Meeks in the I25cc Open and I25cc B classes, Suzuki r ider Nic o lui in th e Super Mini 105 ( 12- 15) class, Suzuki-mount ed Ian Trettel in the 65 O pen class, and Kawasaki rider April Hodges in the Wo men's class . Jeff Layman Develop ed by the Yamaha-owned suspension co mpany , O hlins, the 2-Trac ments in all forms of motorcydi ng. sys tem uses a hydraulic mo tor in the front hub to provide drive to the front wheel. The Yamaha-patented system uses a hydraulic pump that sits on top of the transm issi n and is driven by a chain in an oil bath - this actuates o All the 2003 FIM number ones attended the ceremony with the exce ption of World Supe rcross Champion C had Reed and I2Scc Road Racing World C ham p io n Daniel Pedrosa, both of whom were at home deal- hydraulic fluid via high pressure hoses to the fro nt wheel. The special hub in the front wheel is a hydraulic motor, whi ch is set in motion through the pressure of the hydraulics, accord ing to Yamaha. Fretigne is making his debut in the D akar Rally, but he's no stranger to suc- ing wn:h recent injuries. The biggest news coming out of the event was that for the first time ever, MotoGP cess, having won fo ur French Enduro Championships and three ISDEs. Yamaha also has strong crede nt ials in the Dakar Rally, w ith Cyril Neveu win ning th e inaugural ra lly on a XTSoo in 1979. French lege nd Stephane Pe te-h anse l won a record - World Champion Valentino Rossi finally dressed in a proper sun: for the elegant ceremony. Rossi is pictured here (second from breaking six events dur ing right ) with (fro m left to right ) World MX Champions Steve Ramon , joel Smets and the 1990. on the twi n-cylinder Super Tenere range of machines. Stefan Everts. Shaun Skinner was almost perfect at Gatarback. 6 JANUARY 14, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS Party Time ! The FIM Awards took place on Saturday night, December 13, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and all of the 2003 Wo rid Cham p-ions received their gold medals for thei r achieve- 40th Anniv ersary Ma rio Marini