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/128360
The Dakar Gets Started ~ On Sunday, January 2, Fretigne won the C!i final special test in Europe as the rally g ended Young American Kellon Walch started strang in the Dakar rally. ci its third stage in Grenada before heading to Africa. Fretigne completed the ~ special test in seven minutes and 57 sec- ~ onds to earn the fifth stage win of his Dakar if career. Fretigne beat Gauloises KTM's Alfie Cox in the timed trial, the South African still battling a sore shoulder from his crash in stage one. th heavy fog the cancellation W,of stage four causingTelef6nica Dakar of the rally on Monday, January 3, Yamaha's David Fretigne continued to hold down the overall lead as the race that is inarguably the most grueling off-road race in the world ended its first weekend of action. May Gets a Break Top AMA Superbike privateer Geoff May won't have to work on his own bike any more. May, who finished fifth in the 2004 AMA Superbike Championship on his own Suzuki GSX-R I000, has inked a deal that will see him aboard Pirelli-shod Team M4 EMGO Suzukis (nee Valvoline EMGO Suzuki) in the AMA Superstock and Supers port classes for the coming season. May will team with Although the cars were able to make the run between Rabat and Agadir on January 3, race organizers deemed the visibility too poor for the motorcyclists and they instead went in convoy fashion to Agadir. This isn't the first time a stage has been cancelled in the Dakar as a few years ago fog stopped the The pair took part in the tire tests at Daytona International Speedway on Monday, January 3, with the team switching to Pirelli tires at the II th hour. The team lost longtime sponsor Valvoline at the end of 2004 with the oil company wanting to focus more of its efforts on NASCAR, according to the team. GeoH May is a privateer no more. Vincent Haskovec. the Czech-turnedCalifornian returning to the team for which he finished third in last year's AMA Formula Xtreme Series. Haskovec will compete in Superstock and Formula Xtreme in 2ooS. 6 JANUARY 12, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS first stage in Morocco. By virtue of his strong finishes in the opening stages in Europe, Fretigne holds the overall lead on his WR450, the Frenchman taking the win on the opening day of the rally on New Year's Eve and holding it through Monday's convoy. Piaggio Completes Aprilia Deal Piaggio S.p.A., the maker of Vespa scooters, has agreed to complete the purchase of Aprilia, according to a posting on Piaggio's website on December 30. The takeover will create a motorcycle company that will make it Europe's largest, with annual sales of 1.5 billion Euros ($2.04S billion); 24 percent of the European market and 35 percent of the Italian market; production of 600,000 motorcycles and scooters a year; 6000 employees at eight plants; and a presence in SO countries, the posting said. Piaggio currently owns Derbi, Vespa and Gilera, and markets scooters and motorcycles in those brand names and their own. "The new group has one of the most com- Cox's factory KTM teammmate Cyril Despres ended the day third and he holds on to second overall - just I I seconds behind Fretigne. Local rider Jordi Duran kept the crowd happy with his fourth-place finish in the Grenada stage, topping Marc Coma. As for the American contingent, Kellon Walch continued to impress with his ninthplace finish on Sunday. That result, combined with his opening day fifth, puts him third overall in his first crack at the Dakar. Walch was 47 seconds behind Fretigne in the overall standings. Red Bull KTM team manager Scot Harden ended up 14th on January 2, one spot better than Chris Blais, the third team member. Blais and Harden were Brd and 35th overall, respectively, as of January 3. "To take off in the leading position will give me the possibility to be careful," Fretigne said in a team release after Sunday's stage. "My secret dream is to be on the podium in Dakar. If I can make it to the top 10 positions in every stage, it should be possible for the overall," plete ranges of products on the market [from SOcc scooters to 1000cc motorcycles]," Piaggio chief executive Rocco Sabelli said in a statement. Aprilia announced back in August that Piaggio was going to take over the company. At a Piaggio board meeting on December 17, the company said it expected to complete the purchase by the end of the year. The posting didn't address Aprilia's future racing plans. Previously, senior Aprilia personnel said they had no interest in continuing their fruitless pursuit in MotoGP and might reconsider World Superbike. They will continue in the I25cc and 250cc classes. Grandly announced plans to compete in the AMA Superbike Championship in 2004 came to nothing, with the principals leaving disappointment and debt in their wake. Bonds To KTM Off-road/motocross racer Bobby Bonds says he has signed a new deal with KTM for the 200S season. Bonds, who has spent the last couple of years with Kawasaki, will pursue the World Off-Road Championship Series title, as well as the Four-Stroke National Motocross Championship. He added that he'll focus most of his attention [0 [he 450« four-stroke.