P24
IN
THE
WIND
Despres said. "It meant that I
didn't have the right information
on my navigation equipment,
which in turn made following the
road book difficult. Still, I got
close to the podium and have the
satisfaction of knowing I gave it
my absolute maximum. Congratulations to Olivier [Pain]. He rode
a really good race and thoroughly
deserves his podium place – a
reward for all the effort the team
have put into the rally program."
As for the factory Honda effort… although they were not on
the podium in the overall stand-
ings, they can build on the fact
that the new team won six stages
in this year's rally – including five
for Joan Barreda. Barreda appeared to have a lock on second
place until suffering a broken
steering head late in the rally
that cost him dearly. He ended
up seventh overall after winning
stages one, three, seven, 10
and the final one – stage 13. His
teammate Sam Sunderland won
the second stage of the rally.
Helder Rodrigues ended up
being the top HRC rider with his
fifth-place overall.
Honda was also proud of the
fact that they were the only team
to have completed the entire Dakar without changing an engine.
This year's Dakar was tougher
than the last few. Case in point:
Only 78 bikes of the original field
of 196 completed the 13th stage.
American Mike Johnson reached
his dream of completing the Dakar,
the Texan finishing 61st overall.
Despite winning five stages, Honda's
Joan Barreda slipped to seventh
overall after a broken steering head
cost him a certain podium spot.
