IN
THE
WIND
P28
W
eek one is in the books
at the 2016 Dakar Rally,
where severe weather, canceled
stages, abbreviated special
sections, and penalties char-
acterized the first half of the
race. Racers came into this
year's Dakar Rally with the top
spot wide open following last
year's mid-season retirement
announcement from KTM's rally
kingpin Marc Coma. With his
absence, a new champion will be
crowned, and at this point it's still
anyone's race. Atypical condi-
tions have made it a wild ride to
this point, and while three of the
top factory teams have all lost
lead riders, the battle still rages
on. Racers have conquered long
days in the saddle at triple-digit
speeds, strenuous altitudes of
over 15,000 feet, torrential down-
pours, deep water-crossings and
the longest special stage of the
rally (337 miles!), but as all the
experienced Dakar riders will
assert, the race truly starts in the
second week.
Once again it is riders from
rival camps Red Bull KTM and
Honda HRC who are battling for
control in Dakar. Although the
battle was delayed as the effects
of El Niño battered the northern
Argentina area. The first stage of
the rally was canceled outright
due to severe rain and thunder-
storms. Rising river levels were
a threat, but the decision to
cancel came on account of the
support crews being grounded—
when the helicopters can't fly,
the race doesn't run.
After the first stage of the rally
was canceled, Stage 2 marked
the true beginning of the race.
The stage was abbreviated due
to the heavy downpours in the
area, but riders finally got to lay
down race miles with KTM's
Toby Price ending the day on
top. Stage 3 was also short-
ened for the motorcycles, and
this time it was the Honda team
who showed the way. HRC's
top gun Joan Barreda appeared
HONDA, KTM BATTLE IT
OUT IN DAKAR 2016
HRC's Paulo
Goncalves leads the
overall in Dakar after
Stage 7. Photography
by HRC
