Alessandro De Petri had asked the Yamaha engineers the previous year; "I want a more powerful engine but easy to deliver and a lighter bike". And in Japan they fulfilled it. To the impetuous and fast driver from Bergamo, to the other French Peterhansel, has arrived, for Paris-Le Cap, a new bike with the TDM engine 850 […]
February 8 2005 Gaston Rahier passed away. A champion small in stature but great in talent and numbers. 'Le petit Gaston' was a multi-purpose pilot, able to triumph in the most famous off-road competitions. From 1975 at 1977 obtained the trio world championship in the Cross World Championship 125 Dominating, in length and in […]
The decision to participate in the Dakar had to be taken by June. Once the decision was made, there was enough time to organize and prepare, in 360 degrees and even beyond. I was back from the edition 1988 riding an official single-cylinder Honda. Honda was reigning champion, thanks to the triumph of Orioli with the twin-cylinder. The relationship between […]
Suppression of night stages; limitation to 800 Km for the maximum length of the daily stages. Despite the limitations and in spite of the fact that the total length has dropped by about 3000 kilometers passing to total Km, for Rene Metge, winner '86 and from this year route tracker on behalf of the organizers, the Paris-Dakar will have […]
Already in previous years Michele Rinaldi had launched the intention to participate in the Dakar, attracted by the charm that surrounds this race but above all by the possibility of "living" it, in the few free moments, in close contact with all other participants. Rinaldi had even come to hypothesize his participation in the role of the private pilot, despite being used to […]
Claudio Quercioli cannot say that he has not arrived in Africa, but it went a little further. His race ended halfway through the first transfer, with a seizure that forced him to make the last 160 km towing. The replacement engine has not even been unloaded from the service truck: the […]
How to define differently the pilots who take part in the Dakar as private individuals, spending from one's own pocket to undergo fatigue and sacrifices? But the passion that drives them is superior to any cold calculation. It is the same passion that led some of them to start in even more difficult conditions than the average, […]
The Hondas that took part in the Paris-Dakar are derived from the new XL 600 L Electric Starter, of which deliveries in Italy are starting in this period. In the racing version, however, it has been preserved, for weight matters, kick starter. The frame is the standard one with the back […]
Text by Nicolò Bertaccini The stories concerning the Dakar are never single stories, they are never isolated events, there is always a plot, a domino effect that creates different legends. The Paris-Dakar over the years has had different forms. Even before we get to the latest versions, between South America and the Arabian Peninsula, the routes were […]