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2019 Dakar Rally

100% Peru for 2019 Dakar Rally

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After making a return to the Dakar Rally route in 2018, Peru is set to host the entire rally event in 2019. 

Running from January 6-17, registrations open on May 21 for the 41st edition of the world’s toughest motorcycle race.

Celebrating its 10^thanniversary in South America, the 2019 Dakar will start and finishing in the Peruvian capital of Lima.

The sand dunes of Peru featured heavily in the outcome of the 2018 event won by Matthias Walkner. The dunes in the Ica and Tanaka regions took out several big names including Sam Sunderland, Nani Roma and Sebastien Loeb in 2018. 

Photo Credit: PhotosDakar.com

Dakar 2019 key points:

• Edition 41 of the Dakar will be contested from January 6th to 17th 2019, on a giant loop rally-route entirely in Peru with the start and finish in Lima.
• Mapped around the Peruvian deserts, the 2019 Dakar promises to be one of the sandiest in the history of the rally. 
• Variety of terrain will include high altitude mountain ranges.
• Registrations begins on May 21st on dakar.com

The ten-stage rally-route of the 2019 edition will provide every competitor the opportunity work on their endurance in the sand and organisers promise “each stage will be harder than the previous” until the final days. 

The 2019 route promises to be “predominantly sandy” as you’d expect from Peru, with much of the riding on open terrain which is set to feature “every imaginable navigation subtlety” they say.  

New for 2019 will be a Semi-Marathon category, or rather opportunity. Competitors who go out in the first week will have the chance to return to the race in week two, after the rest day.

Revision: MXGP of Germany

A flick through the history books

The Grand Prix contingent have marched into the familiar surroundings of Teutschenthal, Germany, ahead of the eighth round of the FIM World Championship. An overwhelming majority of riders and industry personnel know what to expect from the hard-pack track, as it is one of the oldest on the calendar.

One could argue that is evident in the consistency of the soil, as there have been comments about the way in which it has deteriorated in recent years. The slick nature has caught out a handful of protagonists and offered up some rather memorable moments. Who could forget the year that Max Nagl entered his home event with the red plate and then sustained a foot injury? What about the time that Ken Roczen returned for a wildcard ride in the premier division and duked it out with Antonio Cairoli? How about that year that Evgeny Bobryshev claimed his first and only overall win as a HRC rider?

Teutschenthal was cruel to Max Nagl during a title run in 2015 (Husqvarna/J.P Acevedo)

The final point there is actually an intriguing one, because Teutschenthal has played host to a handful of first-time winners in the MXGP (previously named MX1) and MX2 categories. Brian Jorgensen was the overall winner in 2004 and then Evgeny Bobryshev tasted success in 2011. Almost unbelievably, neither rider managed to stand atop the podium again. What else do those two have in common? Paolo Martin looked after both riders when they triumphed at Teutschenthal. Ken Roczen won his first Grand Prix at Teutschenthal, much like those two, but it ended up being the first of many.

It is most interesting that the three aforementioned riders did not claim those victories aboard Austrian machinery, as it unearths the fact that KTM have not been the most dominant here. There have been KTM victories, of course, but their longest streak in a class is two (2010 and 2011 in MX2, then 2016 and 2017 in MXGP). KTM have only won both classes on the same weekend once, which was two seasons ago, as well. Does this mean that the door could be open for a different manufacturer to put their machine atop the podium? It is still unlikely, especially considering that Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings were first and second at this round last year.

The first time that Jeffrey Herlings won at Teutschenthal was in 2014 (KTM Images/Ray Archer)

There is an obvious reason for the lack of KTM victories, which is that Jeffrey Herlings has only won at this circuit twice. Whereas at the Grand Prix of Latvia, where the previous round was held, he entered the event with four victories to his name. Antonio Cairoli is the winningest rider at this facility, with five wins (one in MX2 and four in MXGP), and there is no way that he will lose that title this weekend. One statistic that could potentially change though is that Husqvarna are the only manufacturer without a win in either MXGP or MX2. Max Anstie, Gautier Paulin, Thomas Covington and Thomas Kjer Olsen are all up to the challenge.

Another statistic that could change is that Mickael Pichon currently holds the record for the greatest advantage in a premier-class (MX1 or MXGP) moto at Teutschenthal. Pichon won the second moto by nineteen seconds thirteen years ago and that has not been beaten since. It is certainly not ludicrous to think that Jeffrey Herlings could have a greater advantage in one of the motos this weekend, especially if he takes the holeshot. A good start would be welcomed by the current series leader.

Antonio Cairoli is currently the winningest rider at Teutschenthal (KTM Images/Ray Archer)

PLANET MOTO: The world's most demanding motorsport.

Spanish Trail GP

This weekend Repsol Honda Team will be present as the latest edition of the FIM TrialGP World Championship gets underway in Camprodón on Saturday, May 19th.

Toni Bou begins the campaign as incumbent world champion and hot favourite to add another title to his collection of eleven outdoor wins. The Repsol Honda Team ace, the most successful in motorcycle history, starts the championship with a tally of no less than twenty-three world titles, in both indoor and outdoor competitions.

In the GPs held so far in Spain, Toni Bou has clinched a total of thirteen victories in the event. One of the aims of the Repsol Honda Team rider is to achieve the record of victories in the world championship. Thus far, Bou has accumulated a total of 97 triumphs, so in order to overtake Dougie Lampkin’s benchmark of 99 victories, Toni will need to prevail in three GPs.

"One of the most important moments of the season has arrived: the start of the TrialGP World Championship." Bou commented. "As always, it is important to start on the right foot in this first event, which will be held on home soil.

"After the injury I picked up during the X-Trial season, I won’t be at 100% fitness just yet and I will have to be careful not to have any physical setbacks. It is something that has happened in previous seasons, starting without being physically on top form, but we have faith in the good work that we are doing, so we believe that we can balance it out.

"It will be a long and complicated season because the rivals are always pushing to achieve the same goals that we have. We can not relax and we will have to fight until the final section in every trial."

Meanwhile, Takahisa Fujinami, the rider with the highest number of participations in the world championship, will tackle a 23rd season in the discipline’s top flight. Last year Fujigas finished in fifth place, completing twenty consecutive years of top five world championship finishes. The goal of the veteran Repsol Honda Team rider is to finish on the podium in as many races as possible.

Last year he made it onto the podium in Japan and England and has twice won the Spanish

"This first trial of the World Championship and will be very difficult for me." Fujiname explained. "With the fall that I had in the Spanish Championship I injured my shoulder, apart from other body blows and I am not yet recovered to tackle the event at full fitness.

"Nevertheless, we are going to try to defend as much as possible and hope that I can be fully recovered before the next trial at home."

The small Catalan town located in the Pyrenees last year hosted TrialGP for the first time in Spain and this year replicates with a similar route to that of 2017. The paddock will be located in the Puig Franco Hotel in the Font-Rubí district.

In the first TrialGP qualifier Toni Bou was second, behind his then team-mate Jaime Busto. On the Sunday, with competitors battling a race hampered by heavy rain, Bou grabbed the victory with a superb second lap. Takahisa Fujinami came back from seventh position in qualifying to post a fifth final place.

This season also sees a change to the regulations, with the riders able to compete in the qualifying round for the event in reverse order according to the best time from the first qualifying lap. As usual, the score in the section and the time taken will be taken into consideration when deciding the race order. Like last year, the course will involve fifteen sections over two laps to decide the eventual winner.

Jeffrey Herlings & Antonio Cairoli Impressive Action

Hangtown Count Down!

Moments Chad Reed

When Chad Reed put together his independent program for the 2018 Monster Energy Supercross Series, the fan favorite garnered support from some longtime friends and a few new partners. One of the new additions to CR22’s sponsor list in 2018 was No Toil, the California brand that specializes in biodegradable and non-toxic chemicals for air filters and chains. To capitalize on the new partnership, No Toil spent time at Reed’s Florida compound and filmed an incredible commercial that shows Reed in action on his Supercross practice track and in the garage, all while hyping up the importance of making every moment of every day count.

Latvian GP Results

Herlings Blitz - Latvian GP

Red Bull KTM factory rider Jeffrey Herlings has won his 72nd Grand with one of his most impressive weekends to date. Going 1-1 and looking simply in another class to his rivals, he also extended his championship points lead to 29 over Cairoli. 

Even second placed man Antonio Cairoli struggled to make a solid attack, finishing with 2-2 and leading a bunch of laps, but it still wasn’t enough.

Cairoli led early in the second MXGP moto, with Herlings around seventh. Within a lap Herlings was second but Cairoli had already built a 10 second lead. As Herlings made a mistake Cairoli clocked the quickest lap of the race. 

Herlings then lapped the quickest lap again and within no time was onto Cairoli. Herlings passed in the air between lapped riders and Cairoli was riding super fast to try and keep with Herlings. Both impressive. 

We are seeing something very special in 2018 and while Antonio Cairoli has been the master since 2009, it looks like the new king in town is Herlings.

Herlings won by five second but to show how much better Herlings and Cairoli are, third placed Gautier Paulin was 53 seconds back.

MXGP Overall

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50pts 

2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 44 pts

3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, HUS), 38 pts 

4. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 32 pts 

5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 30 pts

6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 29 pts

7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 28 pts

8. Max Anstie (GBR, HUS), 26 pts 

9. Julien Lieber (BEL, KAW), 21 pts 

10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 20 pts

E Bike Gone Wild!

Curtiss Zeus Unveiled at Quail Motorcycle Gathering

After revealing its Warhawk, which picks up from designs originated by Confederate Motorcycles (a brand identity abandoned for obvious reasons), Curtiss Motorcycles unveiled at the recent Quail Motorcycle Gathering in Carmel a monstrously powerful concept called the Zeus.  Powered by twin electric motors, the Zeus claims to make in the neighborhood of 170 hp and 290 foot/pounds of torque!

Attempting to “redesign the American motorcycle”, Curtiss felt free to design the Zeus from scratch with no preconceptions of what a motorcycle should look like. The machined billet chassis incorporates unusual suspension along with the massively powerful electric motors.

Curtiss says that its founder, Glenn Curtiss, invented the v-twin motorcycle in 1903. The Zeus concept is expected to reach production in 2019 (as a 2020 model), and is purportedly one of several Curtiss models currently under development.

At the Carmel event, the Zeus was awarded the “Most Innovative Motorcycle” prize from a panel of judges that included industry icon Craig Vetter. Let us know what you think of the Zeus.