Dakar 2009 interview with Cyril Despres
By TMX Archives on 26th Dec 08
You are now in the final stages of your preparation for the Dakar 2009. How was your final training in France and how important for your preparation was your victory in the UAE Desert challenge?
The tests in France went very well. We know the new 690 rally bike pretty wellnow so really it was just some fine tuning, plus running the engines in. The UAEvictory was important on a number of levels. First off, it is always good to wina race - especially when all your major rivals are present! It was also anexcellent warm up for the Dakar. Although the terrain in South America will bedifferent, it was a chance for the team to work together and sort out any lastminute problems. The UAE win confirmed that everything was functioning as itshould.
How have you been personally preparing for the first everDakar in South America? You seem to have a special relationship with Africathrough your support for kids and schools. Will you miss not having the race onthat continent?
Of course I will miss racing in Africa, though I am sureI will be out there shortly after the race to visit the kids and see how theschools are going. As far as the Dakar in South America is concerned I am reallylooking forward to it. The scenery will be amazing and the race as tough as anyDakar before it. As for my preparation, it is going really well. I am trainingas hard as ever, while at the same time trying to gather as much information aspossible about the terrain we will be tackling.
For sure there willbe many different challenges riding through a major part of Argentina and Chile.What are your own expectations about the race, the conditions and how you mightfinish?
The organisers have been very clear that it will be a tough raceand I have no reason to doubt them. I think we will have most of what we wouldnormally encounter in Africa, with plenty of dunes. The main difference will bethe variety of terrain, plus I think there will less stony ground, of the sortwe normally encounter in Morocco. As far as finishing is concerned, my firmintention is to be at the very top of the podium.
As it is probablyunlikely that organizers will be able to hold the race in Africa in the nearfuture because of the security problems, do you see this as a new era for therace? Are you optimistic for the future of the Dakar as a major sportingevent?
Of course everybody involved in the Dakar has nostalgia forAfrica, but my feeling is that once the competitors and the people back homehave seen what South America has to offer they will be keen to return. Thefounder of the event, Thierry Sabine, always said that the race should visitother continents and other deserts, so in a way we are simply fulfilling hiswishes. Personally I feel that the change of continent will breathe new lifeinto the event and that it will become more famous than ever.
Thisis unchartered territory but are you still expecting Marc (Coma) to be yourbiggest rival? Will it be a continuation of the rivalry of Despres and Coma inthe 2009 Dakar?
Even though a lot of things will change it is reasonableto expect that Marc will continue to be my principle rival. Wherever we race inthe world it is usually between me and him and I can't see that being anydifferent. That's fine by me. We always fight clean and have tremendous respectfor each other.
Have you had any experience riding in Argentina andChile and what do you think will be the biggest contrasts when compared toriding in Africa?
I have raced the Los Pampas Rally in Chile one time,so neither country is a completely unknown quantity to me. Apart from thedifference in scenery, the high temperature and the high altitudes I suspect thebiggest change will be our contact with the local population. The SouthAmericans are big motor sport fans and I think we will have a lot morespectators out on the specials than we get in the Sahara!
Lookingbeyond the Dakar 2009, what are your plans and goals for the 2009 racingseason?
Although nothing has been finalized yet it looks like we will bedoing quite a lot of racing in the desert next year and that suits me fine. The690 needs a little room to get the best out of it, so any race with wide openspaces is perfect. And as always I will be looking to do as well as possible inevery race I enter. But Dakar first ...
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