Bikes Race: KTM Hunting
Paris, 19 December 2018 Bikes race: KTM hunting Key points: ➢ Among the 138 riders expected at the start in Lima, the last three winners of the Dakar, Toby Price, Sam Sunderland and Matthias Walkner, will be the leaders at KTM, which has been threatened but never beaten since January 2000. ➢ But this long-term domination doesn’t dissuade the competition from eyeing the title, most especially at Honda with Kevin Benavides and Joan Barreda or at Yamaha with Adrien van Beveren and Xavier de Soultrait. ➢ Far from the battle in the general classification, the bivouac also welcomes amateur riders motivated by the experience of the desert and the sharing of the adventure with fellow competitors. 35 bikers and quad riders are entered without assistance in the “Original by Motul” category. The times are changing! Just a few years ago, the prognostications of the bike race were limited to a choice between Cyril Despres and Marc Coma, who dominated the category, with five victories each between 2005 and 2015. But since then, a new era has begun, led by a generation of ambitious young riders more than by the former also ran in the Coma-Despres duels. In 2015, Toby Price made a remarkable debut in finishing 3rd, as did Mathias Walkner, who dropped out early from the rally, while the young and spirited Sam Sunderland had more than his share of retirements. The three hopefuls went on to confirm their potential in winning the three following editions, which extended KTM’s winning streak to 17 straight titles. However, the Austrian firm’s dominance has indeed been threatened over the past few years.
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