DAKAR RALLY EDITION Dakar Rally – Joan Barreda – Team HRC – Honda CRF450 RALLY ENGLISH VERSION 05.01.16 FOLLOW US ON motul.com DAKAR RALLY – PROLOGUE Kevin Benavides ARGENTINA Honda South America Rally Team Honda CRF450 RALLY A MOTUL TEAM, FIRST BIKE LEADER The 2016 Dakar Rally began on 2 January with Satisfaction also dominated at Sherco TVS Ra- the traditional starting podium in Buenos Aires. cing. Alain Duclos came 20th and Joan Pedrero The contenders than took part in a short 11 km arrived five places behind. ‘First special without prologue to establish the starting order for the any major problem, the aim was to get your bea- first stage, before crossing the connection to rings,’ commented Nicolas Chaix, manager of the ‘bivouac 0’ close to Rosario. team from Nimes. ‘On only 11 km of timed sector The many teams supported by Motul maintained you can’t win much but you can lose a lot.’ their rank in this warm-up. Spaniard Joan Barre- In Quad, Brian Baragwanath was an excellent 7th da emerged in the lead in bike, riding for facto- in Rosario on his Yamaha for team Rhide South ry team Honda Racing. Meanwhile, his French Africa. The Japanese Miura and Team Land Crui- team-mate, Michael Metge, bagged an encou- ser Toyota Auto Body came 51st in Car and the raging 5th time, just ahead of local man, Kevin best Polaris was 56th in the expert hands of Bra- Benavides, riding for Honda South America Rally zilian Torres. Some spectators were unfortunately Team. injured when a Mini came off the road. FOLLOW US ON motul.com DAKAR RALLY – STAGES 1 & 2 Alain Duclos ARGENTINA Sherco TVS Rally Team Sherco TVS RTR 450 WILD WEATHER, WILD RIDERS! On Sunday 3 January, the first stage of the 2016 cial. Born in Mali, which the Dakar has often crossed Dakar was cancelled owing to awful weather condi- in the past, this 44 year old Frenchie also ranks 4th tions as the helicopters could not take off to ensure in the general standings, less than 2 minutes behind rally safety. The 136 bikes, 110 cars, 45 quads and 55 the leader. The 10th provisional place of Pedrero trucks therefore headed to Villa Carlos Paz under confirms the competitiveness of Team Sherco TVS link section rules. The bad weather continued the Rally Factory and its RTR 450. By adding three Hon- following day forcing the organisers to shorten the das, which were also very fast, five bikes bearing Mo- day’s special to Termas de Rio Hondo. The conten- tul’s colours were in the top ten of the general stan- ders could however flex their muscles on some 350 dings on Monday evening. The best representative timed kilometres to determine the hierarchy, once of the Japanese manufacturer remained Joan Barre- again favourable for the teams supported by Motul… da in 6th place. even if the cards have been re-dealt to a large extent. In Quad category, dominated by Yamaha, the driver Thus, the rider of Sherco TVS #20, Alain Duclos, of team Rhide South Africa, Brian Baragwanath, pu- made a strong impression by coming 4th of the spe- shed forward brilliantly from 7th to 2nd place. FOLLOW US ON motul.com Brian Baragwanath Team Rhide SA Yamaha Raptor 700 DAKAR RALLY – STAGE 3 ARGENTINA MOTUL BAGS1-3-4 FINISH BIKES – GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER LEG 3 IN BIKE AND WIN IN QUAD! Joan Barreda (Honda Team HRC) 01 Stefan Svitko (KTM) à 14’’ 02 Kevin Benavides (Honda South America) à 48’’ 03 Paulo Gonçalves (Honda Team HRC) à 1’08 04 Alain Duclos (Sherco TVS) à 1’10 05 Joan Pedrero (Sherco TVS) à 4’33 09 The weather conditions remained difficult in placed of the Sherco TVS. The riders of the Fran- Argentina and the third stage of the Dakar Rally co-Indian team Sherco TVS Rally Factory once could not begin until after the first checkpoint at again showed their mettle. Alain Duclos is a mere kilometre 112.91. But this year’s Dakar is continuing 2 seconds from Gonçalves in 5th position in the to smile on the teams enjoying Motul’s technical overall and Joan Pedrero is still in the Top 10. Hats support. This is particularly the case in Bike cate- off to Olivier Pain who is keeping his 30th position gory. The Hondas ridden by Joan Barreda, Kevin with the KTM of Team Nomade Racing. Benavides and Paulo Gonçalves indeed clinched The battle was fierce among the Quads and the the first three places between Termas de Rio Hon- day’s win was finally secured by Brian Baragwanath do and San Salvador de Jujuy, the trio being sepa- and team Rhide South Africa by 4 tiny seconds. rated by a mere 52 seconds in the standings of the The South African thus bags his first stage win special. of the Dakar. The rider of the Yamaha Raptor 700 Respectively 1st, 3rd and 4th in the general stan- #274 is 2nd, 3’56 behind the leader before climbing dings, the three CRF450s are clearly battling for on Wednesday 6 January to 3500 metres altitude, the win with the best KTM... just ahead of the best still in the region of San Salvador de Jujuy. FOLLOW US ON motul.com INSIDE STORY DAKAR RALLY 2016 THE DAKAR SEEN FROM European Le Mans Series – Lancaster - Hirsch - Wirdheim GreavesINSIDE Motorsport – LMP2THE Gibson PARTNER 015S Nissan TEAMS NNicolas Demaria works for Motul as an Ap- The prologue served as a warm-up with a first plication Engineer at the Latin America Centre of success in Bike for Barreda, Team HRC and Mo- Excellence Products based in Brazil. His mission tul. Although a low viscosity gradeVERSION is favoured FRANÇAISE for 22.10.15 throughout the 2016 Dakar includes two aspects: more power, the teams using Motul 300V lubri- as a Motul products expert, he advises the teams cants, integrating exclusive EsterCore technolo- partnered technically by the brand and he also gy, observe that the engines don’t consume any supplies Motul communication specialists wor- oil. And as there are no car washes, our partners ldwide with photos and reports from behind the are pleased to use the MotoWash and Shine & Go scenes of the event. Nicolas shares the first pages products from the MC Care line to clean their ma- of his log-book with us... chines. ‘On arriving at the bivouac, I was impressed by the On Sunday 3 January, the alarm went off at 3am sound of the engines, generators, compressors for our bikers. Unfortunately, the first stage had and various tools that make you feel in a gigantic to be cancelled owing to awful conditions. The open-air workshop.’ riders and teams nevertheless reached Villa Car- FOLLOW US ON motul.com European Le Mans Series – Lancaster - Hirsch - Wirdheim Greaves Motorsport – LMP2 Gibson 015S Nissan los Paz defying the deluge caused by the El Niño the contenders could test themselves against one conveyor of storms hitting the region. For us, as another on the route to Termas de Rio Hondo, in providers of assistance, the challenge consisting the region that will host this year the Gran Premio in reaching the next bivouac and setting up the Motul de la Republica ArgentinaVERSION de MotoGP! FRANÇAISE 22.10.15 team’s structure in time was no easy ride either. Despite the stifling heat, the Honda CFR450s The weather granted us a lull, just long enough powered by Motul rode like clockwork. However, to greet a few Brazilian media and try to dry our Brazilian Honda rider, Jean de Azevedo, fell. He clothes. The heavens soon opened again and I had to grit his teeth to reach the arrival and the preferred to sleep in the cabin of my van rather overhaul of his machine occupied his assistance than my tent which is anything but waterproof! On till half past midnight. At the other end of the stan- Monday at 4h30 everyone was on deck, a quick dings, HSA rider, Kevin Benavides, made a strong breakfast on the go, machines checked and en- impression for his maiden Dakar participation. gines started ready for the start. This time there And your special envoy? His vehicle caused him was an actual race: the distance to be crossed in trouble in the admission system. A good clean the special had to be shortened admittedly but was needed to start off again. Jujuy-bound!’ Motul Sport News 2016 © Motul - All right reserved Credits : HRC, DPPI, photosdakar.com, Nicolas Demaria Motul 119 bd Felix Faure • 93300 Aubervilliers Publishing & editing coordinator : Leslie Raiwoit / [email protected].