KTM prepares for the ultimate Adventure - Dakar Rally 2007

2006-12-13 09:14
There can be perhaps no better confirmation of KTM's status as the world's
leading producer of offroad machines than a quick look at the starting list for
Dakar 2007 -- the ultimate rally and the ultimate adventure. Of the 250
motorcycles competing in 2007, 128 riders will be on the hallmark orange
machines made in Austria.

Orange will therefore be the dominant colour for offroad machines on the
starting line of the motor sports classic when it leaves Lisbon on January 6,
2007. Competitors will cross Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and
Senegal in a gruelling adventure that puts man and machine against some of the
toughest elements that nature can deliver. This is a race of endurance,
bravery, determination and meticulous planning. It is perhaps also the ultimate
test for the new KTM 690 Rally machine, a product that has been developed in
cooperation with the company's Rally Department. The new machine has already
delivered good results in recent international rallies and will be ridden by
all KTM Factory Team riders in the Dakar 2007.


KTM has dominated the start- and the finish lines of the Dakar classic in
recent years to underline their superiority in the offroad sector. But as
overall team manager Hans Trunkenpolz points out, it took patience and
endurance to wait until orange emerged as the winning colour in the motorcycle
division.

"We needed five years before we experienced our first Dakar victory,"
Trunkenpolz said. "We were close a number of times with second places but for
various reasons it wasn't until 2001 that we won and then it was a five-fold
victory." From that point on the story of the Dakar race has gone hand-in-hand
with the success of the Austrian company, which is now the second largest
producer of motorcycles in Europe.

KTM's three factory teams (Gauloises, Repsol and Red Bull) include eight
factory riders supported by 43 team members, including a doctor and two
physiotherapists. Two of the world's leading rally riders Marc Coma and Cyril
Despres are both top favourites riding orange machines. Coma, in the Repsol
team, won the 2006 rally after Despres, the winner in 2005 who rides for
Gauloises, dislocated his collarbone and had to settle for second place. KTM
riders therefore face a particular challenge in 2007 -- to live up to the 9 of
10 top places in last year's race.

This year it is safety first for every KTM factory rider who will all wear the
new neck brace protection developed for KTM by South African doctor Chris Leatt
and already tested in other international rallies by top KTM riders.
But when the riders start their motors on January 6, they are merely continuing
the task that commenced months before as a massive exercise in logistics. KTM
not only services its factory teams but also supplies customer package support
for an army of other private riders on KTM machines. Accompanying the race for
KTM will be five Rally Nissans, two T4 Racing Trucks and four T5 Assistance
Trucks. They are in effect complete workshops on wheels ready to supply
mechanical, safety and any personal assistance in circumstances.

KTM transportsbetween 36-38 tons of equipment for the race, including some two tons of
selected spare parts and equipment air freighted to cover the contingency of
the late arrival of a support vehicle, or if one is disabled during the event.
When riders cross the finish line of the 2007 Dakar they will have travelled
8,696 km through some of the most rugged terrain in the world. There is no
better testing ground for the new KTM 690 Rally machine in the hands of the
most talented riders on the planet, and the experience gained, as always, will
directly translate into even better KTM offroad motorcycles in the future.



Source: KTM-Sportmotorcycle AG

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