KTM Target Dakar

Austrian firm KTM are making a massive effort to win this year’s Dakar – and the bikes they are sending are works of art.

KTM already have an enviable reputation as kings of desert racing having dominated the event in recent years, and in the 2007 race there will be no less than 128 riders on their bikes out of the 250 entries.

KTM’s own factory effort is massive. Their three teams – Gauloises, Repsol and Red Bull – include eight 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: 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 though face a tough challenge in 2007 – to live up to the 9 of 10 top places in last year’s race but it took patience, endurance and a five-year wait before KTM clinched their first Dakar victory in 2001. Since then 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.

Team Manager Hans Trunkenpolz said:  “We needed five years before we experienced our first Dakar victory. 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.“

The 2007 Dakar starts in Lisbon on January 6 and competitors 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 year it is safety first for every KTM factory rider who will all wear the new neck brace protection developed by South African doctor Chris Leatt and already tested in other international rallies by top KTM riders.

KTM not only services its factory teams but also supplies customer package support for the  army of other KTM privateers. Accompanying the race for KTM will be five Rally Nissans, two T4 Racing Trucks and four T5 Assistance Trucks – complete workshops on wheels ready to supply mechanical, safety and personal assistance in circumstances.

KTM transports between 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.

KTM’s factory teams

Gauloises KTM

Cyril Despres

Isidre Esteve

David Casteu

Frans Verhoeven

Repsol KTM

Marc Coma

Giovanni Sala

Jordi Viladoms

Red Bull KTM

Chris Blais