Cyril Despres deprived of victory in Brazil after mix-up
with time card
KTM factory rider and leader of the Rally dos Sertoes in
Brazil for the first half of the 10 stages was deprived of
final glory after a mix up with time cards on the penultimate
stage, which resulted in him being penalized by five minutes.
The very experienced Frenchman, who has ridden in more than
35 rally raids and is recognized as one of the world's elite
in rally sport, had ridden his usual highly professional race
across a large section of the massive landmass of Brazil.
After the ninth stage he calculated that he had a good chance
of catching local hero Jose Helio who held a slight advantage
going into the final short run into Natal on the north eastern
corner of the country. But the penultimate stage was shortened
by 40 km due to an impassible water crossing and Despres,
faced with confusion at what he thought was the end of the
day's special, mistakenly handed in his time card and continued
on to the bivouac. Unable to then hand the card to the race
director, he was penalized five minutes, making it an impossible
task to overtake the Brazilian on the final stage.
Deeply disappointed
Despres, second in the final results and with other KTM factory
riders David Casteu and Marc Coma in third and fourth place,
was understandably distressed and disappointed at the outcome
of what had been a challenging and interesting rally.
Set an impossible task
"Although I rode the last special as hard as I possibly
could and made up the original time deficit, it was impossible
to pull back the five minute penalty over such a short distance,"
Despres said after the race. "I am sure you can imagine
how I felt as I arrived at the finish podium in Natal. Up
until the previous evening I had really enjoyed the race and
the battle I had on the piste with the other riders. For me
that is where a race should be decided."
Results
1. Jose Helio, Brazil, Honda
2. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
3. David Casteu, France, KTM
4. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
5. Ruben Fana, Honda, Portugal
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