Maar wij waren de eerste!!!
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KTM welcomes new Central European Rally of "Dakar Series"
KTM factory riders and other privateers onboard KTM machines who
were "Ready to Race" in the ill-fated Dakar 2008 have now had the
edge taken off their disappointment with the announcement of the
first of the new "Dakar": the Central Europe Rally.
Riders now have the opportunity to regain some valuable competition
time on their machines in this new event run by the Dakar
organizers, the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). Set for April 20-
24, 2008 the rally will offer free entry to any rider registered for
the Dakar 2008 and will challenge them over some of central Europe's
most varied and demanding terrain. Competitors will tackle over 3000
km of varied terrain with nearly half the total distance to be run
in special stages.
KTM welcomes this initiative and the prospect of other rallies under
the label "Dakar Series". The company is pleased that ASO has pushed
forward their plans to start this new series, which was already in
the pipeline before the cancellation of the 2008 Dakar. ASO had
originally planned to launch the "Dakar Series" in 2009. Now the
Central European Rally 2008 becomes its inaugural event and KTM sees
it as another positive milestone in the development of rally sport.
"The main manufacturers who compete in the Dakar have had meetings
in Germany and in Paris together with the organisers. All riders who
were registered for the Dakar 2008 will be allowed to enter the
Central European Rally free of charge so this is some compensation
for missing the big race," said KTM's Offroad Motor Sports
Consultant Heinz Kinigadner. At the same time Kinigadner said
efforts were being made to obtain a high standard of media coverage
so that the Central European Rally would also be rewarding to the
sponsors.
The former world champion also underlined that it had been the right
decision to cancel the Dakar in January because of terrorist
threats. "It was 100% the right decision. After all, we have 2500
people involved in that race."
Kinigadner said various options were under consideration for a
replacement venue for Dakar 2009 and although there was no official
announcement yet, the one most likely would be South America. "In
that case, the rally would start in Argentina and finish in Chile,"
he said. "It is important to retain the January date on the racing
calendar and this would be one of our few options for another venue
for the Dakar."
Future Qualifier
In another interesting development Kinigadner reported that a second
race in the Dakar Series was under consideration for Spain and
Portugal in September. In the future, he said, the series is likely
to be used as a qualifier for the main Dakar event in January.
The Central European Rally starts in the Hungarian capital Budapest,
forges into the centre of neighbouring Romania and then returns to
finish at the beautiful landscape of Hungary's Lake Balaton.
Topic: Nieuwe oost europa rally, van de Dakar orga.. (gelezen 782 keer)
