DIRT NEWS
BIG YAMAHA DOING THE BUSINESS
Carta Rallye in Morocco is traditionally an event dominated by the nimble yet fast 450cc singles. This year, although the overall winner, Lorenzo Santolino on his Sherco won the overall, second overall and winning the over 450 class, as in the multi-cylinder adventure machines, was Kevin Gallas on his Yamaha Tenere 700 Rally. To make the smiles on Yamaha’ s faces even brighter, teammate Gautier Paulin was right behind him, locking in third overall and second in the big bike class.
Then there was Allesandro Botturi, who was fifth overall and gave Yamaha a podium sweep in the over 450 category. Sure, some stages suited the bigger bikes a little more, other stages less so. The to and fro in the individual stages was testament to the abilities and development of the adventure bike contenders and for those watching, gives a hint at what next year’ s customer bikes are likely to have built in. Such is one of the root reasons for racing … us.
MXGP AND MX2 BOTH TIGHT AT THE TOP
Lucas Coenen had a so-so round at a track he didn’ t have high expectations at. Admitting the circuit didn’ t suit his style, he still had a pretty decent day, despite a couple of offs. He still leads the standings with Jeffrey Herlings right behind him in the series standings. The other Coenen, as in Sash, well he had a far better day, sweeping the top ste of the podium clean with a 1-1-1 report card to take back to his Red Bull KTM team. The result sees him close in on teammate Simon Laengenfelder with a mere three points separating the two Red Bull KTM riders. Despite the two being so close in the points, the atmosphere in the pits is not the cut throat rivalry some expect. Instead the team is working, well, like a team. Sure, both would like to win but if anyone else were to take the title, they would be backing their teammate. A novel approach in modern sport.
KIWI RIDER 101