Before the start of the Central Europe Rally, many people were convinced this new rally would offer the best opportunity to finally break the dominance of the KTM Rally bikes.
Short distances, tracks more suitable to enduro bikes and easy navigation. Despite these ingredients KTM choose to race the 690 Rally Bike, and the results proved them right.
Teammanager Hans Trunkenpolz
“We’re more than satisfied with the results, as 8 from 9 in the top 10 placed KTM riders were using (...)
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A bit unusual in rally-raid, but the competitors in the Central Europe Rally had to tackle exactly the same special as yesterday. Cyril Despres was inimitable and won the stage almost 2 minutes ahead of Jaroslav Katrinak who was second fastest.
David Casteu lost only 11 seconds and will start the last special on Saturday in a comfortable lead of 4 minutes in front of Francisco Lopez.
Cyril Despres: “As I wasn’t the first to start, I was less worried to find another competitor (...)
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Two more stages to go in the first edition of the Central Europa Rally, and from today we know victory will be decided between David Casteu and Francisco Lopez.
The winner of the 5th stage is David Casteu, who extended his lead with 2 minutes.
The weather was a lot better compared to the last three days, although it was still pretty cold at the start in the early morning. Finally a special which was a bit longer compared to the rest of the week, but still not long enough to the liking (...)
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Cyril Despres was back on the pace again with a second place in the stage behind Slovakian rider Jaroslav Katrinak, who was on the attack with his KTM EXC 530.
It was raining hard when the bikes left at 06.00 this morning and visibility was poor in the mountains. The stage consisting of 2 specials was the same as yesterday, but in reversed direction. Although the track was very muddy with many water puddles this didn’t necessarily mean riding conditions were more difficult (...)
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