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Moto blog

Day 3 Dakar 2014: Barreda Maintains Overall Lead, Despres Catches Up

Joan Barreda won his second special stage this year and now boasts a lead of more than 13 minutes over Cyril Despres and Marc Coma, the two other beneficiaries of a particularly decisive stage. Today’s stage, part one of the first marathon stage with no team service, was characterized by the highest ever racing altitude in Dakar history. Facing the 22,841 foot summit of the Aconcagua, South America´s highest mountain, the motorcycle riders had to cross a pass over 14,107 feet in elevation in trial-like conditions.

Day 1 Dakar 2014: Barreda Draws First Blood

Team HRC’s Joan Barreda on the Honda CRF450 Rally, got off to a storming start in day one of the 2014 Dakar rally, clocking up the fastest time of all the 175 riders at the first time-check. The former Husqvarna rider who moved to Honda in the middle of the season inaugurated his 2014 Dakar with an acrobatic performance. The motorcycle competition was expected to be wide open, and that is indeed what the classification shows after the opening stage. It was a very early start for the Rally Dakar. The pack of riders headed off at four in the morning on a long 251 miles that took them towards the vibrant city of Rosario for the start of the 112 mile special.

Day 2 Dakar 2014: Sunderland Wins First Special Stage

Honda won the second day of competition with Team HRC’s Sam Sunderland claiming victory in the first special stage of this year’s Dakar. Sunderland has had a frustrating time at previous Dakars, dropping out after three days of racing in 2012 and withdrawing a month before last year’s event due to fracturing both his wrists. Today, however, Sunderland made a grand entrance into the club of elite riders by brilliantly winning his first special stage of this year’s Dakar. Having started well behind his teammate, Joan Barreda, the 23-year old Brit superbly overtook Michael Metge and Juan Pedrero on the first part of the route.

2014 AMA Supercross – Anaheim 1 Results

KTM rookie Ken Roczen captured his first 450 class win in the AMA Supercross world championship, taking the season opener at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. An audience of 45,050 fans watched a clean race from the rookie while errors by veterans like James Stewart and three-time reigning champion Ryan Villopoto knocked them out of contention. Villopoto had a strong start, taking the holeshot and leading the first eight laps, just like the Kawasaki rider had done so often the last few seasons.

Dakar Begins This Sunday!

Dakar is an international, bad-ass, multi-day off-road event and if you’re not a fan you should be. Crossing the borders of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile the route takes motorcycle and ATV competitors through more than 5400 miles of extreme riding conditions. Competing cars and trucks go even farther.

2014 Monster Energy Supercross Season Preview – Video

The highly anticipated 2014 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season, gets underway this Saturday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., as three-time 450SX Class Championship Ryan Villopoto will stage his title defense against the deepest field of riders the sport has ever seen. Live coverage will begin at 10:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

Nine-Time World Rally Champ Sebastien Loeb Races Motorcycles

Known as arguably the greatest rally car driver of all time, Sebastien Loeb has accomplished a lot behind the wheel of a car. Most victories in WRC history, most podium finishes, most points, nine World Rally titles, a dominating victory at Pikes Peak, and even a second place finish at the 24-hours of LeMans. So what does Loeb do to relax?

Helen Kurt Caselli Send-Off Attracts Thousands

In a touching tribute to Kurt Caselli, one of America’s brightest off-road racing stars, who tragically lost his life in a crash while competing in the Baja 1000, a gathering of over 2000 people descended upon Glen Helen Raceway to pay their final respects in a rolling tribute. The line of cars stretching back to the nearby freeway was a fitting reminder of just how many lives Caselli touched and how important a figure he was to many. Caselli’s KTM crew and teammates were just some of the many who came to pay their respects and take a ride-out in Kurt’s honor with his mom Nancy and fiancée Sarah at the head of the vast pack of motorcyclists. Motocrossers like Dean Wilson, Blake Baggett, Cole Seely and then other luminaries like AMA Superbike racer Chris Fillmore and off-roaders like Destry Abbott were part of the group.

KTM Signs Jordi Viladoms to Race Dakar Rally

It’s never easy to replace someone you’ve lost, but life invariably must go on. KTM recognizes this, announcing the signing of Jordi Viladoms to its Dakar Rally factory team to take the spot of Kurt Caselli who succumbed to injuries in a crash at the SCORE Baja 1000. “We are very aware that no one is able to replace Kurt, who was a special friend and teammate, but we believe that what we need now for the team is stability,” says Alex Doringer, manager of the Red Bull KTM Rally team.

Duke-Based 2015 200 KTM Supermoto Spied

KTM is following-up its small-displacement naked Duke and RC sportbike models with a new line of supermotos based off of the same platform. As with the Duke and RC models, we should expect KTM to offer supermotos in 125, 200 and 390 versions, all sharing similar engines and frames. A test mule of what appears to be a KTM 125 or 200 Supermoto prototype was spotted fueling up somewhere in Europe and from the photograph (see below for a larger version) above we can see a swingarm, ten-spoke wheels and trellis frame that appear identical to those on the Duke.