13^th January

Liaison Sections: 88 km

Racing Stage: 451 Km

Total Distance: 539 Km

What happened Monday 12^th Jan:

Stage 8 would prove to be a disastrous one knocking most of the top bike contenders out of the rally, including Broadlink’s Riaan van Niekerk. Riaan’s race ended at Kilometer 365 after crossing the salt pan earlier in the morning.

Matthias Walkner also experienced electrical problems costing him several hours. Jordi Viladoms was next, his bike coming to a grinding halt. Botturi, Metge and many others did also not make it to the end of the stage. Race leader Joan Barreda also faced electrical issues and lost 3 hours on the leader today, he rode to the finish with Israel and Rodrigues. .

Marc Coma regained the lead ahead of Paulo Gonzalves. Toby Price moved into fourth overall, all the bikes were stripped down and rebuilt.

Yesterday’s stage:

Another demanding stage of 451 Km’s, saw some more upset as many riders missed waypoint 9, including Ruben Faria, Matthias Walkner, Kuba Pryzgonski and a few others, again mixing up the order of the top ten. Marc coma had a faultless run and finished 3^rd on the stage. He said the navigation was tricky and he made a few mistakes but is happy with the day. Toby price is getting the hang of his navigation and is getting more comfortable with finding his way. He also got lost looking for waypoint 9, at the 365 Km mark, losing around 20 minutes on the stage. Toby finished 8^th on the stage and retains his fourth overall.

Helder Rodrigues won the stage ahead of Paulo Goncalves who gained 3 minutes 43 on Marc Coma reducing Coma’s lead to just 5 minutes 28.

Matthias Walkner had a small crash and burst his camelback, leaving him a bit dehydrated as he had no water for the last 150Km’s. He felt comfortable on the bike and is getting to grips with the rally style of racing.

What’s happening today:

It’s time for the second marathon stage! After crossing back into Argentina, the special stage will start on the Salinas Grandes, more than 3600m above sea level. The altitude should curb the competitor’s enthusiasm and cool down their engines. The more technical final phase, will separate the men from the boys, it will be really tough. The liaison section will take them over the de L’ACay pass at an altitude of 4970m.

12^th January

Liaison Sections: 24 km

Racing Stage: 781 Km

Total Distance: 805 Km

What happened Sunday 11^th Jan:

Broadlink KTM’s Riaan van Niekerk, had his best day yet with a tenth overall, moving him to 12^thin the overall rankings.

Paulo Gonzalves took the stage win, just 14 seconds ahead of Marc Coma, moving to within ten minutes of race leader Joan Barreda, who crashed on the stage breaking his handlebar. He rode for 120Km with one hand and conceded 6 minutes of his 12 minute lead over Red bull Factory KTM’s Marc Coma. Matthias Walkner had another great day finishing in third just a few seconds behind Coma, fourth was Quantanilla and then Toby Price.

Yesterday’s stage:

Stage 8 would prove to be a disastrous one knocking most of the top bike contenders out of the rally, including Broadlink’s Riaan van Niekerk. Riaan’s race ended at Kilometer 365 after crossing the salt pan earlier in the morning.

After heavy rains overnight, the decision was made by the ASO to still have the mass start across the 135 Km salt pan early in the morning. The crossing would have disastrous consequences for many riders like Riaan, who at first experienced electrical difficulties, all the fuel injection lights lit up on his dashboard as the salt water found its way into the electrical system, at the first refuel most of the bikes couldn’t start on their own and had to be push started. Radiators clogged up and bikes overheated, running out of coolant and losing oil, riders tried by any means to unclog the radiators and in Riaan’s case salt got into the airbox and the results for him were terminal. Matthias Walkner also experienced electrical problems costing him several hours. Jordi Viladoms was next, destroying his engine and coming to a grinding halt. Botturi, Metge and many others did also not make it to the end of the stage. Race leader Joan Barreda also faced electrical issues and lost 3 hours on the leader today, he rode to the finish with Israel and Rodrigues. .

Marc Coma has regained the lead and is now just 9 minutes 11 seconds ahead of Paulo Gonzalves. Toby Price has moved into fourth overall, he just made it to the bivouac with a bike desperately in need of repair. The bikes are being stripped down to bare frames and completely rebuilt for tomorrow morning’s start. 

What’s happening today:

It’s time to leave the Atacama, the stage has been well used and is showing signs of wear and tear, the track is rough and will be harsh on competitors. Narrow passages will take their toll on the vehicles. Fifty odd Km’s of dunes will have to be navigated in the special.

11^th January

Liaison Sections: 396 km

Racing Stage: 321 Km

Total Distance: 717 Km

What happened Saturday 10^th Jan:

The car and truck competitors raced to Uyuni, whilst the bike competitors rested and prepared themselves for the second half of an already tough race. A whopping 4414 Km’s have been covered up until now and the bikes were prepared for the first of the two marathon stages.

There was a fun atmosphere in the air in the Broadlink KTM / Red Bull Factory KTM pits as we caught up with all the South African supporters that came through to the rest day. Some washing was done and Riaan caught up with some much needed sleep.

South Africa’s Wessel Bosman arrived in the bivouac at 4:00pm from the previous day’s stage, he had 4 hours sleep in the previous 3 days and was shattered, his race was over. Dakar legend Heinz Kinigadner and his son Hannes, arrived and will spend a few days with the team.

Yesterday’s stage:

The first leg of the marathon stage would be the first real high altitude test, with the racing stage peaking at 3900m. The track was extremely muddy and it was cold out on the stage.

Broadlink KTM’s Riaan van Niekerk, had his best day yet with a tenth overall, moving him to 12^th in the overall rankings. Consistency has been the name of the game for Riaan, a clever rider who will be sure to take good care of his bike and tyre, in order to survive the marathon stage.

Paulo Gonzalves took the stage win, just 14 seconds ahead of Marc Coma, moving to within ten minutes of race leader Joan Barreda, who crashed on the stage breaking his handlebar. He rode for 120Km with one hand and conceded 6 minutes of his 12 minute lead over Red bull Factory KTM’s Marc Coma. Matthias Walkner had another great day finishing in third just a few seconds behind Coma, fourth was Quantanilla and then Toby Price.

What’s happening today:

Onto the Salar (salt pans) The weather will determine which route will be taken from Uyuni, if it’s dry, the start will be on the salt pans of Uyuni, with a 100Km dash across them on a salt road, it will be balls to the wall absolutely flat out before it slows down abruptly as it heads into a technical mountain section. The day will end with a 40Km dune section, taking them down the famous descent into the bivouac in Iquique. This will be the first time in the history of the Dakar that all three categories will be run as three separate races.

8^th January

Liaison Sections: 239 km

Racing Stage: 458 Km

Total Distance: 697 Km

What happened Wednesday 7^th Jan:

It was the first crossing of the Andes and a long day for the riders, it was a total of 909Km’s in all. Navigation would be the order of the day and stage 4 winner Matthias Walkner  and Toby Price both got lost losing precious time.

Riaan van Niekerk had a trouble free day with a steady ride into 14^th place at the end of the day. Sam Sunderland crashed out early in the morning. Barreda won the stage ahead of Marc Coma.

Yesterday’s stage:

Another long racing stage through the Atacama desert and it would soon become clear that the terrain favored the local Chilean riders with Quintanilla and Israel right out front. This is one of the most treacherous stages of the Dakar with massive amounts of fesh fesh and rough tracks. Broadlink’s Riaan van Niekerk did not want to take risk here and finished in 17^th for the day and he holds onto his 15^th overall.

“It was a really long stage, one of the hardest of the rally, 450km really bumpy, lots and lots of fesh fesh. It wasn’t possible to overtake with the fesh fesh, you simply couldn’t get close enough. We are all in the same boat, overall I had a trouble free day, it was just a long stage, but tomorrow will be a little bit shorter and hopefully it eases up a bit”

In the overall the battle is still between Marc Coma and Joan Barreda, with the cat and mouse game ensuing. Both Jordi Viladoms and Ruben Faria got lost today losing 14 and 17 minutes. There are 7 KTM’s in the top ten overall positions with Matthias Walkner and Toby price still figuring out the “rally style” of racing. They are 8^th and 10^th overall respectively.

What’s happening today:

The route starts making it’s way up the Pacific coast towards Iquique. The bikes and quads will have an extension of the special stage that will take them into endurance type terrain and onto mountain ridges with sea views. They will have to navigate the dunes that dominate the coastline and will not finish with the traditional descent, but rather on the podium in the centre of Iquique to mark the halfway point in the race.

7^th January

Liaison Sections: 594 km

Racing Stage: 315 Km

Total Distance: 909 Km

What happened Tuesday 6^th Jan:

Broadlink’s Riaan van Niekerk had a trouble free day and stayed out of trouble, finishing 20^th on the stage. Matthias Walkner set a blistering pace today to take the stage win ahead of Marc coma. Marc was able to pull back some time on Barreda and is looking forward to the Chilean stages. Barreda finished third on the stage, Toby Price was fourth.

Yesterday’s stage:

The traditional crossing of the Andes via the San Francisco pass was taxing although it wasn’t as cold as normal. Riders were overdressed as ominous weather got them packing on extra layers for the 4:30am departure from Chilecito. Temperatures over the 5000m crossing didnt go much below 8 degrees, never the less there was a chill in the air. After a 594 Km liaison section, it was straight into the 315 Km special and competitors first glimpse this year of the Atacama. Navigation would be the order of the day and Tuesdays winner Matthias Walkner soon slotted in behind Marc Coma. Toby Price was the first to get lost losing around 20 minutes early in the morning, Sam Sunderland’s bike stopped at Km 67.

Riaan van Niekerk had a trouble free day with a steady ride into 14^th place at the end of the day. The first 100 kays was absolutely flat out, Sam Sunderland crashed out early in the morning on the really slippery roads and is out. Riaan then passed David Casteu and they rode together until the refuel, when Chilean rider Gouet joined them. A short while later Helder Rodrigues and Pizzalito joined the fray and the four of them rode to the finish together. All in all it was a steady day with no real drama for Riaan and the Broadlink crew.

Joan Barreda took the stage win today gaining 2 minutes on Marc Coma. Both young guns Matthias Walkner and Toby Price made navigation errors today and paid the price.

What’s happening today:

This is one of the few special stages of the rally where all categories follow the same route. The tracks will be really fast in the early stages, allowing those that wish to overtake, the advantage to move up the overall standings. This will be at their own risk though, as competitors should be aware of the pockets of fesh- fesh where absolute self control is the only real measure of success.

6^th January

Liaison Sections: 437 km

Racing Stage: 220 Km

Total Distance: 657 Km

What happened Monday 5^th Jan:

Monday was the longest single special in the rally, proved to be a really tough day for most, with soaring temperatures of up to 42 degrees celcius. The route was challenging with lots of fesh fesh, with ruts and narrow winding tracks between the bushes, then sandy whooped out sections of around 60 Km’s in total to the finish.

It was a Honda one two with Barreda winning the stage ahead of Paulo Gonzalves. Red Bull Factory KTM riders were 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th (Ruben Faria followed by Viladoms, Price and Walkner, Marc Comas mousse collapsed about 50 Km’s from the end of the stage and he limped home losing 12 minutes. Sam Sunderland opened the stage and got completely lost losing 2 hours and 20 in the process.

Broadlink’s Riaan van Niekerk had a steady day finishing in 12^th on the stage, putting him in 15^th overall.

Yesterday’s stage:

A long liaison of 282 Km’s led riders out of San Juan to the start of the 220Km special. It would be their first taste of high altitude peaking at 3500 metres. It was another fast stage, Broadlink’s Riaan van Niekerk had a trouble free day and stayed out of trouble, finishing 20^th on the stage. Struggling in the dust, Riaan played caution to the wind as there were some 90 degree bends and he did not need another close encounter like his day one off! He is not particularly looking forward to the Chilean stages as they are more dangerous and will be difficult to navigate.

Matthias Walkner set a blistering pace today to take the stage win ahead of Marc coma. Marc was able to pull back some time on Barreda and is looking forward to the Chilean stages and will continue to claw back time. Barreda finished third on the stage, Toby Price was fourth.

What’s happening today:

It’s into Chile we go! A very early start and a climb to 4800m will precede the border crossing on the San Francisco pass, a gradual warm up will follow on mining tracks, before riders are faced with the reality of the Atacama desert. The route becomes open and sandy, over the last 40 Km’s, the giant dunes and basins of Copiapo will have to be tackled to reach the bivouac, many will spend their night there.

5^th January

Liaison Sections: 107 km

Racing Stage: 518 Km

Total Distance: 625 Km

What happened Sunday 4th Jan:

It was a long and dusty stage, absolutely flat out! The route ran mostly between farms with long straights and sharp corners, pretty much like road racing on dirt. Red Bull KTM Factory rider Sam Sunderland took the win covering the 175Km special in a staggering 1 hour 18 minutes. Broadlink’s Riaan van Niekerk went off the road and crashed heavily. He emerged relatively unscathed, with some bruises, but got back on track to finish the day in 22^nd. Gonzalves picked up a 7 minute penalty for speeding.

Yesterday's stage

A staggering 518 Km’s, the longest single special in the rally, proved to be a really tough day for most, with soaring temperatures of up to 42 degrees celcius. The stage started out with some some twisty mountain road stages, then the route turned into more sandy, desert kind of terrain. Some wide open roads followed with lots of dust, Riaan topped his 450 KTM out at 175 Km/h, it was absolutely flat out until refuel two. From there on the route was more challenging with lots of fesh fesh, with ruts and narrow winding tracks between the bushes, then sandy whooped out sections of around 60 Km’s in total to the finish.

It was a Honda one two today with Barreda winning the stage ahead of Paulo Gonzalves. Red Bull Factory KTM riders were 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th (Ruben Faria followed by Viladoms, Price and Walkner, Marc Comas mousse collapsed about 50 Km’s from the end of the stage and he limped home losing 12 minutes. Sam Sunderland opened the stage and got completely lost losing 2 hours and 20 in the process.

Broadlink’s Riaan van Niekerk had a steady day finishing in 12^th on the stage, putting him in 15^th overall.

What’s happening today:

A slight breather after yesterdays 518 Km racing stage, the longest of the rally. The pressure will be off for now on the road to Chilecito. The shorter and less intense stage will allow them to enjoy their spectacular surroundings. The red earth tracks, overlooking steep peaks and plunging down into canyons, will take the Dakar through some of the most beautiful regions of Argentina. The bikers especially should not be too comfortable though, as they will still face some grueling sections with thousands of stones to be avoided, it will only take one to ruin the day!

Most people are dreamers, fewer are doers and even more far apart is someone who is repeatedly successful. Erik Buell is on his fourth generation of motorcycles companies, and has left an indelible mark on the industry and the sport.

After cutting his teeth racing Ducati’s and Yamahas in the 1970’s, working as a motorcycle mechanic, getting an engineering degree at university of Pittsburgh, and getting a development job at Harley-Davidson, Erik Buell decided it was time to start his own motorcycle company.

Buell Motor Company got the ball rolling in 1982 with the legendary RW750, running a British-built Barton power plant, designed to compete in the fledging AMA Formula 1 series. Despite the cancellation of AMA F1, BMC went on to build Harley-Davidson powered racing and street motorcycles that went on sale to the public in the 1990’s.

Chapter 2 began when Harley-Davidson bought a majority interest in the re-branded Buell Motorcycle Company, turning Buell into an H-D subsidiary, which gave Buell’s innovative technologies access to a wider audience.

Among these designs were the Zero Torsional Load single front disc brake that is mounted to the rim, (rather than the hub), fuel-carrying frames, and swing arms that doubled as oil tanks, as well as the now-standard practice of placing the muffler under the motor instead of in the vicinity of the rear wheel. 

The Harley-Davidson, period Buell’s ran Sportster-based motors, and was used in models ranging from superbike, Supermoto, Streetfighter, and Adventure. At the end of the Buell H-D run, however, Buell collaborated with Rotax in Austria, designing a Rotax-built liquid-cooled, DOHC V-twin engine for two new motorcycles a superbike and a cafe? racer. 

Beta Europe announced the latest international comparisons shoot out test in a leading Austrian motor cycle magazine “Motorrad Magazin” which saw the Beta 300 RR beat its opposition in their own backyard taking the overall title in the lengthy full blown test against the KTM 300 EXC and the Gas Gas REC 300 two of its greatest rivals

“It was a clean sweep for the Beta 300 RR,” said Frank Schroeder Betamotor S.p.A. - Export Manager. “It is always a great victory to take on the leaders, we put a thorn in the heart of orange factory by winning  this 300 cc comparison test in the latest edition of the Austrian Motorrad Magazin. “In spite of the other's home ground advantage the author's final result saw us on take the number 1 place in the ranking way out in front of KTM and Gas Gas, mainly due to the best overall "package" with a special mention for new Beta engine and value for money. Our Beta product had to bring on much more to achieve this fantastic result,” said Schroeder.

“This is another huge result for the Beta Factory not long ago Beta had taken the lead in sales in the popular model capacity line up and had overtaken KTM in the European sales race, said Beta’s South Africa’s Sales Director Craig Langton. The Beta brand has been moving very quickly in the overseas markets proving it has all the credentials to take on its competitors, win races, shoot outs and continually impressing the international media.”

For more information on the new 2015 Beta’s call Cayenne World on 011 244 1900 or visit their web site www.cayenne.co.za

4^th January

Liaison Sections: 663 km

Racing Stage: 175 Km

Total Distance: 838 Km

It was an early start for the team, leaving the hotel in Buenos Aires for the 5:15am start at the Tecnopolis which is where the parc ferme was. Riders loaded the first Dakar road books and donned jackets for the first liaison section of 144 Km’s. The 175Km special started at 7:50am and it was to be Red Bull Factory KTM’s Marc Coma, that set off first. Marc won the 2014 Dakar as well as the 2014 World Rally championship, so he is definitely the man with the target on his back. KTM has 13 successive wins at the Dakar and all other manufacturers are hungry for a win.

It was a long and dusty stage, absolutely flat out! The route ran mostly between farms with long straights and sharp corners, pretty much like road racing on dirt. Red Bull KTM Factory rider Sam Sunderland took the win covering the 175Km special in a staggering 1 hour 18 minutes. Broadlink’s Riaan van Niekerk made his way on time to 12^th overall before a 90 degree bend in the road sent him through a barb wire fence and into a hole, where spectators had to pull his bike out. He emerged relatively unscathed, with some bruises, but got back on track to finish the day in 22^nd.

Times are tight up front with Gonzalves in second, Coma third, Barreda fourth and Duclos fifth. Walkner is in 8^th, Faria in 10^th, Toby Price in 11^th and viladoms in 14^th.