Aprilia Dakar Preview
The 33rd edition of the Dakar Rally starts this afternoon. From 2:30 pm, all 407 teams in the race will pass through Avenida 9 de Julio to start their way to the first bivouac in Victoria by the road.
Tomorrow, the Dakar race will start with its first competitive stage, Victoria to Cordoba, with a timed section of 192 km.
Team Aprilia Giofil is proud to take part of the toughest race in the world with its five prestigious riders will aim a top place in the ranks. They are:
Francisco "Chaleco" Lopez (#3), Chilean rider of 35 years old, part of the Italian team since 2009. Latin champion of Motocross in 85 cc class in 1989, he reaches the world title of Cross Country Rally Championship in 450cc. In 2006, possessor of a competitive spirit, he doesn´t let top riders get far from him. It is as well as in 2010 he obtained the 3rd place overall, after Cyril Despres and Pal Anders Ullevalseter, crowning himself as first in the 450 cc class.
Gérard Farrés (#18), a talented Catalonian rider of 31 years old who counts three gold medals in the category Junior of the ISDE: Australia 98, 99 Portugal and Spain 2000. In 2009 he took part of KTM-Repsol team and reached the third place in a stage. The same year, he crowned himself as winner of the Baja Spain. In 2010, he had to leave the Dakar because of technical problems, and so "Chaleco" lost the appreciated support of his water carrier.
Alex Zanotti (#27), Italian rider of 33 years with 30 of them on two wheels. He initiated himself in enduro at the age of 14 and obtained the Italian Championship three times. In 2001 and 2004 he was second in the Cross Country Rally World Championship after Carlo de Gavardo. Four the years later he was 3rd place overall in Pharaons Rally, winner of the 450 cc. class, marking the beginning of the development of the Aprilia RXV 4.5.
Alain Duclos (#14), the private French-Mali rider who scores the best result in the rally raid classic. His first participation dates from 2000 and in 2006 he reached his first stage victory in his native city(name of the city please). He attended the first South American Dakar as the water carrier of Cyril Despres, which allowed him to observe the rigor of a professional rider compared to an amateur. Its great talent took him to the 6 position overall in 2010, and he expects to stay with the best, along with Aprilia.
Joan Barreda (#60) is the youngest of the squad with 27. He practices the disciplines of motocross, supercross and enduro, taking part of the Spanish team on the ISDE 2009 and 2010. In 2010 he was the runner-up of the Cross Country Cup in his land and led the last edition of the Baja Spain until an engine problem took the imminent victory away. His first world cup race was this year’s Pharaohs Rally, where it even signed a stage victory.
