The Dakar Rally 2016 got underway with an easy start Sunday for stage 1. Easy is never a word used to describe what is coined as “the world’s toughest race,” but a cancellation of the opening Dakar stage due to storms had riders take a leisure trip from the start point of Rosario to Villa Carlos Paz in Argentina.
Monday’s action was much different; Dakar Rally 2016 Stage 2 did have a trimmed timed special – from 280 to 220 miles – due to deteriorated conditions, but a mere lack of 60 miles didn’t change the challenge much. Riders had to deal with undulating terrain at speed throughout the stage that took riders nearly 500 miles overall to Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina.
And when it all came to end Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Toby Price struck first. The Australian finished Dakar Rally 2016 Stage 2 by 20 seconds ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Ruben Faria of Portugal. Earning the final podium position at Stage 2 was Price’s teammate Stefan Svitko of Slovakia; these three riders now hold the top-three positions in the overall standings (Saturday’s Prologue and Stage 2).
Following the stage win, Price said: “It was a long day in the saddle but for sure it’s started well for us. Today was really easy navigation and we had a few tracks we could see, plus the route was pretty well marked.”
But Price knows there is still a long way to go: “You’ve got to have a perfect race go your way for the two weeks. Realistically it’s day one, so we’ve got a long way to go. We’ve just got to make sure we keep cool, calm and collected. It’s good to get one stage win out of the way, but we’re looking forward to being smooth and consistent the rest of the week and see how we go.”
Husqvarna’s Ruben Faria
Faria, who shared the fastest time during Saturday’s Dakar Rally prologue with Team HRC Honda’s Joan Barreda (finished seventh in stage 2), had to push hard for his finish. He is now only two seconds behind Price in the overall standings: “Today I started second behind (Joan) Barreda. I pushed a little bit and I caught him. After that I rode at a good speed. I’ve got a good feeling with the bike and the bike was really good. We’re at the beginning of the race, but I’m feeling good.”
Fourth went to Sherco’s Alain Duclos, who was followed by Price’s Red Bull KTM factory teammate Matthias Walkner of Austria; all together the top-five riders were seperated by only two minutes.
Price, who was third in 2015 in his debut Dakar and Walkner, who is coming off an excellent season, have both been mentioned as possible favorites for this edition.
As for America’s Ricky Barbec on the Team HRC Honda CRF450 Rally, he finished 21st overall in his first-ever Dakar Rally stage.
Brabec said “Today was the first real day, you could say, as we raced through the dirt. It was a good, really fast day. I got hung up for maybe four or five minutes and then Paulo got by me and he got stuck in the mud also. I helped Paulo (Ceci) get out of the mud. Other than that there were no issues. It was a really hot day.”
Dakar Rally 2016 Stage 3 Terrain
Stage 3 on Tuesday takes riders from Termas de Río Hondo to San Salvadore de Jujuy. Out of a total distance of 412 miles, they will ride under the clock for 195 miles. The timed special will include tight mountain tracks that require maximum concentration and organizers warn that if there is more rain the ground will be heavy.
2026 Aprilia Tuono 660 Factory + Sara Lobkovich of CW Moto
byMotos and Friends by Ultimate Motorcycle
You have to appreciate Aprilia’s moxie. Instead of designing its upright, semi-naked sportbikes to a price, the Noale team dives headfirst into crafting high-performance machines—and then sets the price to match. At $11,499, the 2026 Aprilia Tuono 660 Factory is an expensive bike for its class—almost 50 percent more than the Kawasaki Z650. That requires buyers to want something based on quality and capability, rather than prioritizing price. Editor Don Williams headed to the canyons on the new Aprilia, and in the first segment this episode, he gives us the lowdown on what he found.
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In the second segment this episode, Teejay Adams chats with Sara Lobkovich, a leadership coach and consultant who has authored a book on her deep expertise in Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), and organizational performance. Okay, so that’s cool, but what you probably don’t know about Sara is that she is also a Principal (with her husband Chris) and Assistant Crew Chief of the CW Moto Team who race in the Moto America series. Her many roles include strategic communication, social media support, and she helps ensure the team is operating at peak performance. Sara is a 20+ year rider and riding coach herself, and created The Moto Curious, a podcast to help make motorcycling more inclusive and accessible. She is a fascinating and welcoming lady, so from all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode.
Here’s a quick reminder to leave us your comments on our social media—we’re on all the usual platforms at Ultimate Motorcycling. We love hearing your feedback… so good or bad, please let us know what you think. If there’s something you’d like us to cover, we’d love to hear those ideas too!
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