Dakar 09 Info

Wed, 14 May 2008 09:07:00 +0100

NEWS RELEASE ASO On the occasion of the official presentation that was held late in the afternoon at the Théâtre Marigny in Paris, Patrice Clerc, President of Amaury Sport Organisation and Étienne Lavigne, director of the Dakar, have unveiled the main lines of the course of the next edition in the presence of Carlos Enrique Meyer, Argentina's State Secretary for Tourism and of Jaime Pizarro Herrera, State Secretary for Sports of Chile. Returning from a series of reconnaissance taking place in both countries of South America that will be welcoming the Dakar for the first time, Étienne Lavigne gave out some information on the event that will take place from the 3rd to the 18th of January 2009. On the vast Argentinean and Chilean territories, a large loop of 9 000 kilometres including around 6,000 kilometres of specials, will have to be covered by the competitors to reach Buenos Aires, start and finish place of the race. By first of all heading south towards the landscapes of Patagonia, the drivers and riders will then have to cross the Andes Mountains before enjoying a rest day at Valparaiso on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The return trip will then take them to the Atacama Desert and notably to the Argentinean provinces of Catamarca, of Rioja and of Cordoba. The Dakar that has a vocation to discover unknown territories for off-road rally amateurs will cross over the Atlantic Ocean for its 2009 edition. The calendar has therefore been adapted in order to allow the shipping of the vehicles to Argentina's capital: a first phase of technical and administrative scrutineering will take place on the 26th and 27th of November at Le Havre where the European vehicles will be boarded on ships. The organisers of the rally have announced the opening of the period to send registration files as of the 15th of May. During a month, the competitors that had registered for the 2008 edition of the Dakar will benefit from a priority. An extreme adventure between two oceans The Dakar 2009 is off to discover a new continent, South America that offers unlimited possibilities to amateurs of wide open spaces. The round trip to Buenos Aires, via Valparaiso is a challenge in which the most enduring competitors will find their way and have the opportunity to distinguish themselves. With close to 6,000 kilometres of specials and difficulties scattered on the whole course, the battle for the title will remain wide open until the finish. CHILE Higher, stronger Chile is also the kingdom of superlatives: one will find there the longest range of mountains in the world with the highest volcano; as well as the most arid desert on the planet and the highest dunes that can exist. Such a frame can only ideally suit the toughest rally in the world that first of all calls for adventurers eager for wide open spaces. It is with that approach that the competitors will head towards Valparaiso, where other travellers like Jack London or in the imagination of Hugo Pratt, the famous Corto Maltese have set foot. Before enjoying a rest day on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, the competitors will have to cross through the Andes Cordillera. This obstacle will probably force the race average speed to drop down. It will mainly give all unique images and memories. The energy drawn from these landscapes will anyhow be essential at the moment of entering the Atacama Desert. Having experience in dunes will be at least as useful as the ability to navigate. For the champions like for the others, there are serious risks of loosing minutes and hours in the Chilean sand. The regions travelled through · Valparaiso · Coquimbo · Atacama Long and slim. Chile's physiognomy, with limits stuck between the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Andes Mountains on the other, makes it one of the longest countries on the planet. With 4300 kilometres from north to south (close to a total of 5400 km of sea line!), Chile has no equivalent in the domain. On the other hand its width never exceeds 349 km and even drops down to around fifteen kilometres in the south. On this filiform territory all the types of climates are witnessed as well as depth. From the Atacama Desert, known as one of the most arid in the World to the top of the Ojos del Salado, the highest active volcano on the globe (6893 m), Chile offers a wide range of different landscapes. Concerning encounters, the variety is also impressive: one can easily meet lamas but also Emperor penguins! ARGENTINA A complete range The extent of Argentina with over 3,500 kilometres from north to south gives the country the status of "other giant" of the continent. On a territory marked by the natural and cultural contrasts, the distances are always long: we are in the register of immensity. For the travellers, the amateurs of maps and more specifically those in love with off-road rallies, the study of the place sees new ideas spring up all the time. In Argentina, the competitors of the 2009 Dakar have the insurance of taking on an extreme endurance event. While it isn't completely a "Tour of Argentina", the course imagined, taking off and heading back to Buenos Aires gives the bikers and drivers the opportunity to express themselves on all types of terrain. First of all heading south, those loyal to the rally will witness fast tracks with a lot of kilometres to cover as of the first days of racing. After having tasted the 'hard' part, the competitors will then discover the 'soft'. On the way back, several sandy stages will allow dune crossing experts to play their part. The crews that will make it to the finish will have visited a total of ten of the twenty-three provinces of the country: enough for the tastes of all. The provinces travelled through · Buenos Aires - Federal capital · Buenos Aires province · La Pampa · Rio Negro · Chubut · Neuquén · Mendoza · Catamarca · Cordoba · Santa Fe With a distance of close to 3500 kilometres between the Bolivian border and the extremity of Terra Del Fuego, Argentina has the aspect of a country-continent. Its dimension on the north-south axe as well as on the east-west line, gives the country several faces. On a climatic, mountainous and life style point of view, variety marks the many areas of Argentina. A welcome land for the Spaniards during the first waves of immigration in the XVIth century, and then for Italians, Germans and French attracted by the prosperity of the capital in the XIXth century, Argentina has through different periods invented a one-of-a-kind cultural model that the Europeans have easily acclimated to.

Mark Belsford

Sat, 10 May 2008 22:50:00 +0100

Here is a little bit of Flat Track info for you taken from the AMA website about one of the all time greats!! Mark Brelsford was the 1972 AMA Grand National Champion, riding for Harley-Davidson. During his short six-year racing career, the Californian won seven AMA Nationals. Brelsford will forever be remembered for the fiery crash he suffered at Daytona in 1973. Riding at a high rate of speed through the speedway infield, Brelsford hit a rider whose machine had broken and was going slowly and his Harley road racer burst into a ball of flames with Brelsford still aboard. The impact and huge fireball was captured on film by a photographer for the Daytona News-Journal. The infamous photo ran all over the country and became perhaps the best-selling motorcycle racing poster of all time. Brelsford was born on April 14, 1949 in Yosemite National Park in California. His mother and father both worked at the park at the time. His dad was a ski instructor there. Mark was the oldest of seven children. He lived in the park until he was 6 and his family moved to San Francisco. Brelsford, like his hero, Dick Mann, began riding motorcycles on his morning paper route when he was 14. As teenage boys are prone to do, the adventurous Brelsford began riding on the street without a license. That lasted only until the local police caught him. As it turned out, being caught was the best thing that could have happened. From that point on, he found places to ride his bike off road. There, he began perfecting the riding skills that would ultimately make him one of the top riders in the country. To keep up with his burgeoning love of motorcycles, Brelsford took a job at a local dealership. He learned to work on bikes and also hooked up with another employee of the shop and began racing. As a sportsman racer, Brelsford advanced quickly, but found it tough going when he moved up to the professional ranks. He began thinking of doing something else with his life. "About that time I was real skinny kid -- about 100 pounds -- and I thought I would join the Army and get in shape hauling a pack around," Brelsford remembers. "I was all ready to enlist, had the papers and everything, when I watched a buddy of mine darn near win his first professional race at Ascot. I used to beat him all the time, so I figured if he could do it maybe there's a chance for me." While riding the pro circuit as a junior in 1968, Brelsford became friends with three-time national champion Bart Markel. "I spent three weeks at Bart's home during the racing season," Brelsford remembers fondly. "That's where I met Cal (Rayborn), Mert (Lawwill) and Chris Draayer because the whole Harley crew was staying there. I would sit on their bikes every night and watch them work and ask questions. I kind of followed them around that year." At the conclusion of the '68 season Brelsford was the nation's top-ranked junior rider. Harley-Davidson's racing manager, Dick O'Brien, approached Brelsford and asked him if he was interested in riding for the Harley team. Brelsford jumped at the chance. Brelsford made an impressive Grand National debut by finishing second at the Houston TT Steeplechase inside the Astrodome. Despite suffering a couple of injuries that caused him to miss a few races, he went on to turn in a great rookie season, earning four podium finishes, including a TT win at Ascot Park in Gardena, California. He finished the year ranked a very credible eighth in the point standings. "I'd say my first pro race at Houston in '69 still stands out as one of the highlights of my career," Brelsford says. "I actually led that race for a while and I looked back and there was Skip Van Leeuwen. I was Skip's teammate the year before. He was a lot better than me and I must admit I was intimidated. He kept bumping my rear tire and I finally moved over and let him by. Just being in front of that crowd and riding on a factory Harley, wearing those leathers. That's a moment I'll never forget." For all his talent on the dirt, Brelsford, now a full-fledged factory rider, had not once competed in a road race. Suddenly Brelsford found himself on a factory Harley-Davidson road racer on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway. "They told me just to go out and follow Cal (Rayborn)," recalls Brelsford. Of course he was the top gun at the time and I had no idea what I was doing. It was a pretty humbling experience. I raced at the short-track the night before the 200 and ended up crashing and breaking my wrist and ankle. I was actually lying in the hospital that night thinking how happy I was that didn't have to race in the 200 the next day." Brelsford proved to be a quick learner however. With a lot of instruction from Rayborn, Brelsford went out and finished on the podium (third) at Loudon, New Hampshire, in the rain in his very first road race. In 1970, Brelsford came back and finished seventh in the series, notching three podium finishes. In '71 he won his first road race at Loudon in a classic last-lap duel with Kel Carruthers. Brelsford remembers the climatic final lap vividly. "We came up on a lapped rider through the final turn and Kel took the classic wide line to go around. Kel was a gentleman racer. He didn't take any chances, he never spun a wheel and I went into that last corner and took the chance. I dove low into the turn and came out like a dirt tracker, burning the tire and throwing the bike sideways. Apparently I just nipped him at the checkered flag. "That was a really special moment. A lot of the Harley and Davidson families used to come up to Loudon every year to watch the races. That evening at the restaurant the whole family was coming up and hugging me and practically kissing me. It was really a thrill." In 1972, Brelsford broke through to win the championship. He won three races and scored a total of eight podium finishes. "My younger brother Scott and I sat down before the season and actually tabulated various points scenarios based on how we thought everyone would finish. We flat forgot about the two new rookies named Gary Scott and Kenny Roberts. It was very special to win in a year with Roberts and Scott and the established stars like Mann, Markel, Reiman, Rice and all those great riders. "The funny thing about winning the title was I clinched the championship at Atlanta with two races to go and no one knew it. Someone broke an oil tank and I got sprayed with oil and wiped my face shield and couldn't see. I pulled into the pits for a new shield and I think I ended up dead last, but I still got a point or two. Someone had protested or something and in the confusion of that I don't think the officials had the time to tabulate the points. I came back to the pits and tabulated the points. I told my brother that I just won the championship. He didn't believe me. We went back to hotel and sat at the bar and had a beer and a good friend of mine came up to me and said, 'The way I figure it, you just won the championship.' What a let down," Brelsford said with a laugh. Shortly afterwards Harley did throw him a big party to celebrate his accomplishment. Coming back to defend his title, Brelsford had the terrible crash at Daytona. Larry Darr's bike had blown a motor and was barely moving around the track with Darr trying to nurse the bike back to the pits. Brelsford was tucked in close behind two other riders as they came around to the high-speed infield kink. The two riders veered around Darr at the last moment and Brelsford didn't have time to do evade the slow-moving bike. The impact broke both of Brelsford's legs, shattered his hand and wrist and left him with numerous other injuries. Brelsford was forced to sit out the rest of the season. The lasting effect of that crash was the damage it did to Brelsford's hand. He had three surgeries on the hand during 1973 trying to make it right for the '74 season. When he came back, his hand still was not right. In all he would eventually have a total of seven operations on the hand. The Brelsford name was carried on that year by younger brother Scott, who won the AMA Rookie of the Year Award in 1973. Another brother, Kirk, who Mark said was even faster than Scott, also raced for a time. In June, 1974, Mark was involved in another bad crash at the national in Columbus, Ohio. Once again both legs were badly broken. While in the hospital he suffered a blood clot and nearly died. Harley-Davidson kept his ride open for him and Brelsford fully intended to come back. But one day, after yet another surgery on his hand, Brelsford, sitting in the hospital, just decided to call it quits. Brelsford remembers his feelings at the time. "I was getting a little tired of hospitals by that time. I woke up in the recovery room and it just dawned on me, 'I'm not going to race anymore.' I really loved the wilderness and had discovered Alaska six months earlier. I called Dick O'Brien at about two in the morning and said, 'Dick, I'm quitting and moving to Alaska.' " So Brelsford virtually disappeared from the racing scene overnight. His mother had invested most of his race earnings in San Francisco-area real estate. It proved to be an excellent investment, so Mark had enough money to take some time off and move to Alaska. He got involved in real estate there and was still in that business during the time of his induction in 1998. Brelsford occasionally makes appearances at vintage events to catch up with his old friends.

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