Gavin Foster rallying
With just a couple of days to go before the end in Senegal, it’s clear that South African Alfie Cox has no chance of winning the 2001 Paris-Dakar rally, and the “almost” man can blame it all on BMW.
If the German manufacturer hadn’t ditched its highly successful 650cc single-cylinder machines in favour of 900cc twins for the Dakar this year it could have given KTM a run for their money, but because it risked all by changing a winning formula the race has degenerated into a KTM roadshow.
Team orders dictate that the top five riders, all on KTMs, don’t get involved in a race that could lead to crashes or mechanical failures jeopardising chances of a top-five clean sweep. The more powerful but harder-to-ride BMWs are so far behind that the front group of KTM riders need just cruise to the finish line to bring KTM its first Dakar win, with the next four placings a bonus.
Cox, who’s started and completed three Dakars before finishing fourth, third and 45th was within eight minutes of overall leader Richard Sainct and under two minutes behind the second-placed rider when he broke a wheel on day seven. That cost him 80 minutes, and two days later he lost another 15 minutes when he suffered a broken chain.
Having clawed his way back to fifth place overall, Cox was, with four days to go, an hour and 20 minutes behind race leader Fabrizio Meonie on time, and 22 minutes behind fourth-placed Esteve Pujol, all on KTMs. But on the road all five were together, enjoying what is little more than a brisk trail ride, nearly three hours ahead of the sixth-placed BMW of Jimmy Lewis.
For those who’re wondering why privateer and semi-works KTM riders are winning stages, the reason is, yet again, team orders. Team management has authorised them to ride as hard as possible to try and knock the BMWs even further back.
If BMW’s boxer twins had been competitive this year the Dakar could have been a bare-knuckle brawl. At the moment it’s little more than shadow boxing.