by Terry Hibberd
See more at: www.RedBull.com/Dakar
Red Bull KTM rider and reigning Dakar champion Cyril Despres still leads the way as we head into the final day of Dakar 2013.
Going into stage 14 the Frenchman leads the way with a 8 minute 15 second lead over fellow Red Bull rider Francisco Lopez, who moved ahead of Despres’ team mate, Ruben Faria into 2nd place overall as Lopez took his fourth stage victory in this year’s race.
Lopez took the stage with Despres finishing under six minutes later, setting up a nailbiting end to the Dakar with Chilean rider, Lopez hoping to seal victory in his home country, which ‘Chaleco’ says would be a dream come true.
“Imagine being capable of winning in my country, that’s motivation for the finish. All the people here, it’s great. If it’s not possible to get on top of the podium, I’m already very happy as it stands.” He said.
However, Despres is still optimistic of taking the Dakar crown but he is expecting a battle from the resurgent Lopez in the final stage of what has been an enthralling and eventful Dakar 2013.
“The bike race isn’t just about strategy. It’s also about rally-raid sport: we’ve just rode 440 km. I was feeling good on the first section, where there was quite a bit of navigation.” Despres said.
“As for celebrating, we still have 220 kilometres to the bivouac today and with 690 km tomorrow, it’s not going to be a walk in the park.”
Full stage 13 results and overall standings are available here.
See more at: www.RedBull.com/Dakar
