Cyril Despres – Yamaha – YZ450F – Rally
Cyril Despres decided to leave KTM and join Yamaha after riding for Team KTM for the last 12 years. He is the reigning Dakar motorcycle winner, coming in first in the 2013 rally. He has won the race 5 times and finished in the top 3, five additional times, with 3 of those times finishing 2nd behind fellow KTM rider, Marc Coma.
A KTM backed motorcycle rider has won the Dakar Rally every year since 2001. However, Stéphane Peterhansel won the Dakar Rally 6 times on a Yamaha. So they certainly have a history of success. Listen to Despres answer questions about the switch to Yamaha in the video.
It will certainly be interesting to see how Despres does on the Yamaha 450. He sure looks comfortable on the Yamaha. How do you think he will fair in the 2014 Dakar Rally?
