Cyril Despres

Last updated
Cyril Despres
Cyrildespres.jpg
Cyril Despres in 2009
Personal information
Born (1974-01-24) January 24, 1974 (age 51)
Nemours, France
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight82 kg (181 lb)
Sport
CountryFlag of France.svg  France
Sport Motorsport (cars, bikes)
Event Rally raid
Achievements and titles
World finals2 World Championship (2003, 2009)
Medal record
Rally raid (bikes)
Event1st2nd3rd
Dakar Rally 541
Rally of Tunisia 311
Rallye du Maroc 412
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 5--
Rallye dos Sertões 230
Sardegna Rally Race 2--
Total2194
Rally raid (cars)
Event1st2nd3rd
Dakar Rally 001
Silk Way Rally 2--
Total201

Cyril Despres (born 24 January 1974) [1] is a French rally racer and resident of Andorra. [2] He won the Dakar Rally five times, in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2013, [3] riding a KTM motorcycle. He also won the Red Bull Romaniacs, an enduro event, three times, in 2004, 2005 and 2007, and the Erzberg Rodeo in 2002 and 2003. [4] In the 2018 season he is one of the official drivers of the Team Peugeot Total. [5]

Contents

Career

On 10 January 2012, at the 2012 Dakar Rally, Portuguese pilot Paulo Gonçalves pulled Despres out of the mud but Cyril did not return the favour. Out of 7 riders all but the Spaniard Marc Coma got stuck; the organisers therefore changed the course. At the end of the stage, the time lost was credited to Despres. Goncalves received a penalty of 6 hours for receiving external help. Coma was not credited the time he lost by going around the mudhole. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

After a closely fought battle with his KTM teammate, Spaniard Marc Coma for the victory, Despres got back into the lead on the penultimate stage (Stage 13) thanks to a mechanical failure on Coma's bike. Despres managed to maintain the lead until the end of the rally. Thus Cyril Despres gained his fourth overall victory on the Dakar Rally, equaling former Honda and Cagiva rider, Italian Edi Orioli's performance.

A new chapter began in his Dakar career in 2015 when he joined the Peugeot team as a driver alongside Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel, who previously switched from the motorbike to car category with great success. His co-driver was Gilles Picard, and they finished 34th. In 2016 Despres came in 7th overall; his co-driver was David Castera. [11]

In July 2016, he and Castera won the cars' category at the Silk Way Rally. [12] Despres and his partner repeated their success in the next year. [13]

Dakar Rally results

YearClassVehiclePositionStages won
2000 Motorbike Flag of Japan.svg Honda 16th0
2001 Flag of Germany.svg BMW 13th1
2002 Flag of Austria.svg KTM DNF0
2003 2nd3
2004 3rd4
2005 1st2
2006 2nd4
2007 1st2
2008 Event cancelled – replaced by Central Europe Rally
2009 Motorbike Flag of Austria.svg KTM 2nd4
2010 1st3
2011 2nd3
2012 1st3
2013 1st1
2014 Flag of Japan.svg Yamaha 4th3
2015 Cars Flag of France.svg Peugeot 34th0
2016 7th0
2017 3rd1
2018 31st1
2019 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mini 5th0
2020 SSV Flag of Belgium (civil).svg OT3 buggy [14] DNF0
2021 Cars Flag of France.svg Peugeot 10th0

Other results

Cars
Gold medal icon.svg 2016 (Peugeot 2008 DKR), 2017 (Peugeot 3008 DKR) [15]
Bikes
Gold medal icon.svg (2004, 2005, 2009)
Silver medal icon.svg (2003)
Bronze medal icon.svg (2000)
Gold medal icon.svg (2005)
Gold medal icon.svg (2000, 2003, 2010, 2012)
Gold medal icon.svg (2006, 2011)
Silver medal icon.svg (2007, 2009, 2013)
Gold medal icon.svg (2009)

References

  1. "Cyril Despres -- Motor Sports Profiles". Red Bull. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  2. World Xtreme Enduro Championship – Cyril Despres Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Rider sheet – Cyril DESPRES Archived 2011-01-05 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Cyril Despres, the 07 RB Romaniacs Rally and the brand new 2008 model KTM 300 EXC-E
  5. "Team Peugeot Total - The team". redbull.com. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  6. Cyril Despres’s Blog: Dakar Rally | Muddy mayhem, Cyril Despres, 2012-01-10.
  7. Cyril Despres gives Marc Coma a commanding lead with mistake on stage eight of the Dakar Rally, 2012-01-10, foxsports australia.
  8. 2012 Dakar Rally: Fair Play Abandoned in the Mud (Video) Archived 2014-01-11 at the Wayback Machine , dave on dailypicsandflics with the video of Despres deserting Goncalves, 2012-01-10.
  9. Barreda in the top five again Archived 2014-01-11 at the Wayback Machine , Goncalves speedbrain Team site, 2012-01-10.
  10. Goncalves Penalized 6 Hours In Dakar Archived 2014-01-11 at the Wayback Machine , 2012-01-12.
  11. Organisation, A.S.O. - Amaury Sport. "General ranking stage 13 car page :Dakar" . Retrieved 2016-07-30.
  12. "The Silk Way Flame". www.silkwayrally.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-30. Retrieved 2016-07-30.
  13. S.14 Despres and Sotnikov score doubles at Xi’an
  14. "Check out the all-new OT3 by Overdrive rally raid buggy". Red Bull. Archived from the original on 2020-01-10.
  15. "Team PEUGEOT Total Dakar 2018 driver and co-driver presentation". automobilsport.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Dakar Rally
Motorcycle Winner

2005
Succeeded by
Preceded by Dakar Rally
Motorcycle Winner

2007
Succeeded by
Preceded by Dakar Rally
Motorcycle Winner

2010
Succeeded by
Preceded by Dakar Rally
Motorcycle Winner

20122013
Succeeded by