|
At least two of the Zong riders had lots of Dakar experience. I certainly don't have the fortitude to go balls to the wall for 800 KM at 104F. These are not spring chickens. Let's see: Bethes, 1971; Heien 1966; Jobard 1961; Min 1977; Hongyi 1980. That makes the youngest rider 36 years old. Jobard is 55 years old. Jobard has competed in 7 Dakar races. Bethys has been in 5 Dakar races. The other three were novice riders (in Dakar) but not their first rodeo. I'd say that these are five pretty tough dudes in a darn tough race. Between the heat and altitude they might have met their match but I cannot agree that anyone should be handing out pacifiers. KTM has taken Dakar for the past 16 years. Prior to that...not so much. Even big orange had a learning curve. I'd prefer to see this as a great product development opportunity. If the bikes broke, fix them. Is it worth the cost of getting the #1 ranked Dakar rider...probably not, given that Dakar is only of interest to a very small part of the motorcycle community. Heck, ask your buddies if they are following Dakar 2017. I'll bet the answer is WTF??.
|