Cyril Despres
Cyril Despres in 2009
Personal information
Born (1974-01-24) January 24, 1974
Nemours, France
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight82 kg (181 lb)
Sport
Country France
SportMotorsport (cars, bikes)
EventRally raid
Achievements and titles
World finals2 World Championship (2003, 2009)
Medal record
Rally raid (bikes)
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Dakar Rally 5 4 1
Rally of Tunisia 3 1 1
Rallye du Maroc 4 1 2
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 5 - -
Rallye dos Sertões 2 3 0
Sardegna Rally Race 2 - -
Total 21 9 4
Rally raid (cars)
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Dakar Rally 0 0 1
Silk Way Rally 2 - -
Total 2 0 1

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]

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

Year Class Vehicle Position Stages won
2000 Motorbike Japan Honda 16th 0
2001 Germany BMW 13th 1
2002 Austria KTM DNF 0
2003 2nd 3
2004 3rd 4
2005 1st 2
2006 2nd 4
2007 1st 2
2008 (CE) 5th 2
2009 2nd 4
2010 1st 3
2011 2nd 3
2012 1st 3
2013 1st 1
2014 Japan Yamaha 4th 3
2015 Cars France Peugeot 34th 0
2016 7th 0
2017 3rd 1
2018 31st 1
2019 United Kingdom Mini 5th 0
2020 SSV Belgium OT3 buggy[14] DNF 0
2021 Cars France Peugeot 10th 0

NOTE: The ASO legally moved the 2008 Dakar race to Hungary and Romania following a terrorist attack in Mauritania by deferring all entries to the replacement event.

Other results

Cars
1st place, gold medalist(s) 2016 (Peugeot 2008 DKR), 2017 (Peugeot 3008 DKR)[15]
Bikes
1st place, gold medalist(s) (2004, 2005, 2009)
2nd place, silver medalist(s) (2003)
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) (2000)
  • Orient Rally
1st place, gold medalist(s) (2005)
1st place, gold medalist(s) (2000, 2003, 2010, 2012)
1st place, gold medalist(s) (2006, 2011)
2nd place, silver medalist(s) (2007, 2009, 2013)
1st place, gold medalist(s) (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. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
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