KTM back in Dakar?
The Dakar is listing Marc Coma and other KTM riders as participants in next year's race, despite last month's news that KTM quit Dakar. The reason seems to be that the rally has partially pushed back the 450cc limit until 2012, instead allowing larger capacity bikes to run restrictors in next year's Elite class, reducing that class to a mandatory 450cc limit in 2011 with other classes running restrictors that year then effecting an all-class 450cc limit in 2012. KTM originally quit because it currently races 654cc bikes in the Argentinean race and because many racers and teams don't feel a 450cc bike would be able to go the 5,950-mile distance. For the Dakar 2010, the ASO Elite pilots must ride with a restrictor reducing the power of their bike, if its cubic capacity is over 450 cc. Or they may use a bike of a cubic capacity under or equal to 450 cc.
The other pilots are free to choose their bike with no restriction.
For the Dakar 2011, the ASO Elite pilots must imperatively ride a bike of a cubic capacity under or equal to 450 cc.
The other pilots must ride a bike of a cubic capacity under or equal to 450 cc, or a restrictor, if the cubic capacity is over 450 cc.
At last, for the Dakar 2012, all the pilots will ride 450 cc's.
The restrictor is still being designed, but is intended to create near-identical power-to-weight ratios across engine capacities. We await official word from KTM.
Dakar
Wes Siler. July 13, 2009 — Permalink
RSS Feed
That list of Elite pilots doesn't mean they have signed up as I understand it. Anyway the idea looks to be giving the amateurs an extra year out of their bike as I would think it's ready for junking anyway after 2 seasons of competition.
What is the reason for the soon to be displacement limit in the first place? I'm sure it's been mentioned but I must have missed it..
large capacity = lots of power = high speed = danger.
Look at how well that formula has worked for MotoGP.
The bikes ended up setting record times at almost every track and some would say have become MORE dangerous and due to the extreme that the machines are pushed to in order to achieve those results.
KTM might still not support the SA Dakar as there is another race at the same time in Africa. KTM has committed a support truck for the event. It would make more sense for privateer Euros. With the restrictors now to be available this month one would assume to give the 653cc bikes time to evaluate their performance.
http://www.africarace.com/
That explanation is as hypocrite as ASO. A 450cc bike weight much less then the ktm's 690, so even the power is less, the weight is less as well.
Even a 450cc can be tuned to produce as much power as the 690R, the difference is the reliability.
This is all about the money, the japs spend a fortune without the lightest chance to win. So the decision might have been to loose the japs or loose the 690R (ktm has 450s as well, bmw built the G450...). But these bikes are for a weekend, not for a few thousand km race in ~2wks - even with factory support.