KayeSport Latest News

Gallery Updated

Richard's latest gallery updates have arrived! View his 2008 Central Europe Rally exploits by clicking on the images below.

---

 Central Europe Rally : Richard Kaye - Day 7.

Richard rings in with a wrap-up after the finishing ceremony. Thanks for letting us ride pillion for the rally, Richard! Coverage of the Central Europe Rally from RallyRAIDio.net.

Sat, 26 April 2008 | Published on RallyRAIDio.

---

 Central Europe Rally : Richard Kaye - Day 6.

Richard calls in with a report of his afternoon's stage, and news that everyone's GPS has been "reprogrammed", most likely erasing any anomolies from the morning's special. Feel free to speculate on why that may be... Stay tuned for continuing coverage of the Central Europe Rally from RallyRAIDio.net.

Fri, 25 April 2008 | Published on RallyRAIDio.

---

 Central Europe Rally : Richard Kaye - Midday Day 6.

A frustrated Richard Kaye rings in after the first special of Day 6. The body count is mounting, and Richard's seen quite a few riders crash out right in front of him. Additionally, there have been some irregularities with the GPS waypoints (which Jonah Street and other front runners are all too aware of). Hopefully Richard's afternoon will go a bit better and he'll be able to bring it safely home. Stay tuned for continuing coverage of the Central Europe Rally from RallyRAIDio.net.

Fri, 25 April 2008 | Published on RallyRAIDio.

---

 Central Europe Rally : Richard Kaye - Day 5.

Richard calls in with an absolutely awesome update on Day 5's activities, the state of the rally navigation (or lack thereof), and his race mindset. Keep up the great work, Richard!! Stay tuned for continuing coverage of the Central Europe Rally from RallyRAIDio.net.

Thur, 24 April 2008 | Published on RallyRAIDio.

---

 Central Europe Rally : Richard Kaye - Day 4.

Richard Kaye checks in after the stages of Day 4, and has some interesting commentary on the state of the rally organization (or lack thereof). Apologies for the wind noise at the end -- that's live reporting for you! Stay tuned for continuing coverage of the Central Europe Rally from RallyRAIDio.net.

Wed, 23 April 2008 | Published on RallyRAIDio.

---

 Central Europe Rally : Richard Kaye - Day 3.

Richard Kaye gives us the details on Day 3's stages, again shortened, and forecasts a long day tomorrow with lengthy liaisons and multiple shorter race stages. He expects tyres to be a critical issue for most. Stay tuned for continuing coverage of the Central Europe Rally from RallyRAIDio.net.

Tue, 22 April 2008 | Published on RallyRAIDio.

---

 Central Europe Rally : Richard Kaye - Day 2.

Richard calls in after the completion of day 2, with some interesting commentary on the rally. Stay tuned for continuing coverage of the Central Europe Rally from RallyRAIDio.net.

Mon, 21 April 2008 | Published on RallyRAIDio.

---

 Central Europe Rally : Richard Kaye - Midday Day 2.

Richard Kaye checks in after running the first stage of Day 2 (If you think that's confusing, you're not alone). Stay tuned for continuing coverage of the Central Europe Rally from RallyRAIDio.net.

Mon, 21 April 2008 | Published on RallyRAIDio.

---

End of Day 1.

 Central Europe Rally : Richard Kaye - Day 1.

Richard gives us a great look at the first day's activities - a whooped, forested, sandy 60km special, and a long, 400+km liason into Romania. Interestingly, it was a good day for the big bikes - we'll see how it plays out in the days to come.

Sun, 20 April 2008 | Published on RallyRAIDio.

---

With a time for the 1st special of 52 Minutes 03 Seconds (00:12:03 behind leader Marc Coma) Richard ends day 1 in 45th position overall. Follow Richard's progress on our Rally Route page.

---

Richard's Start Time.

Having passed scrutineering, Richard is all ready to go with a start time (special) of 10:15:30 (GMT +2) - Good Luck from all your supporters & sponsors.

---

  Central Europe Rally : Richard Kaye - Scrutineering.

Through scrutineering, Richard Kaye checks in from Budapest (as only he can!). Looks like much of the field will be running 450 machinery, which with the muddy conditions, may be the ticket to the podium.

Richard calls it like he sees it (especially where the ASO are concerned), and we look forward to his reports from the rally.

Sat, 19 April 2008 | Published on RallyRAIDio.

---

Bike passes scrutineering.

Richard and his bike are through scrutineering and ready to race.

---

Richard entered the first round of the Italian Rally Championship last week in order to brush up on his navigating skills before he departs for the Central Europe Rally on Friday 18th April.

Richard said "The 660 KTM is all ready to go but I'm a bit concerned that it's not the right bike for this rally, there is lots of snow and mud with twisty roads. A 450 would be much more suited for the conditions but I will try and I'm sure I'll have some fun in the rain!"

Richard plans to keep fans up to date with his progress via daily phone calls to RallyRAIDio.

---

New Sponsor

GoldenTyre. has confirmed that they will provide product support to Richard for the 2008 Dakar Series - Central Europe Rally.

---

Richard's Latest Plan - Central Europe Rally.

Following the cancellation of the Dakar in January 08, Richards plans have changed. He now inends to compete in the Central Europe Rally.

The following communication was received from A.S.O. (Organisers of the Dakar) regarding the Central Europe Rally.

Dear All,

The four past weeks since the official cancellation of Dakar 2008 were intense. Some competitors refunds and it will be over. We are now ready to work with you on new challenges.

All the Dakar crew want to react after this unfortunate episode and propose new challenges to all the people who supported and helped us : pilots, crews, teams and also the Dakar Official Contacts.

Please find below a presentation of the Central Europe Rally which will be officially launched on a press conference that will be held on Monday, February 4th at 1:00 P.M. in Budapest (Hungary).

According to what Etienne and Patrice Clerc promised after the cancellation of the 2008 Dakar rally, and before announcing very soon the caracteristics of the Dakar 2009, Amaury Sport Organisation is launching a new rally raid in the spring. Run in Hungary and Romania, this rally will be certificated « Dakar series », label meant to certify other rallyes in the future, according to Dakar’s organisation standards.

Etienne will present this new event on Monday and on the next day, Tuesday February 5th at 12:00 AM in Bucharest (Romania) where a second presentation will take place.

The Central Europe Rally which will take place from april the 19th till the 26th (april the 19th reserved to the acruteenerings) is an invitation-only race, for which competitors enrolled for the Dakar 2008 have priority. They will notably be exonerated from commitment fees. A.S.O. extends its thanks to the drivers and teams for their renewed trust. The race’s different categories and classes are identical to those of the Dakar. Assistance vehicles will be accredited by the rally’s organisation, free of commitment fees. Each evening, they will have access to an assistance facility, where mechanics will be given open access to work on the race vehicles.

Enrolment forms can be downloaded from the website www.dakar.com , as of 11 February. Competitors of the Dakar 2008 will be exonerated from commitment fees and will only pay the application fee (€300). They will benefit of a priority schedule from february 11th till march the 1st.

After this period, the categories that won't be full will be opened to other competitors. Please find here the entry fees : €3,000 for a bike, €5,000 for a car, €7,000 for a truck.

Find all the informations on the Central Europe Rally on www.dakar.com from Monday, february the 4th.

---

Amaury Sport Organisation announces the creation of the Central Europe Rally.

This new rally organised under the "Dakar Series" certification will take place from April 20th to the 26th in Hungary and Romania. Scrutineering and administrative checks will take place on 19th of April in Budapest.

The Central Europe Rally, between Budapest and Lake Balaton in Hungary, crossing Romania, will consist of an extremely varied and technical route. Nearly half of the total distance, 3000kms, will be run in special stages. The opening of entries is planned on 11th of February. A.S.O has already received the support of all the major teams. BMW, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Schlesser and KTM have already shown a great interest for this new event, image of the development that A.S.O. wishes to bring to the sport.

The Central Europe Rally will be the first event to be run under the "Dakar Series" certification. This certification will be given to other races that offer the same high organisation and safety standards, strong participation and media attention as the legendary Dakar. With the Central Europe Rally, the aim of A.S.O. is to enable the competitors of the Dakar, which was cancelled on 2008, to enter a new rally with some extremely advantageous conditions and offer their sponsors exposure in a major international event.

The "Dakar Series", which was planned to start in 2009, is a project that A.S.O. has been working on for a long time. It will begin one year ahead of schedule. This first Central Europe Rally is a milestone of a series of new events intended to expand besides the Dakar Rally. The 2009 Dakar edition will be announced in the weeks to come.

Read More News about the Central Europe Rally.

---

 Richard Kaye -- Post Cancellation Reaction.

Richard gives us his completely candid reaction to the cancellation of the 2008 Dakar Rally. He is not impressed, to say the least. A bit of audio garble in a few spots -- I apolgize for that and have tried to clean it up as best I can.

Fri, 4 January 2008 | Published on RallyRAIDio. - Thanks Nate!

---

A.S.O. cancels the 2008 edition of the Dakar rally

After different exchanges with the French government - in particular the Ministry for Foreign Affairs - , and based on their firm recommendations, the organisers of the Dakar have taken the decision to cancel the 2008 edition of the rally, scheduled from the 5th to the 20th of January between Lisbon and Senegal’s capital.

Based on the current international political tension and the murder of four French tourists last 24th of December linked to a branch of Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, but also and mainly the direct threats launched directly against the race by terrorist organisations, no other decision but the cancellation of the sporting event could be taken by A.S.O.

A.S.O.’s first responsibility is to guarantee the safety of all: that of the populations in the countries visited, of the amateur and professional competitors, of the technical assistance personnel, of the journalists, partners and rally collaborators. A.S.O. therefore reaffirms that the choice of security is not, has never been and will never be a subject of compromise at the heart of the Dakar rally.

---

A.S.O. condemns the terrorist menace that annihilates a year of hard work, engagement and passion for all the participants and the different actors of the world’s biggest off-road rally. Aware of the huge frustration, especially in Portugal, Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal, and beyond the general disappointment and the huge economical consequences in terms of direct and indirect repercussions for the countries visited, A.S.O. will continue to defend the major values of great sporting events and will carry on its engagement for a durable development through the Actions Dakar, started 5 years ago in sub-Saharan Africa with SOS Sahel International.

The Dakar is a symbol and nothing can destroy symbols. The cancellation of the 2008 edition does not endanger the future of the Dakar. To offer, for 2009 a new adventure to all the off-road rally passionate is a challenge that A.S.O. will take on in the months to come, faithful to its engagement and its passion for sports.

News from the Euromilhões Lisboa Dakar 2008 website.

---

New Images Uploaded.

View the latest images from Lisbon as Richard Kaye prepares for the Euromilhões Lisboa Dakar 2008

---

Guest book now available.

Richards Guest Book is now online, please feel free to see what other visitors have written and leave him a message of support.

---

Richards RallyRAIDio feed now online.

Whilst competing in the Euromilhões Lisboa Dakar 2008 Richard Kaye will be regularly calling in to RallyRAIDio.

You can listen to all of Richards updates by visiting our RallyRAIDio page.

---

Bike Now Fully Prepared

Richard's bike is now fully prepared and ready to race.

---

Diary Updated

Richard has added the latest installment to his Dakar Diary...

It has been quite interesting doing the second part of the preparation for the Dakar. Entering and finding a team was the easy part!

But then you realise you've got to find the money for each payment to the ASO and the team quite soon after, For me this has not been so painful because of my background in motor Sport, I have some good friends in good places which have helped me out a lot (Thanks guys.) Even so it is a nightmare trying to raise 45 thousand Euros!! The first question any potential sponsor asks is WHY? And are you MAD?

Read Chapter Two of Richards Dakar Diary

---

New Sponsor

AIMOL has confirmed it will give Finance and support to Richard for the 2008 Dakar!!

---

New Sponsor

Andrew Winch Design has confirmed it will give Finance and support to Richard for the 2008 Dakar!!

---

New Sponsor

Sea Storm Sailwear. has confirmed it will give product support and cash to Richard for the 2008 Dakar!!

The bike will be on their stand from the 6th of October at the 47th International Boat Show in Genova, This is the biggest show of its kind.

---

We are in!

JNCOrganisation have reserved confirmation of entry for the 2008 Dakar for all 3 riders.

---

New Sponsor

UFO. has confirmed the it will give product support to Richard for the 2008 Dakar for all his equipment.

---

The Bike has arrived.

Richard Has got his 660 KTM and been out training in Tuscany before it gets stripped and prepared for the Dakar.

---

This will be a Dakar the colour of sand - [23/04/2007]

The 2008 Dakar Rally, which starts in Lisbon on 5 January, will bypass Mali, organisers said on Friday.

Organisers have prepared a course that focuses on sand racing for the race's 30th anniversary.

"This will be a Dakar the colour of sand. The contestants will encounter a lot of sand, 6000km compared to 4300km in 2007," said race director Etienne Lavigne at a presentation in Lisbon.

The first two stages will be held in Portugal before taking in Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal. Mali has been excluded for security reasons.

Two stages from this year's race, which were supposed to take place in Mali, were cancelled following recommendations from the country's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

"There is still a certain amount of instability in this region and we feel it's very important to race in total security," added Lavigne.

Mali's absence bodes well for Mauritania which will host a rest day on 13 January at its capital Nouackchott.

"We should spend seven or eight days in Mauritania," said Lavigne who predicted there will be around 500 contestants next year in the car, motorcycle and truck categories.

The rally ends in the Senegalese capital of Dakar on 20 January.

---

The official teams on the starting-blocks - [13/07/2007]
Copyright A.S.O. / Amaury Sport Organisation

Selections are closed and we now have the names of those you will fight for the title Stephane Peterhansel won in 2007

The Mitsubishi team will keep its winning pilots : the frenchmen Stéphane Peterhansel- Jean-Paul Cottret, Luc Alphand- Gilles Picard, the japonese Hiroshi Masuoka and his french copilot Pascal Maimon and the spanishs Nani Roma - Lucas Cruz.

The VW who came so close to victory last year have just revealed the new duo on their team : Dieter Depping (Germany) with copilot Timo Gottschalk (Germany). They will join the experienced Carlos Sainz (Spain)/Michel Périn (France), Giniel de Villiers(South Africa)/Dirk von Zitzewitz (Germany) and Mark Miller (USA)/Ralph Pitchford (South Africa). Besides, Carlos Sousa (Portugal) and his copilot Andy Schulz (Germany) will start in Lisbon with a Race Touareg from client team client Lagos.

Over on the X Raid team, the 3 official BMW X wil be driven by Colin McRae-Tina Torner, Guerlain Chicherit – Mathieu Baumel and Nasser Al Attiyah-Quehennec.

Jean Louis Schlesser is still here at the wheel of his buggy. He won’t be alone this year: José Luis Monterde will drive the second official buggy and a third one might take the start

The American pilot Robby Gordon has also sent back his application form to be part of this great adventure !!

Finally, Isuzu will give his trust once more to Eddy Orioli and there will be a second car too.

The departure is 5 months away and the official teams are already in the starting blocks...

---

The Euromilhões Lisboa Dakar 2008 already full - [25/06/2007]
Copyright A.S.O. / Amaury Sport Organisation

The movement expands. For four years now, the beginning of the registration campaign for the Dakar launches a real rush to the entry forms that force the organisers to close the demands a few weeks after the opening. For the 2007 edition, the team working on the rally have even imagined a selection procedure to control the brutal principle “first arrived, first served”. This year, the registration files were expected between the 15th of May and the 22nd of June, in order to allow the possible competitors to perfectly prepare their project.

The authorised term has given the possibility for keen desert amateurs to show their enthusiasm: 350 files have been received for the bike and quad category, 220 for the car crews as well as 100 for the trucks. Other than the number it is especially the quality of the demands that was noticed after a first examination. In order to maintain the Dakar caravan in a comparable format to last year’s one, the organisers have from today entered a difficult phase to select the candidates.

At this stage of the preparation for the 30th edition of the Dakar, Etienne Lavigne is delighted with this first success: “With this new registration system, the entry forms received are of excellent quality. It gives us the opportunity to select the best possible competitors to keep a balance (amateurs/pros, rookies/experiences pilots, europeans/africans/asians/americans…) that give the Dakar its appeal. The flood of demands is the sign, once again, of the strong international infatuation raised by the values of the biggest rally-raid in the World”.

---

Huge success for the Dakar World Tour - [18/06/2007]
Copyright A.S.O. / Amaury Sport Organisation

After the official launch of the 30th rally by Etienne Lavigne in Lisbon on the 20th of April, the organising team of the Dakar travelled throughout the world to promote the event. Each stop was welcomed by a real success on behalf of the people and the media.

In Europe first, a presentation was organised in Barcelona with the presence of the best Spanish competitors. That was followed by a presentation in the Netherlands with an important delegation from the Benelux countries. Later, Frederic Lequien went to Russia to meet the competitors and local media that are more and more interested by the big Dakar adventure. The European tour ended in Hungary and gathered all the fans of central Europe.

A few days later, Etienne Lavigne and Fred Lequien flew to the American continent for a press conference in Ensenada (Mexico) that was part of the very popular Baja 500. The Americans showed their huge enthusiasm for the event.

It was finally in Asia that the tour ended last week. Two years after a first meeting, the Chinese were able to see the organisers of the Dakar who were invited to express themselves in all the major local media, unanimously fascinated by the event. Finally Japan was the last stop over for a final press conference.

Like in the past, the African countries travelled through during the rally will also have their official presentation at the end of the year for the unveiling of the detailed course.

The possible competitors now only have until the 22nd of June to send their registration documents before the meeting of the selection comity at the end of June.

---

Dakar in Paris ! - [16/05/2007]
Copyright A.S.O. / Amaury Sport Organisation

The Dakar family was back in Paris yesterday night for the greatest pleasure of the parisian spectators. Responding to the Galeries Lafayettes, 19 cars, 11 trucks and 20 bikes drove on the boulevard Haussman before stoping in front of the department store.

The group of competitors spent time then talking to the public, signing autographs, and telling about their experience.

---

DAKAR 2008: OBJECTIVE 6000 - [20/04/2007]
Copyright A.S.O. / Amaury Sport Organisation

Today, the organisers have unveiled the major lines of the Dakar 2008 course that will be held from the 5th to the 20th of January. The conclusive experience of the previous two years, during which the Dakar caravan had started in Portugal, will continue with a new stay in Lisbon for the technical and administrative scrutineerng followed by two stages before crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

Once in Africa, the competitors will take on a long journey towards Dakar, that only the best will reach after exploring Morocco and Mauritania where they will enjoy a rest day in Nouakchott on the 13th of January.

For the 30th edition of the Dakar, the sport teams that work on establishing the course have a first goal to accomplish. The objective is to offer the riders and crews an amount of special kilometres close to 6000 kms, in other words the longest timed distance since 2002.

With more specials and less liaison, the emphasis is to focus on the founding values of rally-raid and the Dakar in particular: the taste for competition, the passion for the desert. The competitors will therefore find a lot of sand and dune crossings on their road.

It is also to develop the confrontation in the race lead that a series of technical measures applying to the vehicles registered by the professional teams has been decided for the 2008 edition. The new rules will slightly reduce the performances.