In his third Dakar to date, Irish and British 2012 hopeful Stan Watt has been barging his way through the field these first three days of the rally on his Crescent KTM 450 Factory Replica Rally machine.
With a starting position back in 60th place, Watt had anticipated a difficult start from the beginning with a lot of riders to pass on what can be a very busy and dusty track. Stage 1 took the riders from the festive start at Mar del Plata through a short warm-up special stage along the dunes on the seafront, after which a long and fast liaison section guided them to Santa Rosa de la Pampa. Watt’s plan to reach the top 30 early on where however hampered by some minor top end speed issues, seeing him end Stage 1 in 87th place.
With his support team in tow, the issue was rapidly resolved before Stage 2, which saw the competitors head further in-land towards San Rafael. The first part was once again very quick with big, fast bends on firm ground, after which progress was slowed down significantly with a stage through the grey-coloured sand dunes of Nihuil. With no issues to contend with and his sights firmly set on a successful rally, Watt did not hang around and charged through the field into 56th.
Stage 3 proved the first of the very though tests for the riders, heading into the Andes Cordillera to San Juan. Its breathtaking landscapes may be easy on the eye, but are a real challenge for the riders - placing many rivers, holes and rocks in their way – as well as providing some incredibly steep climbs. Watt however, was once again in a valiant mood and passed yet another five riders to improve his overall ranking to 51st.
Despite being off his desired top 30, Watt remains positive and feels that he is now firmly settling into the rally.
Stan Watt says:
“It may not have been the start I had hoped for, but I am now really getting into it. The first day unfortunately saw me have some top end speed issues, which hampered my progress on the first stage. Yet there was not an awful lot of time separating the top 100.
“The Crescent KTM is working really well now and I am very much starting to settle in to the rally. There are some very hard days ahead for all riders, and I’m extremely confident that I’ll be making up yet more places. I’m now firmly looking to head into the top 30.”
With another 12 race days left to go, Watt currently holds an overall time of 9:21:07hrs with a variation of 1:49:25hrs.
Keep abreast with all the latest action from Stan and Crescent KTM’s Dakar adventure by following our official Twitter feed @crescentmoto and by checking out our website www.crescent-motorcycles.com.
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