Yamaha Man Wins Another Stage

Paul Carruthers | January 14, 2004

When the Dakar Rally hit the wide open spaces of the African desert, the two-wheel drive Yamaha WR450 of David Fretigne was expected to just fall back in the dust. Not so today, however, as Fretigne won the 13th stage of the Dakar Rally, a 296-mile run from Bamako to Ayoua El Atrouss.

Fretigne topped the KTM of Richard Sainct by three minutes and 41 seconds today with overall leader Nani Roma finishing third ahead of Per-Gunner Lundmark and Cyril Despres.

Red Bull KTM’s Larry Roeseler ended today’s stage in 12th and is now 15th overall. His teammate Paul Krause had yet to finish as of this posting.

Roma now leads Sainct by almost seven and a half minutes after 13 stages in the overall standings as it now appears to be a two-man race.

Fretigne’s effort today moved him to 10th overall.

Paul Carruthers | Editor

Paul Carruthers took over as the editor of Cycle News in 1993 after serving as associate editor since starting his career at the publication in 1985. Carruthers has covered every facet of the sport in his near-28-year tenure at America's Daily Motorcycle News Source.