After 10 days and close to 2500 miles through Brazil, Cyril Despres claimed the victory at the 19th running of the Dos Sertoes rally. The 2011 Dos Sertoes came down to just two minutes, as Despres edged out Felipe Zanol to claim his second Dos Sertoes victory.
Despres was able to take the win despite a poor finish. A delayed flight into Brazil left the KTM rider with little time to prep his bike before he embarked on the 10 day journey. Despres also missed a turn at the beginning of the rally and had to fight his way back from 20th place.
"It did not go as well as I expected," Despres said. "There was a lot of dust and starting in twentieth this morning was not good. I paid for the mistake I made in the prologue. I lost time driving in the dust, but I managed to gain a few positions."
Despres would slowly work his way back to the front of the pack, and during the fourth stage when the Dos Sertoes hit the desert, Despres used his Dakar experience and his KTM 450 Rally bike to close the gap to Zanol.
"Luckily my KTM is a very solid and reliable machine so we were able to pass many kilometers without any serious problems," Despres said. "We have some new features in the engine and the chassis, and Brazil is an excellent place to test them. In Europe, it is not very common to find such difficult conditions as those here. Also the climate and the fuel are different."
Dos Sertoes Results
Cyril Despres, France, KTM, 28:58.38
Felipe Zanol, Brazil, Gas Gas at 2 minutes 07
Dario Julio Souza, Brazil, Honda at 1 hour 09.23
Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM, at 1:22.11
David Casteu, France, Yamaha, at 2:05.53
