#22 Aprilia: Alain Duclos
A.S.O.
LIMA WAITS FOR THE DAKAR
Today it was the 13th and last long stage of this long Dakar rally that will arrive to Lima tomorrow. Alain Duclos was 20th and is the only official rider not to have changed the engine.
PISCO - The last real stage of the Dakar 2012 joined the bivouac of Pisco, located 20 km from town, in a dune rope with African flavor. It was a hard timed section; Peru has given the surprise of the Dakar this year. There were 245 km to cover in the special stage today, tomorrow there will be only 29 of timed section before the triumphal entrance to the Peruvian Capital.
Alain Duclos arrived to the bivouac without particular problems in the 20th position. Duclos is the only “factory” rider that has not changed the engine in this marathon race. This was the main objective of Team Giofil Aprilia Racing that after stage seven dropped their interest in the classification but wanted to take the Franco-Malian rider until the end of the world´s hardest race. The v-twin has shown an enormous potential and extraordinary reliability in the race, traits that are vital in order to finish the Dakar.
Tomorrow it will be the big day: riders will start with a road connection that will take them to Lima, where they will greet the crowd from the podium located at the beautiful Plaza de Armas.
Alain Duclos: “Also this morning I started well, and then I felt in a dune. While crossing another one I twisted my ankle and my knee and it hurt badly. I stopped for a while to take back some strength to continue. At that point I thought it was not useful to risk anything. For the team there is the consolation, which is not less, that we have done the whole Dakar with just one engine. Grande Aprilia!”
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