Cyril Despres facts for kids

Cyril Despres in 2009
Quick facts for kids Personal information
Born	(1974-01-24) January 24, 1974 (age 50) Nemours, France
Height	1.80 m
Weight	82 kg
Sport
Country	France
Sport	Motorsport (cars, bikes)
Event(s)	Rally raid
Achievements and titles
World finals	2 World Championship (2003, 2009)
Medal record Rally raid (bikes) Event 1st 2nd 3rd Dakar Rally 5 4 1 Rally of Tunisia 3 1 1 Rallye du Maroc 4 1 2 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 5 - - Rallye dos Sertões 2 3 0 Sardegna Rally Race 2 - - Rally raid (cars) Event 1st 2nd 3rd Dakar Rally 0 0 1 Silk Way Rally 2 - -

Cyril Despres (born 24 January 1974) is a French rally racer and resident of Andorra. He won the Dakar Rally five times, in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2013, riding a KTM motorcycle. He also won the Red Bull Romaniacs, an enduro event, three times, in 2004, 2005 and 2007, and the Erzberg Rodeo in 2002 and 2003. In the 2018 season he is one of the official drivers of the Team Peugeot Total.

Career

On 10 January 2012, at the 2012 Dakar Rally, Portuguese pilot Paulo Gonçalves pulled Despres out of the mud but Cyril did not return the favour. Out of 7 riders all but the Spaniard Marc Coma got stuck; the organisers therefore changed the course. At the end of the stage, the time lost was credited to Despres. Goncalves received a penalty of 6 hours for receiving external help. Coma was not credited the time he lost by going around the mudhole.

After a closely fought battle with his KTM teammate, Spaniard Marc Coma for the victory, Despres got back into the lead on the penultimate stage (Stage 13) thanks to a mechanical failure on Coma's bike. Despres managed to maintain the lead until the end of the rally. Thus Cyril Despres gained his fourth overall victory on the Dakar Rally, equaling former Honda and Cagiva rider, Italian Edi Orioli's performance.

A new chapter began in his Dakar career in 2015 when he joined the Peugeot team as a driver alongside Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel, who previously switched from the motorbike to car category with great success. His co-driver was Gilles Picard, and they finished 34th. In 2016 Despres came in 7th overall; his co-driver was David Castera.

In July 2016, he and Castera won the cars' category at the Silk Way Rally. Despres and his partner repeated their success in the next year.

Dakar Rally results

Year	Class	Vehicle	Position	Stages won
2000	Motorbike	Honda	16th	0
2001		BMW	13th	1
2002		KTM	DNF	0
2003			2nd	3
2004			3rd	4
2005			1st	2
2006			2nd	4
2007			1st	2
2008 (CE)			5th	2
2009			2nd	4
2010			1st	3
2011			2nd	3
2012			1st	3
2013			1st	1
2014		Yamaha	4th	3
2015	Cars	Peugeot	34th	0
2016			7th	0
2017			3rd	1
2018			31st	1
2019		Mini	5th	0
2020	SSV	OT3 buggy	DNF	0
2021	Cars	Peugeot	10th	0

NOTE: The ASO legally moved the 2008 Dakar race to Hungary and Romania following a terrorist attack in Mauritania by deferring all entries to the replacement event.

Other results

Cars

• Silk Way Rally

1 2016 (Peugeot 2008 DKR), 2017 (Peugeot 3008 DKR)

Bikes

• Tunisia Rally

1 (2004, 2005, 2009)

2 (2003)

3 (2000)

• Orient Rally

1 (2005)

• Rallye du Maroc

1 (2000, 2003, 2010, 2012)

• Brazil Rally

1 (2006, 2011)

2 (2007, 2009, 2013)

• Rally dos Sertões

1 (2009)

See also

In Spanish: Cyril Despres para niños