The Spanish rider will take the late, great Kurt Caselli’s spot on the factory KTM team for the 2014 Dakar Rally.
KTM Racing has announced a late entry its Red Bull KTM factory rally squad for the 2014 Dakar Rally with the hiring of Spanish rider Jordi Villadoms to take up the position previously held by the late Kurt Caselli. Villadoms will serve as the support rider for three-time Dakar Motorcycle Champion and fellow Spaniard Marc Coma.
Villadoms, 33, is an experienced Dakar competitor with prior KTM team ties, having ridden for KTM from 2006 to 2010. His best individual Dakar result came in 2012 when he finished fourth overall.
According to a press release issued by the team, it is still trying to come to terms with the loss of Caselli, but Team Manager Alex Doringer said that the team must press forward and provide shore up its Dakar effort, which will undoubtedly be challenged by a reinvigorated Honda effort and by the move of defending Dakar Champion Cyril Despres to Yamaha.
“We are very aware that no-one is able to replace Kurt, who was a special friend and teammate, but we believe that what we need now for the team is stability,” Doringer said. “Jordi has worked with us in the past and he has a lot of Dakar experience. This experience he has, along with the familiarity with the team, will help us during this difficult transition period.”
Villadoms added, “It’s obviously a shame to be inheriting the ride under such sad circumstances, but I’ll be doing my best to put on a good show in Kurt’s memory.”
Joining Coma and Villadoms in the team for the 2014 edition of the Dakar are Portugal’s Ruben Faria and Francisco “Chaleco” Lopez of Chile.
They will be competing on the latest edition of the KTM 450 RALLY factory bike, which has been re-designed from the ground up, as the team attempts to capture another Dakar victory. KTM has won the Dakar every year since its breakthrough year in 2001, except for 2008 when the race was cancelled at the last minute because of security issues in Northern Africa.
The Dakar Rally starts on January 5, 2014, and this year takes riders through Argentina, north into Bolivia and then down into Chile where it concludes at Valparaiso on January 18, 2014.
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