Pal-Anders Ullevalsteter nails one in Dakar's Stage 13
Maverick - Jan 15, 2010

Norwegian rider Pal-Anders Ullevalseter wins the Santa Rosa stage; it is his first Dakar stage victory in any Dakar. He also gets to second place in the general standings.

Finishing second is the story of his life. Pal-Anders Ullevalseter is one of the pillars of the rally raid and has been so for many years. A collector of honorable second or third places, often the foil or the arbiter of famous Despres/Coma duels, the Norwegian has finished eight times second of a Dakar stage. He will have had to wait for his eighth Dakar to prove that he can be the fastest as well.

In this penultimate Dakar stage in the 2010 edition, Ullevalseter started by crossing the first 50 km of sand dunes before pushing his KTM bike to the max on ultra-fast tracks that were the bulk of today’s route. In the end, he beat Cyril Despres for the first time in a stage… by 43”. The event could be a trigger for more. ((To get out of hiding, Ullevalseter waited till he was in an immediate challenge situation. Pushed back in the standings yesterday by Francisco “Chaleco” Lopez, he had to hit hard to get back to second place in the standings! Along the way, he passed the Chilean rider who finished the day’s stage 5’35’’ behind the day’s winner. This is more than enough for Pal to keep his second position up to Buenos Aires.

Cyril Despres as solid leader in the raid only has 666 km to ride before getting his third Dakar title with only 202 km as a special stage. This distance seems way to short for anyone including second place Ullevalseter to compensate the 1h04’12’’ lead Despres now has in the standings.

More on Pal-Anders Ullevalseter

41-year-old Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norwegian professional motorbike rider, has one of the better Dakar score sheets. His record is: seven starts, six finishes, and one retirement in 2005 (broken clavicle), with a personal worst of 9th on his maiden Dakar in 2002.

Such a consistent run at the sharp end of the order is explained by a proven strategy: “I ride hard from the first day. And then I ride even harder.”

His impressive CV makes him a natural contender to the leading positions in the wheel of Marc Coma and Cyril Despres. But like both two-time winners, the Norwegian will this year be riding a 690cc KTM with a power restrictor, based on the new regulation. That perspective actually worries the outsider who could be seriously troubled by the new competitiveness of the 450cc bikes: “I have the feeling that my bike is really too slow with the restrictor and heavier than the 450cc machines. And the biggest handicap actually isn’t the bike, it’s due to the fact that the best riders were able to get organized to switch to 450s, except for me! I know that I will hang in there to finish in the top 10.