NUMBER X: KTM – Gauloises
David Casteu (FRA)

First amateur with an overall place of 13th and winner of the Dakar 2005 Marathon category, David Casteu was subsequently offered a place in the raid rally World Cup by the official KTM Gauloises team. And the man from Nice did not spurn the opportunity, disputing four rallies during the regular season, two officially and two in a private capacity but with factory equipment, and gaining as many places on the podium into the bargain – 3rd in Morocco, 2nd in the Orient, 3rd in Egypt and 3rd in the Desert Challenge. This impressive consistency enabled him to finish as runner-up in the all-terrain rally world championship, just twelve points behind Coma. It represents a real success for this private driver, the real working-class hero of the bivouac, who was dubbed “the amateur world champion” by the great Jordi Arcarons at the end of this 2005 season.

Indeed, like the sorely missed Fabrizio Meoni, 31-year-old David Casteu is the archetypal amateur who has successfully broken into the closed world of the factories, without however forgetting his roots. Always available for his former old muckers, the erstwhile French Trial champion still doesn’t even regard himself as a professional, but only as a factory driver, as he continues to run the company Off Road 83.

Motivated above all by his passion for the raid rally and the pure pleasure he gets on the track, David Casteu goes into the Dakar 2006 with unique status within the KTM Gauloises stable. Neither water-carrier for the two main contenders for victory, Cyril Despres and Isidre Esteve Pujol, nor totally free, the Frenchman will play the role of a joker aimed at guaranteeing victory for a blue bike on the Dakar. He will perform this duty primarily alongside his friend Isidre Esteve Pujol, as Cyril Despres possesses his own water-carrier in Michel Gau. But one thing’s for sure: if opportunity comes knocking for David Casteu, this insatiable competitor won’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

David Casteu’s Dakar honours

2003 Dakar, 1st participation, 39th
2004 Dakar, 32nd
2005 Dakar, 13th, 1st amateur, 1st marathon, winner of the Elf Trophy

NUMBER 302 – Mitsubishi Motorsport
Luc Alphand (FRA) – Gilles Picard (FRA)

“Luc Alphand, the skier?” The questions provoked by the former skiing champion’s participation in the Dakar are becoming less and less frequent in the bivouac and more common in front of French television screens every January. In reality, while his first attempts were perceived more as a distraction than a golden transformation, it seems that a few years on, Luc Alphand is at last acquiring the status of rally driver in his own right, both within the caravan and among the general public. And if one takes a closer look, this delayed recognition has been down to his achievements en piste rather than any lack of driving ability.

For after a first fruitless participation in 1998, the 1997 downhill and Super-G world champion made the breakthrough at the following year’s Dakar by winning the T1 category ranking, claiming 16th place overall into the bargain. But just like his skiing career, which was often disturbed by heavy falls that prevented him from shining in Olympic years, “Lucho” proceeded to clock up a string of mishaps on the Dakar. In his first four participations, Alphand only reached the finish once, but he has stuck doggedly to what has been a steep learning curve. And in 2002, his perseverance was rewarded with a 7th-place finish, while the following year, he won the first special of his career at Luxor, demonstrating throughout the rally that the wisdom he was acquiring was combined with surprising virtuosity. 2004 proved to be the year of Alphand’s confirmation, as in his BMW X5 diesel, he went all the way to the foot of the podium with two new stage victories.

Immediately afterwards, the ex-skier was offered a place driving for the prestigious Mitsubishi stable, with the same vehicle as Stéphane Peterhansel. Between Barcelona and Dakar, Alphand showed on several occasions that he possessed the attributes to worry the race leader. “Lucho” was also the only driver not accused of being outclassed by “Peter” when he came in second, less than half an hour behind. Having well and truly shed any lingering doubts in 2005, Luc Alphand, the winner this year of the Tunisia rally and the Baja rally in Portugal, has emerged as the double title winner’s number one rival.


Luc Alphand’s Dakar honours

1998 First Dakar participation. Abandoned
1999 16th, Grenada-Dakar (winner of Dakar T1 category)
2000 Abandoned, Dakar – Cairo
2001 Abandoned, Paris - Dakar
2002 7th, Arras-Madrid-Dakar (winner of T1 Diesel category)
2003 9th, Marseilles – Sharm-el-Sheikh (winner of a stage and the Proto Diesel category)
2004 4th, Clermont-Ferrand – Dakar (winner of two stages)
2005 2nd, Barcelona – Dakar (winner of a stage)

Co-driver: Gilles PICARD (FRA)

- Former endurance driver for Husqvarna, Cagiva and Yamaha
- Winner of the Dakar as co-driver of Jean-Pierre Fontenay
- 2nd overall in the Dakar as co-driver in 2003 and 2004