Yamaha blues

January 12 ^th 2025 - 19:19 [GMT + 3]

The concept of the Dakar was born on a Yamaha travelling from Abidjan to Nice. Yesterday, the blue adventure ended not with a bang, but with a whimper, as António Maio bowed out of the stage from Ha'il to Al Duwadimi. He was the sole Yamaha rider in the 47th edition. For the first time since the inaugural event in 1979, the brand with the tuning forks will be nowhere to be seen at the finish of the Dakar. Blue blood courses through the veins of the Portuguese rider, who reached the bivouac on board the sweep truck this morning together with his no. 30 motorbike.

"I've been racing on a Yamaha for 22 years and done my 6 Dakar starts on a Yamaha." António is calm and collected. António is calm and collected. As one of the 21 Rally GP riders on the start line in Bisha, and unlike the Rally 2 entrants, he was not allowed to remain in the race to gain experience after his withdrawal. The law of the old-school Dakar applies: quitting a stage means quitting the rally altogether. "In stage 6, a hundred kilometres from the finish of the special, I had a spark plug problem. I changed it twice. Then, fifty kilometres from the end, the clutch failed. I requested assistance from the organisers, who sent water and rations by helicopter before the sweep truck came to collect me and my bike."

After sixteen hours on the road, António and his no. 30 machine arrived at the bivouac for the last time. His seventh Dakar with Yamaha was meant to be his last: "Last year, I could still rely on the Drag'on team for parts in the bivouac, but this time, I could only count on myself. Besides the race bike, I had to send a back-up bike that I could use for parts. It wasn't possible to come back like this any more. These two bikes are the last ones from the factory team, which I bought from Marc Bourgeois, including Van Beveren's bike. There are no other parts in circulation. I made a big investment to be here on a Yamaha for this Dakar, it was very difficult. It would have been easier with another brand, but I had commitments to my sponsors, particularly Yamaha Portugal. It was a tough decision because my goal was to finish in the top 15 to improve on my career-best eighteenth place. I was twenty-first yesterday, it wasn't out of the question. I won't be back on a Yamaha and that makes me sad. I love Yamaha. For me, it's the gold standard at the Dakar. My dream of competing here was born watching Yamahas win. I know we won't be seeing Yamahas at the Dakar any more."   António Maio may not have left his mark on the Dakar with results comparable to those of Jean-Claude Olivier or Stéphane Peterhansel, but just like JCO and "Peter", the Portuguese ace bleeds blue like a true king of the desert.

Yamaha at the Dakar: key dates and figures

• 1977: Thierry Sabine rides a Yamaha in Abidjan—Nice, where he gets the idea for Paris–Dakar.
• 1979: Cyril Neveu wins the inaugural Paris–Dakar on a Yamaha 500 XT.
• 9: The number of Dakar motorbike titles for Yamaha from 1979 to 1998, courtesy of Cyril Neveu, Stéphane Peterhansel and Eddy Orioli.
• 33: Stéphane Peterhansel is the joint record holder for the most stage wins on a motorbike, all on a Yamaha.
• 140: The number of stage wins by Yamaha motorbikes.
• 173: The number of stage wins for Yamaha in the quad category, with near-total dominance and all the titles at stake between 2009 and 2024.
• 1999: Following the end of the "Peter" era, Yamaha scale back their involvement and blue motorbikes become a rare sight at the bivouac.
• 2004: Yamaha return to the Dakar with the world enduro champion David Frétigné, running a 450 cc that challenges the larger-displacement motorbikes straight out of the gate. He wins three specials and finishes seventh overall.
• 2014: The last Yamaha YZF Rally to reach the Dakar podium is ridden by Olivier Pain, who finishes third, just ahead of his blue brother in arms Cyril Despres.
• 2016: A three-time winner of the Enduropale du Touquet, Adrien Van Beveren is hailed as the heir to Peterhansel. He comes in fourth in 2017 and 2022 and clinches two stages but fails to put a blue motorbike on the top step of the podium.
• 2019: Xavier de Soultrait is the last Yamaha rider to win a special on a WRF 450 Rally.
• 2023: Yamaha have a muted performance in the motorbike standings, with Javi Vega as their sole finisher. However, the Japanese manufacturer become the first to claim victory in a FIA race too, with the prodigious João Ferreira winning a special in the SSV class.
• 2025: António Maio throws in the towel in stage 6. There are no Yamaha riders left in the Dakar.