N° 219 - TEAM FLANDERS RALLY TEAM
- DEPOORTER
- Philippe
- BEL
- 18/07/1967
- 183 cm
- 80 kg
|
| MODEL |
MAKE |
| 690 RALLY |
KTM |
 |
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
|
| Scratch |
116
|
96
|
95
|
88
|
151
|
111
|
116
|
93
|
115
|
109
|
-
|
84
|
69
|
58
|
| Stage |
116
|
96
|
95
|
85
|
133
|
111
|
124
|
92
|
111
|
108
|
-
|
80
|
84
|
58
|
-
|
-
|
| Overall |
116
|
87
|
86
|
75
|
134
|
124
|
122
|
120
|
111
|
107
|
-
|
107
|
103
|
100
|
-
|
-
|
Philippe Depoorter: “My mother always lights a candle before my races”
“I always said that I would take part in the Dakar when I turned 40. Today I’m 41. Here I am’’. Philippe Depoorter can finally after over 20 years behind a handle bar accomplish “everyone’s dream”: to take off in the most legendary of off-road rallies. And he might well be in it for quite some time. “People often say that the Dakar is a germ that never leaves you”. Since he’s managed to gather the necessary funds to register, the Flemish builder is “like crazy” and ”slightly stressed”. He currently lives very long days: “During the day I work. So I have to wait for the evening to take care of my bike”.
A friend of his with a good knowledge of South America, briefed him on the tracks that await on a continent he has never visited. Verdict of the disciple: “I feel it’s going to be tough”. Obviously the discovery combined to the difficulty of the event force him to have a modest ambition: “To finish. I won’t ride for the standings”. He will however ride alongside his friend of the Team Flanders Rallye, Michel Vandendriessche. “Well, we’ll try to ride together”, he corrects. Indeed such an exercise isn’t that easy: “You ride for an hour then you turn around and your team mate is no longer there. So what do you do? You wait, you go back or you continue?” The best thing would be for “the two of us to finish the Dakar, but it won’t be easy”.
In case of a problem, Philippe knows that he will be able to count on the support of his friend and compatriot, biker Eric Palante. And a few thousand kilometres from there, on the support of his 16-year-old quadruplets and of his mother: “She always lights a candle when I take off on a race. For this one, I believe she will light quite a few…”
Dakar start photos on line: www.maindruphoto.com