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USA's Mark Miller Places 5th Overall

Mark Miller Captures Top Five Finish at 2006 Dakar Rally

• Chris Blais Conquers Dakar – 4^th Place in Motos
• Alphand Wins Overall beating Volkswagen In Mitsubishi
• Marc Coma Victorious in Motorcyle Division
• Caldecott Remembered by KTM Respsol / RedBull team.
• Gordon Heads to Daytona After SCORE Laughlin Race to start NASCAR season

Dakar (January 16, 2006)

After completing the 2006 edition of the Dakar Rally (9,043 kilometre/5,425.8 mile) world class off roadsman celebrated conquering the longest off road race in the world. Capturing victory in the prestigious car class was Mitsubishi’s Luc Alphand who beat the charging Volkswagen Motorsports team.

American off road racing champion – Mark Miller continued his fantastic run at this year’s Dakar Rally racing for the Volkswagen Motorsports team. Miller was selected by Volkswagen Motorsports to replace NASCAR team owner/driver – Robby Gordon, who this year brought his own team to Dakar. Miller, a SCORE Baja 1000 multiple winner, has a storied off road racing career that spans two decades of triumphs. Mark Miller commented at the finish line in Dakar, “Taking part in the Dakar on wonderful, and being in the Top 5 is definitely unbelievable. I couldn't even imagine such a result for me. So, today, I am a very happy man. I feel like I have lived an unique adventure. Actually, I can't hardly express my feelings. If I had to focus on one or two special moments, I would think about the stage during which I crashed the car in the dunes, and the moment when I overtook Peterhansel on the way to Bamako. I have so much respect for him. He is a huge champion."

Miller overcame a host of difficult challenges throughout the 5,425.8 mile adventure ultimately finishing in 4^th position capturing a top five placement.

American motorcycle champion, Chris Blais, completed his journey in Africa finishing in 4^th place to winner, Marc Coma. Blais, a well-respected fierce competitor who has won many off road desert races in the United States and Mexico, rode his KTM 660 Rallye to the finish line placing the Red Bull KTM Team in the top five. Blais commented, " I'm really happy to finish 4th for my second Dakar, it's just fantastic. My goal was to do better than last year and I achieved it. I experienced another great adventure, very risky but that's what I like. We, riders, obviously knew those risks. The race was more difficult than last year's one because of long and exhausting "liaisons." I suffered from short sleep. Anyway, I must be crazy because I already want to come back in the race. I do hope I'll be able to reach the top 3 at Dakar."

American off road racing champ – Robby “Flash” Gordon will be back for the Dakar Rally in 2007. Sources close to Robby Gordon Motorsports have confirmed that the 2005 SCORE Baja 500 Champion will return to the African desert in search of a top five finish in 2007 if not victory. Gordon’s efforts in 2006 were hampered by a huge section of camel grass that took out the front radiator sidelining him overnight in the African desert. Although he repaired the Hummer H3, he was unable to beat the clock to the next stage therefore eliminating him from the rally. 

Motorcycle Champion – Marc Coma reflected on Andy Caldecott’s death in this year’s rally. "There have been several difficult moments, but with no doubt, Andy's death was terrible. The Dakar has all kinds of moments, but I'm happy about how we managed to overcome all of them."

He later explained his feelings on this year’s performance at Dakar saying, "We started in Portugal with two quite long stages, more than usual in Europe, no fear, but respect. Our motorcycle was heavier than the others and the terrain wasn't favourable for us, but we were satisfied. We noticed that we had done the best choice. Then we went to Morocco, which is always difficult and complicated because it's highly demanding both for riders and machines. There was the first selection and it became clear, which was the group of riders who were finally going for the victory. We knew for sure that it was Mauritania where the race would be decided and so it was. Not that it would be sentenced there but it's where Cyril and Isidre crashed, meaning that the race was almost decided. There were Guinea and Senegal left, which were complicated stages, but the big selection had already been made and we saw that we would be able to reach our aim. And what to tell about the arrival in Lake Rose, a dream come true."

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