WWW.JESMUNK.COM ON LINE

Dear Friends
A small note to let you know that Jes Munk’s website: www.jesmunk.com is now online. You’ll be able to follow him daily on the 2011 Dakar and you can already see the first photos of him at his arrival in Buenos Aires.
The X-Rage Racing Team and Jes Munk wish you all a very Happy Hew Year 2011 and a great Dakar!

Kære venner
Blot en kort besked for at lade jer vide, at Jes Munk’s website nu er tilgængelig her: www.jesmunk.com.
Her vil I kunne følge Jes’s 2011 Dakar dagligt. De første billeder fra hans ankomst til Buenos Aires er nu online.
Team X-Rage Racing og Jes Munk ønsker jer alle et fantastisk Nytår 2011 og et godt Dakar!

Thirteen Aprilia to the Dakar 2011

PRESS RELEASE APRILIA DAKAR 2011
december 9th, 2010

Team Aprilia Giofil will strongly attend to the 32nd Dakar Rally to be held from January 1st to the 16th. Five official and eight private riders will assault the race in South America, leaded by Francisco “Chaleco” López.

The 32nd edition of the Dakar Rally is only three weeks away. For the third consecutive year, the most famous rally in the world will be held in Argentina and Chile, with a huge number of entries in bike/quads: 230 competitors at the starting line.

They are all ready to face the 9605 km race divided in thirteen stages and so is the Team Aprilia Giofil. Finished third overall last year, the team headed by Filippo Assireli will attend not only with great ambitions and motivation, but most of all; decided to give a great battle. The leading man will still be the Chilean Francisco “Chaleco” López, well supported by his fans in his own country.

The limitation imposed by ASO to all top riders that must now compete with 450 cc bikes, will be the central thread of the Dakar 2011, with many official teams, starting by KTM that monopolized the race over the years. To face this new challenge, Aprilia is decided to give a leading role to the RXV 4.5 Tuareg, with a year of experience in rally raid races in Africa, which has served to improve the bike and take its potential even higher.

The power and reliability of the twin-cylinder engine, the last modifications to the cycling and the new electronic mapping will be the strength of López to go for a great result in the Dakar. The Chilean rider, like last year, will count on Gerard Farrés as his “water-carrier”, a precious help in such a long race.

Another Spanish that just arrived to take part of Team Aprilia Giofil is Joan Barreda. The young rider, winner of this year´s Baja Spain, comes from motocross and enduro. Barreda is considered as a growing start in the discipline and will try to hold faith to his reputation of a fast rider.
Another new entry to the team is Alain Duclos, the French/Congolese who has been the fastest private rider for years. Duclos finished the last edition of the Dakar in the 6th overall position and this year will look to improve this performance on his Aprilia Tuareg.
Last but not least is the Italian Alex Zanotti. San Marino´s man will be the only one to run with the “light” version of the Tuareg 4.5, a bike that has shown an optimal potential in Pharaons Rally. Of course, Alex will profit from his experience of last year searching to finish the Dakar in the best position.

Besides its five official riders, Aprilia will also support eight private riders, all on the saddleback of the twin-cylinder RXV. They will be Francesco Beltrami from Italy, Danish rider JES MUNK, Frank Verhoestraete and Jean-Pierre Lejeune from Belgium, Wouter Van Der Beek and Erik Koffman from Holland, the Greek rider Vasilis Orfanos and the Spanish Antonio Gimeno.

These thirteen riders that will be assisted by ten mechanics and three managers, along with important means: two 6x6 trucks and three 4x4 cars will be there for the assistance service. No doubt that Aprilia Giofil will be the largest team at the start of the Dakar 2011 this next January 1st at the Obelisco in Avenida 9 de Julio in Buenos Aires.

JES MUNK: 20 DAGE TIL DAKAR / DAKAR 20 DAYS TO GO

Jes Munk: 20 dage til Dakar
Den 40-årige Jes Munk bliver den eneste danske deltager i Dakar løbet, der finder sted mellem den 1. og den 15. Januar 2011 i Argentina og Chile. Det er takket være den flotte 9. plads motorcykelkøreren fra Silkeborg opnåede i sidste Oktobers VM Rallye des Pharaons, at døren til det store eventyr har åbnet sig lidt tidligere end regnet med. Og dette bliver gjort i stil, nemlig på en Aprilia RXV 450.

Som tidligere motocrossprofil har Jes Munk aldrig helt sluppet styret eller lysten til at køre. Den nuværende forretningsmand begyndte for alvor at overveje rallyer for to år siden. ”Danmark er ikke et decideret rally land, så det var ikke let at finde informationer. Jeg begyndte at forhøre mig og tage kontakt med diverse folk, og startede samtidig med at træne. Det gik op for mig, at hvis jeg en dag ville opfylde min Dakar drøm, så skulle der handles alvorligt, og terrænet skulle forberedes grundigt, bl.a. ved at deltage i andre rally raids”.

Den første oplevelse fik Jes Munk i Cairo i Oktober, da han deltog i Rallye des Pharaons. Mødet med ørknen satte sine spor. ”Lykken og friheden som man føler, når man kører på sandet og surfer på sanddynerne er ubeskrivelig. Allerede efter den første dag var jeg klar over, at jeg ikke ville kunne leve uden de emotions i fremtiden. Det er en hård verden, som får dig til at overgå dig selv, men som især lærer dig at være beskeden. Ørkenen minder hurtigt én på, at man kun er en gæst, aldrig herren.”
Jes Munk sluttede sit første VM Rally på en samlet 9. plads, efter bl.a. en 6. plads i den sværeste etape. Et helt utroligt resultat for en nybegynder. Derefter gik det relativt hurtigt. Danskeren kom på Dakar’s startliste og en Aprilia RXV 450 med hans navn på stod snart klar til afrejsen fra Le Havre i Frankrig d. 26. November til Argentina. Terningerne var kastet…

I Danmark sner det, som mange andre steder i Europa, men om mindre end et måned flyver Jes Munk til Buenos Aires og en stegende sommersol for at gennemgå de tekniske og administrative godkendelser. Traditionen tro kører han derefter den 1. Januar over startlinjen foran obelisken for at opfylde sin Dakar drøm.
www.jesmunkthegringo.blogspot.com/

Kontakt venligst Judith Tomaselli for al information og fotomateriale.
jtomaselli@amadlozi.com
Tlf.: +32 495 26 13 29 eller +33 6 19 97 21 97


JES MUNK: DAKAR D-20

The 40-year old Jes Munk will be the only Dane on the starting line of the 2011 Dakar, which takes place between January 1 and January 15 in Argentina and Chile. Thanks to his 9th place in the Rallye des Pharaons last October, the rider from Silkeborg has been offered the opportunity to live out his dream a little earlier than he’d planned and will be competing in the Dakar on an Aprilia RXV 450 bike.

Jes Munk earns his living running his own business but, as a former motocross rider, motorcycling has always held a very special place in his heart. “I started thinking about Rally-Raids two years ago but few people practice it in Denmark so I didn’t have a lot of information. I began training, did some motocross and then one day made the decision to go for it. In order to fulfil my dream and make the Dakar I had to prepare it well in all ways, including running other Rally-Raids.”

Last October, Jes Munk discovered the world of off-road racing in Caire and threw himself into the desert heart and soul during the Rallye des Pharaons. “I had never felt so much pleasure or freedom as I did riding on the sand trails or over the dunes. After the first day I knew that I’d never be able to live without those emotions again. It’s a hard mineral world, no concessions made; the desert pushes you to do your best but above all it teaches you humility. You learn very quickly from nature that you’re only a guest here, never the master.”

Jes Munk finished the Rallye des Pharaons at the 9th place, after concluding one of the special stages in 6th position – not bad for a newcomer! Soon after, a spot was freed for him in the Dakar and a Aprilia RXV 450 ready to go to Argentina from Le Havre on December 26. Everything turned out extremely well and the dices are now thrown.

While the snow is falling in Denmark and in many other parts of Europe Jes Munk is getting ready to fly to Buenos Aires’ blazing summer in less than a month for the technical and administrative verifications. True to tradition, he’ll be passing the obelisk on January 1.
www.jesmunkthegringo.blogspot.com/

Please contact Judith Tomaselli for all information and photos.
jtomaselli@amadlozi.com
Tel: +32 495 26 13 29 or +33 6 19 97 21 97

JES AND CIM TOGETHER ON THE DAKAR 2011

http://cim.as/

JES ON TV2 - PREPARING DAKAR

Only a Danish rider can prepare the Dakar in the snow!

Jes was on TV2 on sunday...

http://sporten.tv2.dk/video/index.php/nodeId-35357019.html

Let's have a look... It will be different in Argentina : around 30°... sometime 40°C and humid! ;-)

DAKAR 2011: VERSION CRESCENDO

This morning the organizers of the Personal Argentina Chile Dakar announced the details of the 2011 edition, the third in South America, which will be run from January 1st through the 16th.

This year the route takes the competitors to the extreme northern regions of Argentina and Chile, to the Bolivian and Peru borders, just until the rest day at Arica, before heading back towards Buenos Aires. The design of the route, consisting of 9000kms of roads, tracks and dunes, including nearly 5000 of competition, was done with the idea of saving the more difficult stages for the second half of the event to maintain maximum suspense and create a crescendo of difficulty. The competitors and teams are in for an extreme endurance challenge.

Veterans and novices are now ready for the adventure with 430 vehicles expected to line-up at the start of the 32nd edition of the Dakar, which is a near 20% increase from 2010. Beyond the numbers, another accomplishment has already been achieved with the finalisation of a plan to intensify the competition: the elite in the motorcycle division will compete on bikes with engine capacities inferior to 450ccs. This major change has sparked the interest of manufacturers who have entered strong line-ups in the battle for victory. KTM is back with Cyril Despres and Marc Coma, who have combined to win the last five Dakars, and now will race with equal power against Aprilia (Lopez, Duclos…), BMW (Frétigné, Verhoeven…),Yamaha (Viladoms, Rodrigues…), Sherco (Casteu), Honda (Bethys, Pisano…) as well as Beta (Boano). In the automobile category, the potential of Team BMW X-Raid, which will be led by Stéphane Peterhansel and Guerlain Chicherit, poses a more serious threat to Volkswagen. Defending Dakar champion, Carlos Sainz, knows very well that his competition is not just limited to inter team battle with Al Attiyah, De Villiers and Miller. Vladimir Chagin and his Kamaz team mates are the pre-rally favourites in the truck category, but for his return to competition, Gerard De Rooy (Iveco), has just as much ambition to go for the win as does Ales Loprais (Tatra).

Before heading into competition, the vehicles of the European competitors will first head to Le Havre on November 24th and 25th. From there they will cross the Atlantic and head to Buenos Aires. Technical and administrative verifications will be conducted on December 30th and 31st.

DAKAR 2011 : JES DISCOVERING HIS APRILIA FACTORY BIKE

Monday 22nd of November, Jes took the plane to Venezia then a taxi to Noale where the Aprilia's Factory is based. There, like a kid in front of the Xmas tree, he discovered the Aprilia RXV 450, his bike for the Dakar 2011, the same as Chaleco Lopez will ride.
When a dream become reality...

PHARAONS RALLY'S PRICE GIVING

Hi everybody,
here more pictures of Jes at the Price Giving Ceremony where he got two prices : the second best Privateers and the third of his class!

Only 53 bikers arrived and they were 85 at the start... Thanks to Thierry Magnaldi for the physical training and to Jean Brucy for the road book traning. You help him a lot to made this dream a reality.

Well done Jes, I'm proud of you but if you so so fast on the next rally I promise that you'll get a beating! ;-)

PS: The good stuff is that he lost 4 kg ;-) Keep going Louise!

JES MUNK FINISHED AMAZING 9th AND BEST ROOKIE OF THE PHARAON'S RALLY!

9th of October 2010
6th Stage : Siwa – El Alamein
Liaison : 160,56 km – Spéciale : 240,08 km – Liaison : 105,40 km – Total : 506,04 km


YEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! Jes did it!
And how : 7th of the last stage (even with stomach problem from two days... ) and 9th overall! (In fact he was 8th but had some speed penalty on the last day - that's the way to learn!)

Waw! I've never expect this and it's a great result! But more than the result, he finished his first rally and didn't made too much mistake that it's great.
At the podium, he was very tired because That was two days that he had just a little food because he was sick but was full of emotion.
Now he has to digest this experience which is very strong... The back home will be not easy, I know the feeling. Be patient.

He loved the desert and the freedom to ride the dunes...
He found his discipline, a sport of freedom, speed and technic but also a sport where you really need to use your brain.
Keep in touch for the next adventure!
Cheers all!

PHARAONS RALLY - JES MUNK'S ADVENTURE IN EGYPT - DAY 5

8th of October 2010
5th Stage : Abu Mingar - Siwa
Liaison : 1,31 km – Spéciale : 412,35 km – Liaison : 5,75 km – Total : 419,41 km

Hi everybody,
What can I say? Jes finished 6th today and when he passed the dune where I was taking pictures, he was flying! He was just behind Marcos Patronneli who won the Dakar in quad this year and lead the category now. Amazing! But I was not happy because he was going too well for his knowledge of the Rally, the tracks and more the offroad are full of traps and he had to learn to read the roadbook which is not easy. Don't forget that a rider has to ride, look at the track, at the GPS, at the ICO and at the roadbook... And normally men can just do one things in a time!

Then I was really unhappy and very hard with him!

Now I cross my fingers for tomorrow... and hope to have a drink with Jes and stop to be hard with him ;-) but it's the only way to enter some information in a rider's brain!
Because you have to know that when a rider put his hand on the gas, there is no more connexion with the brain!

Cheers and keep you informed tomorrow!