Cyril Despres leaves KTM – What comes next?

Martin Child

As mentioned in yesterday’s Throwdown, Frenchman Cyril Despres has announced his split with KTM, after a 12-year working relationship that has spawned 10 podiums and five Outright victories. That’s big news, but so is what’s happening to the 38-year-old Dakar dominator.

With no official word from Despres himself, the moto rumour mill is threatening to spin off its own axis. Before this year’s Dakar, Despres was linked to the big-dollar Honda HRC team. It made a lot of sense – the Japanese were serious about conquering the event and Despres, one of the heroes of the sport, would add skill and experience to their engineering might. However, since the event, that trail seems to have gone cold.

Yamaha was the next concern seemingly interested, but the recent shenanigans at KTM seem to point to a more logical answer to where Despres’ butt will land. With the orange firm’s CEO, Stefan Pierer buying Husqvarna from BMW, there’s a brand there that needs a star for its new beginnings. Despres on a Husky? Sounds like a safe bet to us…

Until you add the four-wheel rumours to the pie. Despres’ own site has mention of a switch to four wheels – be it cars, trucks or quads – and a successful switch to such could see him emulate the efforts of Stefan Peterhansel, a Dakar champion on both two-and four-wheels.

Or, as he approaches 40, could more of a team managerial role be on the cards? Where do think Cyril Despres is heading?

– Honda?
– Husqvarna?
– Yamaha?
– Cars?
– Trucks?
– Quads?
– Team Manager?
– Black Beret Production?