Andrea Mayer fastest woman on two wheels.

Munich. At the 23. Rallye Paris-Dakar, two German ladies crowned themselves as
big and small desert queens: Jutta Kleinschmidt from Cologne, who had started
her Dakar career on a BMW factory motorcycle, drove to victory together with
her copilot Andreas Schulz from Munich on Mitsubishi. She is the first woman to
win the toughest long-distance race on earth. On her single-cylinder BMW F 650
RR Andrea Mayer from Kaufbeuren won the ladies' category for the third time
already.

"For me it was a Dakar with many highs and lows and it was the toughest rally I
ever rode, I am overjoyed", says Andrea Mayer, the 33-year old factory rider of
the BMW Motorrad Team Gauloises who rode to a respectable 30. place in a field
of 142 riders who had originally started off for the three weeks' ride over a
distance of 10,825 kilometres. "It really takes quite some will-power to always
arrive at night and then get on the bike again early in the morning", confesses
the German rider, "but I had a very good team behind me. It is something very
special to be part of the Paris - Dakar rally. Then to arrive in Dakar and to
be in a good position is simply indescribable."

Not so long ago the immediate future had not looked very bright for Andrea
Mayer. Last summer she fell at the Morocco rally through no fault of her own
and broke her right leg. She restarted training with a 40 cm nail in her
operated leg in spite of considerable pain and in November won the ladies'
category at the UAE Desert Challenge in Dubai. "Andrea can fight like a lioness
and was always there for the team at the Dakar rally", is how head of BMW
motorcycle sport Berti Hauser praises the fastest rally Amazon on two wheels.

Her four male BMW Team mates on their R 900 RR flat twin boxer bikes, however,
did not have so much to rejoice about. But in the hour of defeat the BMW
Motorrad Team Gauloises demonstrated true sportsmanship. "Congratulations - you
have won deservedly", is how BMW Motorrad Development Chief Dr. Markus
Braunsperger and Berti Hauser congratulated KTM boss Dr. Stefan Pierer and KTM
team boss Heinz Kinigadner on the Austrian manufacturer's first Paris - Dakar
overall victory at the Lac Rose before the gates of the Senegalese capital. The
winner Fabricio Meoni from Italy was followed by four further KTM riders.

After winning in 1999 and the fourfold triumph in the year 2000 the BMW
Motorrad Team Gauloises only managed 6. place with the English rider John
Deacon and 7. place for the American Jimmy Lewis and 13. place for the
Frenchman Cyril Despres this time around.

"Our flat twins held and Nani Roma showed that the boxer can be a winner",
states Berti Hauser but also openly concedes, "our target was to win a third
time in a row and our seventh Dakar victory overall. We didn't achieve this and
did not fulfil our expectations."

The rally had got off to a promising start for the BMW flat-twin quartet. The
Spaniard Nani Roma won three stages on his BMW R 900 RR in the first half of
the rally on different types of terrain and looked like a good candidate for
overall victory. But on the 10th leg from El Ghallaoiya to Atar the dream was
ended with one blow. On this day everything had begun beautifully. Already
after the first kilometres he had caught up with the overall leader Richard
Sainct. Nani Roma recalls "I was directly behind Richard Sainct. It was very
dusty on the stony track, I ended up seeing hardly anything anymore, had to
brake and then went flying over the handlebars. Unfortunately the bike fell on
my right leg and I thought right away that I had broken my lower thigh." The
examination in the hospital in Atar then showed that he had not broken his leg
but that the race was over for him - he had to get on the plane home to
Barcelona. "It was a very sad day for me," says Nani Roma, "up until then I had
not only been dreaming
about victory but with the R 900 RR I also stood a very good chance of really
doing so. On the difficult trial sections I had no problems whatsoever with the
flat-twin, it's such a shame ..."

"This year we just didn't have that little bit of extra luck", says BMW Team
Manager Norbert Schilcher. The BMW Motorrad Team Gauloises was especially hard
hit by falls and injuries. Apart from Roma, Jimmy Lewis also suffered an
injury. Already on the fifth day, he hurt his left wrist and then could only
ride at 70 percent. "I had come to win", says the Californian, "and after the
crash I first of all though the pain in my wrist would let up some time, but
each stage turned into a torture. But I didn't want to give up, wanted to be
there for the team and get to Dakar." His tenacity not only impressed his team
mates but also the competition. Even though Lewis fell on the last stage and
broke his collar bone he still managed to fight his way to the finish. Under
these circumstances his 7. place is truly a great achievement.

The English rider John Deacon demonstrated his fighting spirit right to the end
too. He was the best BMW rider in 6. place. "The rally didn't start off well
for me. I had problems at the start in Château Lastour and then I was given
this time penalty. First of all I had to come to terms with all this bad luck.
It ruined my chances for victory and all I could do was ride to good places and
show what might have been with a little more luck", says John Deacon who
praised the atmosphere in the BMW Team: "The perfect work of the mechanics and
the team spirit really motivated me. It just made you feel good."

Cyril Despres, the youngster in the BMW Motorrad Team Gauloises also rode a
very good rally. He won one leg and rode to many good places right up front.
12. place for him at his second Dakar rally, the 27-year old Frenchman was
satisfied: "The boxer has outstanding qualities, I learned a great deal and my
time will come. I don't want to have to wait as long as Fabricio Meoni who
celebrates his first Dakar victory at the age of 42."

Head of BMW motorcycle sport Berti Hauser already announced an in-depth
analysis of the course of this year's Dakar rally before heading home to
winter-bound Munich: "we will lay the cards in peace and quiet and then we'll
see ..."

Final results of the Rallye Paris - Dakar 2001 motorcycle ranking:
1. Fabricio Meoni (Italy) KTM
2. Jordi Arcarons (Spain) KTM time behind: 25:10 h
3. Carlo de Gavardo (Chile) KTM 44:11 h
6. John Deacon (England) BMW 3:45:51 h
7. Jimmy Lewis (USA) BMW 3:49:12 h
13. Cyril Despres (France) BMW 11:37:51 h
30. Andrea Mayer (Germany) BMW 28:58:38 h