France’s David Frétigné (Yamaha WR450F - Yamaha MF Gauloises Ipone) put in a strong performance in the seventh stage, winning the longest special of the 2005 Dakar between Zouérat and Tichit. Frétigné’s third win, after Barcelona and Grenada, sees him moving to sixth overall. The gap between him and Marc Coma, the new leader in provisional standing <table style="font-size:9pt"><tr><td valign="top"><img src="http://images.yamaha-racing.com/photo/news/P20080214134803109.jpg" width="100" alt="David Fretigne"/></td><td valign="top"><div> ASO, organisers of the Dakar Rally, have moved swiftly to maintain the status of the famous competition with an announcement that a 2008 version will take place in Europe this summer and that the 2009 edition will traverse South America, with a 9000km lap passing through Argentina and Chile. <br/><br/</td></tr></table> <table style="font-size:9pt"><tr><td valign="top"><img src="http://images.yamaha-racing.com/photo/news/P20060712114200859.jpg" width="100" alt="David Frétigné"/></td><td valign="top"><div> Yamaha has a long and distinguished history in the gruelling Dakar rally. From Cyril Neveu’s win at the first ever rally in 1979 to Stéphane Peterhansel’s 6-win domination and Edi Orioli’s two wins in the nineties, blue bikes have always played an important part in the Dakar. Even when Yamaha Motor France retired after Pe</td></tr></table> <div> David Frétigné (Yamaha WR450F - Yamaha Moto France Ipone) confirmed his ambitions for the legendary Dakar rally raid by claiming his fourth consecutive win in the Shamrock rally, that took place in the Marroccan Sahara from the 28th of October to the 6th of November. <p>After his season competing in n <div> David Frétigné (Yamaha WR450F - Yamaha MF Gauloises Ipone) got off to a perfect start in the prestigious last stage around Lac Rose, Dakar and led for most of the special. Finally David finished his last stage of the 2005 Dakar in 6th place 1'05 behind the stage winner Kellon Walch. However Frétigné’s second participation <div> David Frétigné (Yamaha WR450F - Yamaha MF Gauloises Ipone) put in another great performance yesterday. Frétigné was the fastest after 246 km (CP2), but in the end it was Australian Andy Caldecott who won the stage 2’06 ahead of the Yamaha Moto France rider. David retains his fifth overall, 7 minutes ahead of Caldecott (KT <div>Frenchman David Frétigné talked on the official Dakar site about the crash of Fabrizio Meoni and his death yesterday. "I really don't understand what happened," Frétigné said. "According to me, he was maybe looking at his road instruments. We had just refuelled so the bikes were pretty heavy, he maybe lost balance on a small dune with the weig <div> The 11th day of the Dakar rally was one of deep sadness after the tragic death of Fabrizio Meoni. Meoni died after a crash at km 184.85 of the stage between Atar and Kiffa. At 10.15 David Frétigné (Yamaha WR450F - Yamaha MF Gauloises Ipone) was the first at the place of the crash, and immediately activated his emergency b <div> Seventh overall, before today’s stage at Atar, David Frétigné (Yamaha WR450F - Yamaha MF Gauloises Ipone) announced before the start that he would attack all day. The likeable Frenchman made the best of his Yamaha’s two wheel drive system during one of the toughest stages of this 27th edition where competitors had to nego <div> David Frétigné and the Yamaha Motor France squad’s Dakar adventure got underway yesterday when their two-wheel-drive Yamaha WR450F 2-Trac was presented for scrutineering at the Grande Halle d’Auvergne yesterday. <p>Thousands of fans turned up to catch their first glimpse of the cars, bikes and trucks