Dakar Rally Competitors Wear Leatt-Brace(TM) Neck Protection
Leatt Corporation (PINKSHEETS: LEAT), a Nevada, USA Corporation headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, and the developer of the Leatt-Brace(TM), a Neck Brace System designed to help prevent potentially devastating motor sport injuries to the cervical spine (neck), today announced that approximately 70 competitors in this year's Dakar Rally were wearing either a Leatt-Brace(TM) MOTO GPX or MOTO R neck brace.
The 2007 Dakar Rally, which took place from the 6th to 21st January 2007 and covered approximately 9000 kilometers, included 264 motorcycles (incl. quad bikes), 190 cars and 86 trucks. Approximately 70 entrants started the rally wearing either a Leatt-Brace(TM) MOTO GPX or MOTO R neck brace.
Karl Ebel, Marketing (Leatt Corporation) and Grant Nelson, Engineer (Leatt Corporation), were present at the start of the Dakar Rally to ensure that competitors who had purchased a Leatt-Brace(TM) had set the brace up correctly for their body types. Karl Ebel then met each competitor at the end of the first stage to confirm that they were comfortable and that the brace did not hinder their performance. Where necessary, slight adjustments were made to ensure maximum protection with minimum restriction.
South African Giniel De Villiers of the Volkswagen Super Production Team led the car category of this year's rally wearing a Leatt-Brace(TM) MOTO R, until Stage 9 when engine problems put him out of contention. De Villiers finished in 11th place overall.
The top three finishers in the motorcycle category, Cyril Despres, David Casteau and Chris Blais of KTM, each wore their Leatt-Brace(TM) MOTO GPX's throughout the duration of the race. The KTM motorcycle team was supplied with KTM-branded versions of the Leatt-Brace(TM) GPX and BMW Motorrad also supplied two BMW branded Leatt-Brace(TM) GPX braces to competitors.
As is expected in a rally of this nature, there were numerous accidents over the two-week period. However, none of the Leatt-Brace(TM) wearing competitors who crashed during the race experienced neck injuries.
"We are delighted by the class of competitor who chose to wear the Leatt-Brace(TM) in the 2007 Dakar Rally and the positive feedback we have received from teams and competitors alike. KTM have given us very positive feedback after a neck injury free race, considering the recent deaths KTM Teams have suffered from head and neck injures in the past few Dakar Racers," said Dr. Chris Leatt, C.E.O. and President of the Leatt Corporation. He continued, "It is certainly possible for someone who wears a Leatt-Brace(TM), or any protective equipment, to still be seriously injured in a race, so I want to avoid drawing conclusions from the good fortune that users of our product had in the Dakar Rally in not suffering any serious neck injuries. I would also like to acknowledge that, because of our experience and commitment to product testing and development and the results from this and other races, we have good reason to believe that the Leatt-Brace(TM) could go a long way to decreasing and maybe someday potentially eliminating catastrophic neck injuries in motor sports."
About The Leatt Corporation: The Leatt Corporation is the exclusive global distributor of the Leatt-Brace(TM), a Neck Brace designed to prevent or lessen the severity of potentially devastating motor sport injuries to the cervical spine (neck). The company's operations and research and development of the core products currently take place at the Leatt Corporation's offices in Cape Town, South Africa.
For more information on the Leatt-Brace(TM), please visit the company website at www.leatt-brace.com. No web sites or URLs, or any part thereof, that are referenced in this press release are part of this press release.
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Source: Market Wire (February 6, 2007 - 9:09 AM EST) |
