The Dakar Rally is a massive operation, therefore it requires more working hands and ingenious minds than any other cross-country rally of the season. This year, the team backing up the Red Bull KTM Factory Riders included 33 members, achieving a historical result under the command of new team leader, Jordi Viladoms. We talked to five of those who joined the orange family only for Dakar.
Sam Sunderland talks openly about how tough the 2019 Dakar proved to be with extreme highs and lows arriving with each stage of the infamous rally.
We caught up with KTM´s Dakar 1-2-3 finishers and asked them about their after-Dakar life. Is it paradise?
2019 Dakar Rally Winner and 2018 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Champion! The last three months have seen Toby Price reaffirm himself as the world’s number one rally racer. And in unquestionably impressive style. Battling his way through the world’s toughest cross-country rally with a broken wrist, with the full support of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Price earned his second Dakar victory having overcome injury and 10 brutal days of racing in Peru.
As the KTM Factory Racing Team battled their way through the 2019 Dakar Rally in Peru all eyes were unquestionably focused on the job in hand – that of overcoming the event’s many and varied challenges. But Dakar is an otherworldly undertaking, one that requires a full 12 months of preparation.
Behind every good team is, among many other things, an impressive race truck. Certainly, that’s the case at KTM Factory Racing. Two years in development and construction, the new six-wheel-drive monster is the brainchild of Michael Angerer. The KTM BLOG spoke to the Austrian mechanic to find out more.
Speed in cross-country rallies is useless without good navigation to back it up. The skill required in both marking and reading a road book separates the great from the good, especially at races like the Dakar Rally. KTM Rally Team Manager Jordi Viladoms takes us through the all-important, and often misunderstood, roll of paper.
A round-the-world trip on two wheels comes just once in a lifetime. Your adventure bike is standing ready and prepared in the shed, all that’s missing is the riding skills you need for your trip. Motorcycling on the roads is no problem, but traveling on tracks and dirt roads brings with it some real challenges. An intensive course could well be the answer!
With the start of the 2019 Dakar Rally growing closer and closer, we take a look at 10 things you probably didn’t know about the world’s toughest cross-country rally. From the fuel used by the bikes on the long, arduous days to what the riders do when it comes to bathroom breaks when out in the desert …
Never will he stop trying new things. A horrific crash left Nicola Dutto bound to a wheelchair, but even with that setback in mind, he’s still out to achieve his goals. His next challenge will be kicking off on January 7, 2019. That’s the day he’ll start the Dakar Rally.
