This year’s Dakar has already created many talking points and legendary tales that will be told for years to come as we head into today’s rest day in Riyadh. Danilo Petrucci is the man of the moment, having taken his first stage win – and many by surprise – just 53 days after hanging up his MotoGP™ leathers and embarking on what many thought would be a near impossible task for the Italian.
As you’re preparing for your new year celebrations, spare a thought for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Toby Price. An offroad legend, Dakar winner and globally loved racer, Toby is in the final stages of prep for the biggest event on the calendar, the Dakar rally, having spent the last few months living in a hotel room. We caught up with the Aussie just a short time ago to talk about hotel food, training for the big one and a passion for all things mechanical.
Kilometer after kilometer the concentration, the energy, the navigation, the physicality and all while keeping the throttle absolutely twisted. Desert dunes, to rocky mountains, the Dakar Rally is a battle of endurance for both rider and machine.
The Dakar Rally is one of the most notoriously difficult races on the planet. With the 2021 event just weeks away, we caught up with KTM Rally Team manager Jordi Viladoms to get an insight into Dakar, what’s new for 2021 and the team’s goals.
As the dust settles on the 2020 Dakar Rally, which marked a new chapter for the event at a new location in Saudi Arabia, we at the KTM Blog have been taking a look through the breath-taking images from this year’s race.
It was the end of May and the Iron Giant wasn’t in the mood. On a freezing, stormy day, 1800 riders gathered at his feet to try their luck. Among them, 34 fun and fearless women in muddy boots were waiting for the Iron Road Prologue to start. The toughest girl in motorsport was feeling like a rookie again. As a Dakarian, she knows only too well the thrill of the unknown, yet nothing compares to the Erzbergrodeo.
It was 11am, April 4, when Luciano Benavides, still a junior, rode into the Red Bull KTM Factory Racings Rally Team’s paddock at Yas Marina Circuit as runner-up of the 29th Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. A big smile appeared on his face when he took off his helmet. It was the take off the 23-year old Argentinian had been waiting impatiently for quite some time. “In this race I discovered the new me,” he said. The magic can’t be truly explained, but we can at least try.
With the first KTM Ultimate Race just around the corner, we had a chat with Marc Coma, the great warrior of the African and South American Dakars. We discussed about the mysteries of the rally raid and the irresistible attraction of the Dakar.
KTM has announced the twelve riders who will be given a fully supported KTM 790 ADVENTURE R in order to compete in a unique event within the 2019 Merzouga Rally – The KTM Ultimate Race.
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.
