“All the stars must align!”

You won't meet a more enthusiastic and cheerful rider in a bivouac whether in Argentina, Morocco or Saudi Arabia. Year after year, Ross Branch is living the dream. And his smile never leaves his face. Since winning his first stage in 2020 as a privateer, the rider from Botswana has blazed a glorious trail. That road hasn’t always been a walk in the park, especially when he became a factory rider. During his Dakar campaigns in the blue colours of the official Yamaha team (in 2021 and 2022), his adventures ended in tears, first because of a mechanical incident, then a crash. With Yamaha having stopped its rally-raid programme, things could have ended there for the Gaborone native. Fortunately, a new opportunity arose with Indian manufacturer Hero and its factory team. While continuing to work as an airline pilot, Branch once again took part in all the rounds of the W2RC, finishing in the top five of the general classification after excellent results in Argentina (4th) and Morocco (4th). Nicknamed the 'Ferrari of the Kalahari' by a local fan in reference to a very fast donkey cart, 37-year-old Ross Branch now has just one thing on his mind: win the Dakar after retiring twice and finishing the last rally in a disappointing 27th place (despite two stage wins). At any rate, he feels ready to smile on the podium of the world's most famous rally raid five years after finishing as the best rookie in 2019 (13th overall).

“I’m so excited. The team has been putting so much effort. The Hero bike is going incredibly well. I’ve been working really hard at home on the navigational side of things where I thought I was lacking a lot compared to the other riders. I’m excited. I want to go now. The bike is ready to go. I’m ready to go. We left Rallye du Maroc with a lot of confidence (4th). I’m going to go for the best possible result. Everything has got to line up. There are so many guys who can win. It’s going to be a good one and hopefully the best one yet for me. I’m ready to win it. I’ve put in the work. I felt last year that I was lacking in a few places. I feel now that I’ve got everything ready. Hopefully the work is going to pay off. The team has been unbelievable in fixing all the small issues that we had. Now we’ve got a winning bike. The rest is up to me. It’s a dream to be a factory rider. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid. Obviously, it comes with the pressure but it’s good pressure. I’m enjoying every day that I can, living life at the fullest. I’m just really proud and privileged and very grateful to Hero Motorsports to have this opportunity. I hope I can make them proud and obviously the country of Botswana. We’ll give it our best shot and as long as I leave the Dakar with no regrets, that’s going to be the main thing.”