Bike race: KTM hunting

December 19 ^th 2018 - 17:53

Among the 138 riders expected at the start in Lima, the last three winners of the Dakar, Toby Price, Sam Sunderland and Matthias Walkner, will be the leaders at KTM, which has been threatened but never beaten since January 2000. But this long-term domination doesn’t dissuade the competition from eyeing the title, most especially at Honda with Kevin Benavides and Joan Barreda or at Yamaha with Adrien van Beveren and Xavier de Soultrait. Far from the battle in the general classification, the bivouac also welcomes amateur riders motivated by the experience of the desert and the sharing of the adventure with fellow competitors. 35 bikers and quad riders are entered without assistance in the “Original by Motul” category.

The times are changing! Just a few years ago, the prognostications of the bike race were limited to a choice between Cyril Despres and Marc Coma, who dominated the category, with five victories each between 2005 and 2015. But since then, a new era has begun, led by a generation of ambitious young riders more than by the former also ran in the Coma-Despres duels. In 2015, Toby Price made a remarkable debut in finishing 3rd, as did Mathias Walkner, who dropped out early from the rally, while the young and spirited Sam Sutherland had more than his share of retirements. The three hopefuls went on to confirm their potential in winning the three following editions, which extended KTM’s winning streak to 17 straight titles. However, the Austrian firm’s dominance has indeed been threatened over the past few years. Last January, Honda rider Kevin Benavides was the biggest threat to Walkner. And in the Japanese squad, perhaps diminished like last year with the absence of Paulo Gonçalves, who was injured during testing, there is still plenty to destabilize the past three victors. Will winner of 22 stages in eight Dakar participations, Joan Barreda ride an error-free Dakar to claim the overall win? But the Spaniard could also be surprised by his up and coming Chilean team mate Jose Ignacio Cornejo, who finished 10th last year substituting for Gonçalves.

KTM will also have to be weary of the threat coming from other Japanese brand, Yamaha, and its team leader Adrien van Beveren who finished 6th in 2016 and 4th in 2017 and who in his first three participations has confirmed that he is a future Dakar champion. His retirement on stage 10, while on his way towards victory last year, could be considered as the final act of his Dakar learning process. Another blue bike, ridden by Xavier de Soultrait, could also be in the mix, but there are many credible candidates aiming for the podium. Pablo Quintanilla took 3rd place in 2016 and when it comes to performance his Husqvarna is just as strong as its rivals. Stefan Švitko has also finished on the podium, finishing runner-up in 2016 on a non-factory KTM, and where could Joan Pedrero finish if he has a bit of luck on his side? Another to watch will be 2018 top rookie Oriol Mena, who finished 7th and who is now called upon to star on a Hero. And finally, Michael Metge has joined his brother Adrien at Team Sherco that still has ambitions of finishing in the Top 10.

Original by Motul: the meaning of mutual aid
Dakar riders are all solid competitors. But some come for something more. In the most demanding rally-raid in the world, one can voluntarily add extra degrees of difficulty. That is what the “Original by Motul” riders do. They enter with no technical assistance whatsoever and take care of the maintenance and repairs of their bikes and quads themselves. “It was the obvious choice”, explains Australian James Ferguson who is about to experience a tough first go on the Dakar, while regular malles-motos participant, Jan Veseslý confirms that we can reexperience “the original spirit of the Dakar". Between these rider-mechanics often condemned to a bout of insomnia, confrontation is replaced by mutual aid.