“I return for unfinished business”

The name of his Facebook and Instagram pages says it all: Nuts4Dakar. Firstly because Stuart Gregory is a macadamia nut farmer in South Africa, but also because he’s “nuts” enough to do the Dakar… especially in the Original by Motul class. When he started to race bikes some twenty years ago, his ultimate goal was to one day do the Dakar. His time came last year and what a struggle it was. Sadly the 42-year-old had to quit the race on day 8 because of a broken engine: a real heartbreaking moment so close to the finish. More experienced, better prepared, he returns for “unfinished business” this time on a brand new KTM he bought. His main focus during the year has been on riding in dunes (several trips to Dubai) trying to adapt to the new host country of the Dakar. The key to his objective of this time finishing: luck!

“The Original by Motul class is for me the ultimate way of doing the Dakar, the hardest way. For me, the real challenge was to do it the hardest way. I expected it to be hard but I didn’t think I’d be that far behind all the top guys. When they would finish a stage in four hours, it would take me 8. Having to retire was definitely hard. It was just a case of bad luck. When you get back home after a Dakar, you have to wake up and start thinking about the next one. I return for unfinished business. I’m very excited to go to a new destination. It feels like going back to Africa. Again I’ll be in the Original by Motul class but this time I bought a new bike and to avoid having an engine issue, I’ll change the oil every single evening. I expect week one to be rather stony and that could suit me, then it’s off to the dunes. I’ve been preparing for that in Dubai. I needed more practice. Now I just need to get to the finish.”