“A lot of American records could be broken at Dakar 2023”

Kyle McCoy has already finished one edition of the Dakar in Saudi Arabia, but he is gearing up for a very different kind of challenge in 2023: becoming one of the first Americans to complete the rally in the gruelling Original by Motul class. When it comes to endurance, Kyle can certainly go the distance. A former US military officer who did four tours in Afghanistan, he developed a passion for ultra-distance running after getting out of the army. He went on to compete in over 100 ultra-marathons all over the world, from Antarctica to Morocco and China to Chile, until injury problems forced him to find a new extreme hobby. Having started riding bikes around a decade ago, he got a taste of rally-raid and decided to enter Dakar 2020, finishing in 60th place with the support of Bart van der Velden and the BAS Dakar team. As well as providing Kyle with an outlet for his competitive and thrill-seeking nature, the world's toughest rally roused his inner historian, and he soon became the unofficial expert on American performances at the Dakar. He realised nobody from the US had ever completed the malle-moto class, and made it his mission for Dakar 2023, getting four other riders involved as well: Mo Hart, Paul Neff, David Pearson and Jim Pearson. The five American Rally Originals will be joined in the hardcore class by Czech-born Petr Angelo Vlcek, who is competing under the star-spangled banner for the first time this year, while a record 11 bikers from the US are taking part in this Dakar. Though he admits he's not the fastest guy on a motorcycle, nor the most accomplished mechanic in the team, Kyle is still looking forward to being part of what should be a historic edition for the United States.

“I always say to my buddies I was the Ricky Brabec of ultra-marathons! I'm quite good, quite competitive, but north of 100 marathons I started having issues with my body. And I thought: if I want to live and run when I'm old, I need to pause on the ultra-racing. So I looked for something kind of extreme and came across the Dakar. The navigation and endurance comes naturally, but I'm still developing my riding ability. In any event, that's what led me to Dakar 2020. The goal was to finish, which I did. I've also become the American historian of Dakar, which everyone sort of accepts because I'm not very threatening! People have kind of enjoyed my research. I reached out to old timers and more recent competitors, and I realised that in 45 years no American had ever finished malle moto. That really struck me as interesting and a huge challenge. But I knew I needed some help, some people around me. So I recruited the other four guys on our little band of misfits doing malle moto: the American Rally Originals. Five very different riders with very different profiles, but I know we can help each other. What's fascinating is that a lot of American records could be broken at Dakar 2023. Along with Petr Angelo, there are six of us in an Originals class of 27, which is a huge percentage. Usually the US doesn't have a single entrant! And there are 11 American bikers in total, which is far and away the most in one year. Three are top-10 contenders: Ricky, Skyler Howes and Mason Klein. And if Ricky finishes this year, he'll have the most Dakar finishes for an American biker in history. It's a cool story. Hopefully many of us finish. I have a friend who did the Dakar before me. He's a decent athlete, but it still took him two weeks to get back to normal. I didn't experience that. It's not to say the race wasn't hard, just not from a physical standpoint. It was harder emotionally. It was draining, and I was not prepared for the cold. I obviously tell all the guys: you have to take care of yourself first, then we take care of each other."