“I can win the Original by Motul class”

Simon Marcic is what you can call a Dakar fanatic. Whatever the cost, whatever the sacrifices, whatever the pain, the Slovenian has a passion for the Dakar. And that started as soon as his dad bought him a 125cc dirt bike to reward him for his good grades at school. His journey on the world’s toughest rally hasn’t been an easy one however. A fine enduro specialist, he struggled on his first appearance on the race back in 2014 when he was forced to quit early. After a one-year break, he returned to the event on his KTM 450, and accomplished the mission he had set: to finish the Dakar. But what a struggle it was for the rider from Maribor who had registered in what was then called the malle-moto class with no assistance. His 79th spot in Rosario came as a huge achievement after suffering injuries to his fingers, wrist and collarbone. Last year, after enjoying ten fine days, bad luck struck again in the blinding dust of Argentina. Marcic was indeed caught in a collision with Stephane Peterhansel’s Peugeot, resulting in a leg fracture. Painful moments for Simon while the future winner of the car class, a former biker of course, was devastated. Since then a true friendship started between both men, “Peter” offering to help the injured rider. The 35-year-old hasn’t however turned his back on the Dakar and he returned for the 40th edition managing his best performance so far: 69th place overall and 13th of the “Original by Motul” class. His love of the Dakar remains and Marcic will once again be on the start line of his fifth Dakar on a new KTM … and naturally with no assistance.

“My father bought me a 125cc dirt bike in 1998 after I had got good grades at school and after I had already smashed a 50cc moped, riding enduro. So riding bikes goes way back. The Dakar is a real challenge for me. A life long project and dreamed wish. Concerning 2017, I basically have nice memories, until the crash with Stephane. Then everything turned nasty. I didn’t immediately suffer pain but my heart was crying. It was 2 stages before the end. Stephane was very nice and helpful. He called me after a few days, and said he would help and he did. This year, it’ll be a different Dakar for me with a new engine. I competed with the old one four times on the Dakar and once in Abu Dhabi, added to a lot of tests. The material was exhausted. The new one is a classic KTM Raly engine. The bike will have an enduro chassis. We added as many Slovenian components as possible... The project was named Slovenia going to Dakar. I can win the Original by Motul class if the engine goes well."