ROD FAGGOTTER
QUEENSLAND-BASED YAMAHA dealer Rod Faggotter
was the highest finishing Yamaha rider in the 2018
Dakar Rally. Aged 41, it was his fourth attempt at
the gruelling event and this year he played the role
of support rider to the top Yamaha men, Adrien van
Beveren and Xavier de Soultrait.
With only a few stages left to run, the Aussie off-
road legend found himself as the only Yamaha in
the top 20 places of the general standings, with de
Soultrait and van Beveren both sidelined with crash-
inflicted broken bones.
“Not feeling any pressure to finish ... that I already
gave to myself. I was going to push the bastard if I
had to!” he joked after the event.
Faggotter did indeed make it the end, finishing
an outstanding 16th overall from 139 starters, but
said he felt he could have finished even higher if the
weather hadn’t hampered proceedings.
“It was a little disappointing that we had two
stages cut from the event as I was feeling okay and
recovering well – something not crashing definitely
assists with,” he said. “Overall, I’m super happy to
complete another Dakar – especially after last year’s
mechanical failure – [and I’m] very grateful for the
opportunity again.”
The truth is, the weather was the least of
Faggotter’s issues. He gave up a hell of a lot of time
completing his role as support rider, assisting not
just the Yamaha-mounted crew, but also friends he
made along the route. It’s the Dakar way.
SCOTT BRITNELL
FOR SCOTT BRITNELL, the 2018 Dakar Rally was
a big tick off of his life-long bucket list.
Britnell, (who in 2016 became the fastest man
across Australia when he rode from Cape Byron,
NSW, to Steep Point, WA, in 72 hours and 10
minutes) entered, competed and finished the Dakar
Rally’s unassisted Original by Motul (formerly
called Malle Moto) category. The toughest class of
them all.
Only 16 riders finished in the unassisted category,
with the 43-year-old Macarthur rider finishing 61st
overall from the total of 85 who would eventually
see the finish line.
He was forced to rebuild his front fork after one
of his fork legs unscrewed from the axle lug mid-
stage. After stopping continuously to re-tighten the
offending fork by hand, Britnell managed to limp
his bike to the bivouac, where he fixed it under the
verbal guidance of an onlooker.
“Dakar 2018 has very much been the experience
that I thought it would be,” Britnell said. “So
many trials and tribulations packed into such
a compressed space of time. For the average
competitor, each day could stand as one you could
tell stories about for decades.
“The tempo of the race provides no time for daily
reflection, but rather forces you into a situation
of compounding effect to start the next day more
tired, more worn, more bruised and fighting to find
the time to upload enough fluid and calories to see
the next bivouac before sunset.
“It was brutal. I survived. I finished in the
toughest classification offered in the spirit of the
sport, and I got the experience that I came for.”“As the only Yamaha left in the top 20 – no
pressure! I was going push the bastard to
the finish line if I had to” – Faggotter