Australian Motorcycle News — January 30, 2018

WORTHY

WINNER

MATTHIAS

WALKNER

He’sthe 17 thKTMridertostandonthetopstepoftheDakarRally

podiuminasmanyyears,butjustwhoisMatthiasWalkner?

MAT THIAS WALKNER celebrated

a well-deserved victory in the

4 0th edition of the Dakar Rally,it

was his fourth attempt.

He began racing motorcycles

three weeks after his father (also

named Matthias) bought him his

first motorcycle as a youngster,

and for a sign of things to come,

he finished second.

In 2015 during Walkner’s first

ever Dakar, he played assistant

role to KTM’s then golden

boy Marc Coma and showed

enormous potential when he

claimed victory in just his third

ever stage. But the likeable

Austrian was forced out with

illness and didn’t see the finish.

The next year he lined up again,

this time getting as far as the

seventh stage before suffering a

snapped femur in a heavy crash.

Hisdetermination to seethe

Dakar Rally’s finish line meant

the Austrian performed 30 hours

of rehabilitation each and every

week for the next 30 weeks, to

ensure he was physically and

mentally prepared to race – and

finish –the 2017 event.

The 31-year-old was

competitive and he finished

runner-up to his teammate Sam

Sunderland before going one

better this year and claiming his

maiden Dakar victory.

KTM’s newest golden boy is

also a two-time world champion,

having clinched both the 2012

MX3 Motocross world title, as

well as the 2015 Cross Country

Rallies World Championship.

The Salzburg-born rider made

the switch to rally racing in

2013 when the FIM ditched the

motocross series he’d enjoyed

much success in.

He would win his first rally

during the 2014 season in

Greece, before lofting the

championship trophy just one

year later.

Something tells us Matthias

Walkner will be adding more

coveted Dakar Rally trophies

to a growing list of glittering

race results.

After a cruel blow in 2016,
when it tookWalkner 12
hours to get to hospital to
treat his snapped femur, the
sun shone on the Austrian
during the 2018 event

Guess

what?!

Of the 139 bikes

which started the race,

29 had dropped out

by the mid-way point

and only 85 saw

the finish line