“I
t’s hot, it’s
hard and its
fun,” is how
Red Bull KTM
rider Matthias
Walkner described the 2018
Dakar Rally at the conclusion
of the second day of the epic
two-weekevent. He’dfinished
the 267km timed special stage
third quickest and was sitting
third overall in the general
standings. And although the
two-time world champion
would go on to celebrate his
maiden Dakar victory ahead of
Argentina’s Kevin Benavides
(Monster Energy Honda
Team) and Aussie teammate
Toby Price, it was perhaps
whathe didn’tdo moreso
than what he did, which would
earn him a place in the long
and illustrious list of winners
of what is the toughest off-
road race in the world.
At the start of Stage 10, with
just five days of racing left to
run, Walkner was stillplaced
third overall, more than six-
and-a-halfminutesbehind
then leader Yamaha’s Adrien
Van Beveren. But 797km later
at the day’s end, the likeable
31-year old found himself
at the top of the general
standings with what would
transpire to be an unassailable
39 -minute lead.
It was a dramatic day in an
already drama-filled event; not
only did the-then rally leader
van Beveren suffer a high-
speed crash which dashedhis victory hopes, but four
other victory contenders took
a wrong turn which meant
Honda men Kevin Benavides
and Joan Barreda Port, as well
as KTM duo Aussie Toby Price
and four-time world champ
Antoine Méo, lost huge chunks
of time and ended the day with
50 minutes to make up.
As Walkner wheelied his
Red Bull KTM 450 Rally over
the finish line, he became the
first Austrian to win the Dakar
Rally’s motorcycle category,
and he did it on an Austrian-
built machine.
The win also handed KTM
its 17th consecutive Dakar win
since Italian Fabrizio Meoni
took victory in the last-ever
Paris-Dakar event in 2001.Impressively, it means KTM
has never lost a Dakar Rally it
has entered. It means, despite
Honda celebrating in four of
the 12 stages which would run- one of them in commanding
fashion when Joan Barreda
Bort finished the second stage
over three minutes quicker
than any of his rivals – Big Red
hasn’t graced the top step of
the podium in almost 30 years.
It means, too, that despite
Yamaha holding the lead
for five stages, it also hasn’t
celebrated a Dakar victory in
two decades.
Claiming some of the
biggest names in rally racing,
the 2018 Dakar Rally was one
of the toughest since its move
to its South American home.