LAIA SANZ TAKES A
LEAP OF FAITH
PHOTO: MARCELO
MARAGNI/RED BULL
CONTENT POOL
KTM Factory Racing’s Laia Sanz continued
her Dakar finish record to see the chequered
flag for the ninth time from nine starts with
an outstanding 11th position in this year’s
race, despite not being fully fit in the lead up
to the event.
Toby Price said, “It feels amazing to stand
here knowing I have won the Dakar, I don’t
think it has really sunk in yet. I thought at
the beginning of the event I would be lucky
to even make the rest day. My Red Bull
KTM bike has been amazing, I want to say
a big thank you to my mechanic for that.
The whole crew here do an amazing job –
without them I would be no-one. The team
put in so much work on the lead up to the
event and when we get here it’s down to me
out there on the track so it feels amazing to
be able to reward them all with this result
and keep KTM’s winning streak going.
“It was so tight going into the final stage,
both Pablo [Quintanilla] and I knew we
would have to push right from the start.
Unfortunately for him, he went too hard
off a dune but he really deserves a win too
– everyone that starts this race deserves a
18 KIWI RIDER
win. The plan now is to go home and relax
for a little while, I know I need to have my
wrist seen to, so I’ll get that sorted and then
it won’t be long before we start it all over
again.”
Matthias Walkner said, “This means so
much to me. I wanted so badly to be back
on the podium. The race has been so close
this year and I truly believe I have ridden my
best Dakar ever. The whole 10 days have
gone well and I have made the minimum
of mistakes. There have been a couple of
times where the start position has been
tough or we’ve had trouble with the road
book, but overall, I feel really happy with my
performance. I did hit one of the dunes very
hard in the final stage and nearly came off, it
sounds like that’s what happened to Pablo,
so I wish him all the best. Of course, I want
to say congratulations to Toby too, he’s like
an animal to ride with his wrist like that, and
win. It’s such an emotional race for me – to
put so much into something, so much hard
work, and to get something back at the end
is an amazing feeling.”