IT WAS A VERY, VERY TOUGH
RACE – LISTENING TO THE
RIDERS IT WAS THE TOUGHEST
THEY EVER WENT THROUGH
Pit Beirer (KTM Motorsport Director)
said, “For us it’s another special moment,
especially going into the new season, as all
racing worlds are looking at Dakar. It was
a very, very tough race – listening to the
riders so far it was the toughest they ever
went through. It’s just such a long fight,
and we always prepare, fight and hope
with our riders. We struggled with their
pain, but at the end of the day we could
turn the race around another time and
to win it with such a dominating result is
just incredible. The 1-2-3 may look easy on
paper, but if you follow the Dakar and how
difficult it was to reach this result it’s just
amazing what our people are doing; the bike
preparation, logistics, trucks, physiotherapy
and everything behind is all important. I
really want to thank our fantastic team, it’s
really the number one team in the world –
how the guys prepare for the Dakar, how
the engineers build the bike, how the riders
22 KIWI RIDER
do such a fantastic race. Toby has defied
the odds; while it was looking like it may
not be possible for him to start this year’s
Dakar, winning together was something we
could only have dreamed of. His fighting
spirit to the final kilometer with the injury he
has is remarkable. Matthias fought so hard
for second, which is a great achievement
especially as many riders struggle the year
after winning the Dakar, and Sam’s race
was not easy for his hard-fought third
place – we are looking forward to hearing
all of their stories. Luciano, who has so far
been classed as our team junior, also had
a fantastic race, as did Laia Sanz – who yet
again put on an outstanding performance.
We are so proud of our rally achievements
in KTM; we are happy that we are at the
finish line and we now look forward to our
team returning home so we can celebrate
this moment together.”