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We had the privilege of attending the Broadlink KTM Rally Team launch last night – 14th August 2012 – at the 64 at the Palace venue inside Emperors Palace and what a launch it was. The launch entailed the unveiling of Darryl Curtis and Riaan Van Niekerk’s 2013 KTM Dakar bikes.
The night got underway with a talk by both Darryl and Riaan, our South African bike entrants into the 2013 Dakar Rally, discussing their previous races and accomplishment in the sport of off road dirt bike riding. A few videos and photos were shown of some of the world’s most gruelling and difficult races that both riders have competed in including The Roof of Africa, Erzberg Rodeo, Romaniacs and Sea to Sky to name a few.
Darryl and Riaan then went on to discuss the Dakar. Darryl competed in the Dakar for the first time in 2012 and finished in an impressive 22nd place starting from 144th. Riaan will be competing in the Dakar for the first time in 2013. The riders spoke about the complete difference between racing and riding a Dakar bike compared to racing and riding the usual “Plastics” bikes as they referred to them as. A key difference was the navigation and road-map system which is used to complete the race letting the rider know where dangers are, waypoints, how fast they can go and for how long and in which direction to go. Both riders will be competing in a few races as well as touring terrains like the Namibian Desert to get time in the saddle on the bigger heavier bikes as well as get used to the navigation/ road-map system. Darryl even mention attending speed reading classes in order to help.
A huge thanks was given to the sponsors that have made this dream come true for these two athletes, namely – Broadlink, KTM, Grindrod, MTN, Leader Tread and Emperors Palace.
Finally the KTM Dakar bikes were unveiled for everyone to see. What machines they are!
When asked what their goals were for the 2013 Dakar Rally, Darryl said that he would like to finish in the top 15 and Riaan’s goal is to finish the Dakar safely. We are sure both riders will do South Africa proud and we wish them all the best for the 2013 Dakar Rally.
