Australia had a heavy presence in the 2013 Dakar Rally, which wrapped up over the weekend in South America, resulting in a pair of top 15 finishes for Yamaha’s Rod Faggotter and KTM rookie Ben Grabham – very credible performances by both guys.

Warren Strange saw himself finish up with a 23rd position overall, while Todd Smith, Simon Pavey and Matt Fish took home 34th, 60th and 111th placings, in which we can stand very proud of their efforts in what is globally recognised as one of the toughest events on two wheels.

For Faggotter, a Yamaha dealer in his regular role, the feeling of charging to 14th at Dakar is one that he will remember for a long time to come, now obviously eager to improve upon that in the future if he can piece the puzzle together.

“What a tough and challenging event,” Faggotter said at the completion of racing. “Every day there was a new challenge, whether it be the course, learning to read the maps, the other riders, cars or quads and then just the physical and mental pressure of staying focussed and on the job every time you get on the bike.

“The last few days were really tough as the course had some extremely technical sections and fatigue was a real factor for everyone. Thankfully, I was able to keep it together, get through each day the best I could and we got to the finish line. I’m pretty relieved right now and looking forward to a couple of days rest.”



Faggotter, and the other two members of the HFP Yamaha team, were all YZ450F mounted with all three riders finishing inside the top 14. If there was even a doubt regarding the durability and performance of the YZ450F, then the 2013 Dakar event continued to prove the Yamaha motocross machine is as tough and reliable as they come.



“I don’t really recall any major issues with the bike other than the ones I inflicted on it,” Faggotter laughed. “I had a few crashes out there and bent and twisted a few things up, but the bike kept on going perfectly and I really enjoyed racing it in these conditions.

“I also want to thank the HFP team for their support in the lead up and throughout the event. Having an experienced and knowledgeable team behind you makes my job on the bike so much easier. Yamaha Australia has also been a huge help in getting me into this position, so again, thank you to them.

“Now that I have shown that I’m capable of being up the front and can do well, the HFP team has already spoken about stepping up support and also with this year’s finish I should be able to start near the front of the field and not have to contend with the dust like this year. I now know what to expect and can alter my preparations to suit. I’m satisfied to finish 14th and the effort was all worthwhile. The aim now is to come back next year and improve on this result.”

Yamaha Motor Australia’s motorsport manager Ray Howard congratulated Faggotter post race and he too is excited to see if the Queenslander can improve his position in 12 months time.

“On behalf of Yamaha Motor, I would like to congratulate Rod on a sensational effort in this year’s Dakar event,” Howard said. “To finish the event is an accomplishment in itself but Rod rode exceptionally well and to finish 14th in this event is an amazing feat. It was a job well done and he has earned himself a couple of days rest and hopefully he can back in 2014 and crack the top 10.”



HSE Motorex KTM Desert Racing Team’s Grabham was an admirable 15th on debut at Dakar, progressively improving during the event and he was also recognised for several other distinctions.

Grabbo was the second fastest rookie in the 2013 Dakar, and came home as third Amateur in the Super Production category and the third Amateur Outright.

Spread over 14 days and spanning three countries, the Dakar Rally stretched over 8000-kilometres, and the Motorcycle Category saw a KTM trifecta, with Frenchman Cyril Despres (KTM) winning his fifth crown from Portuguese Ruben Faria and Chilean Francisco Lopez

“To be honest the last day dragged out quite a bit with a short special and a couple of hundred kays down the freeway,” said Grabbo. “It was a big relief to finally cross the finish line. It’s the type of race where in every kilometre there’s something that could bring you undone fast and in a big way.

“I expected it to be more difficult physically than it was but everything I’ve done to prepare for it obviously helped. The hardest part was mentally day after day just all the maps and the navigation, the long hours and the harsh weather conditions and other elements.

“That first week was the hardest, I wasn’t enjoying it a hell of a lot at first. Everything was so unfamiliar, we’re reading off French maps and we’re not even in France – it was important not to let it get to you. Once you got the gist of the event and the conditions and the craziness on the roads you settled into a routine and got the hang of it.

“I really want to thank everyone who helped get me here and supported me all the way particularly KTM Australia and HSE Mining, and my mechanic Mikey for keeping me going and putting up with everything for two weeks. My team manager Garry also helped a lot through the year with the organisation of everything.

“We were pretty low key. The KTM factory team helped with a few bits and pieces along the way but we pretty much worked it out ourselves and did it on our own.”

Grabham was particularly enthusiastic about the performance of his KTM 450 Rally, which he felt made the race that much easier.

“The bike was unreal,” enthused Grabham, “I used the 450 rally which was the same as the customers can buy, pretty much straight out of the box and the thing was unbelievable. The storage, the service access, everything is designed for the job and I’m pretty sure it made my first go really easy in so many areas.”

As you most likely already are aware, Dakar is for the toughest of tough, and Grabham outlined the gruelling schedule that is placed upon riders throughout the fortnight of competition.

“Typically I’d be up at 3:00am to get food in and be on the bike by 4:30,” he explained. “I often don’t see my support crew a lot during the day so I had to carry as much food and drink as possible, without going nuts because you’re going to ending up lugging it all through the dunes at some point.

“Often we’d be done between 5.30 and 6:00pm, so as soon as I’d get in I’d try to get cleaned up, get the maps organised, try to get food in and rehydrate as best I can, ready to back it up the next day. I was lucky to be able to hand the bike over to Mikey so I was often in bed by 9:00.

“It wasn’t too crazy. Some guys, some of the Aussies too, really struggled and I heard of some guys who got in at 4:00am and had to be going again at 5:00am! I never experienced that aspect of Dakar racing and definitely didn’t want to!”

The hard luck story of the 2013 running was that of Fish, starring with his third place finish on Stage 2, but he was ultimately ruled down the order, first by helping his Monster Energy Husqvarna teammate and then secondly by a mechanical problem that dropped him to the back of the pack (check out last week’s Observations for more on that).

There were a lot of stories to tell throughout the 2013 event and I’m sure many are still to come, but from each of us here at MotoOnline.com.au, a massive congratulations to all of the Australian contenders taking on Dakar – spectacular efforts!