2019 Dakar Rally preview

After visiting multiple South American countries in past years, the 41st edition of the Dakar Rally will take on a new dimension as the event is held exclusively in Peru from January 6-17, 2019.

Although border crossings won’t be on this year’s menu, the event’s still shaping up as another challenging and gruelling affair – especially with sand dunes taking up 70 per cent of the route.

Once again, Toby Price (KTM) is the great Aussie hope, although the 31-year-old’s preparation has been compromised by a broken right scaphoid sustained in testing in early December 2018. Price was operated on in Spain before returning to Australia to continue his recovery.

Mind you, the 2016 Dakar champion’s preparation for the 2018 event was also interrupted after an injury-riddled 2017, but he then finished on the podium behind teammate Matthias Walkner and Kevin Benavides.

“Last year was an incredible one for me. Finishing the Dakar on the podium in third after only just coming back from injury was great,” said Price.

“The world championship didn’t start quite like I would have hoped, but I was able to keep my head together, stay consistent and the results finally came. Everything clicked in Morocco at that final round and I’m hoping for something similar in Peru

“It’s going to be a bit of a strange Dakar, the route looks like about 70 percent is in the dunes and it’s going to be a real challenge, certainly no time to relax.

“In the past there have been days where you can pace yourself and still get a good result by concentrating on navigation and riding smooth – on this one I think it’s going to be flat-out from the very beginning.”

KTM’s record in the Dakar Rally is astonishing, and in 2019 the Austrian company will be chasing its 18th consecutive victory. As well as Price and Walkner, 2017 Dakar winner Sam Sunderland is also a factory KTM pilot, so there’s plenty of firepower in that team alone.

However, the depth of talent in the 2019 Dakar Rally is extraordinary, and other prime contenders in the 138-rider field will include the aforementioned Benavides (Honda), Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna), Paolo Goncalves (Honda), Adrien van Beveren (Yamaha), Joan Barreda Port (Honda), Andrew Short (Husqvarna), Joan Pedrero Garcia (KTM), Laia Sanz (KTM), Michael Metge (Honda), Xavier de Soultrait (Yamaha), Adrien Metge (Sherco) and Ricky Brabec (Honda).

Three other Aussies will join Price in the 2019 Dakar Rally: Rodney Faggoter under the factory Yamaha umbrella, and rookies Ben Young (KTM) and James Ferguson (KTM).

"I'm looking forward to the 2019 Dakar. I've been racing some Bajas and training hard back home in Australia these last few months," said Faggotter, who has competed in the event five times.

"I feel strong physically and also mentally. In the beginning of December we've spent a full week testing and training with the team in Morocco and that was a good morale booster for me. We have a great spirit within the team and I want to be there for my teammates if they need me.

"I want to have a good clean run and do my own race. This Dakar might seem shorter, but we all know it's still going to be a long and demanding race. If it all goes well, I'm confident I can improve my overall result from last year and fight for a spot inside the top 10."

Faggotter's best finish in the Dakar is 14th, achieved in 2013.

Setting off from Lima on January 6, the 2019 event will see riders cover 5541km, of which 2889km will be timed special stages.

There will be one rest day, and all the action concludes back in Lima on January 17.

Highlights of the 2019 Dakar will be broadcast on SBS from 6:00-6:30pm daily. For more information on the event, click here.