Behind the scenes at Dakar

In his third attempt on the world's toughest rally, Dakar, Lobethal (SA) off-road racer David Schwarz takes us behind the scenes on his epic journey through Argentina and Chile on the KTM 690 Rallye.

"At scrutineering we were told that the noise limit for the bikes was going to be 90dB and rally bikes churn normally at approx 100-102dB, which meant I had to source some quieter mufflers at a costly price.

"After scrutineering, all 240 bike competitors plus car and truck competitors joined a celebratory parade around the streets of Buenos Aires, where there were around 5000 people cheering us on. I've never seen so many people get behind Dakar it was very rewarding.
 
"I was ready as I was ever going to be to compete in 14 stages, with 4.30am starts and riding of up to eight hours per day.  The first three days were very similar to the Australian conditions with gum trees alround, very similar to country NSW.  A lot of competitors were having trouble with tyres off the start, but mine handled well and by day three I was holding a comfortable 12th position.

"Days four, five and six started to get more technical, where we were riding up and over mountains, which required a lot more skill with navigation.

"Day five was the first day of the big sand dunes and heaps of people got stuck out there, having to camp the night from exhaustion and not being able to pull their bikes out.  Those who had to camp out were seriously roughing it - there were no tent, food or washing facilities; just the cold nights and sand to comfort you. Thankfully, that wasn't me, and I rode home before the sunset and started working on maps for the next day.

"Day six saw a delayed start due to hold ups with the trucks and bikes the day before, so we didn't set off until around 10.00am, meaning we had less daylight to get across the dunes, and then into the Andes which had a lot of river crossings.  In general the KTM 690 Rallye handled the dunes and the river crossings with ease, but there was one river crossing that I wasn't going to gamble. I got off the bike and walked it through, passing other competitors stuck in the river trying to pull their bikes out. Given everyone around me was struggling I wanted to play it safe.

"Day seven was a really long day of 816km. We had a rocky section with a lot of dunes towards the end of the stage, and they were bigger than the ones in Africa.  Although the dunes are not my strong point, I rode through them with no major problems, I did get bogged a couple of times but everyone had their turn at getting bogged.

"The next day was a rest day in Chile, which I was really looking forward to since we had just ridden 4900km. That's the total length of the Australian Safari and we still had a week to go. I was feeling fit and well and very pleased that I had no injuries. I was sitting in the top 20 around 17th, and I used the rest day to again work on my maps for the next stage.

"Things started to shake up for me during stage nine, where a crazy accident could have ended my race. This stage was a very fast stage again on sand, where riders were following two wheel tracks that got way out of shape once several riders had passed through.

"I lost control with my wheel bouncing off one of the tracks, which saw me cleanly jump off the bike -- thankfully with no injury, but my bike kept going and wedged itself in a tree. I looked up thinking how in the hell am I going to get this bike out of the tree, and then to the corner of my eye I noticed a young Spanish-speaking boy on a horse watching me. He got off the horse walked over and together without any clear understanding of what each other were saying managed to form a strong enough force to pull the bike out. Thankfully for this boy my entry in Dakar continued.

"Stage 10 was the longest and most difficult day of the whole rally; the special was 670km and the last 200 of that were huge dunes, the biggest and toughest of the whole race.

"A lot of guys spent the night out bogged in the dunes, and the bike field dropped back to 115 from an original 240 odd starts. I had no real hick-ups other than supposedly missing a way point on the GPS, which is now seeing my final position of 20th pushed back to 36th due to a four-hour penalty I'm still protesting.

"This all came about due to some map changes the night before. The maps took us away from where the GPS was sending us to go. I chose to follow Janiel Devilliers from South Africa, who ended up winning the car section of Dakar. At the end of the stage, officials told me I had missed a checkpoint, but I was following Devillers whose GPS picked up the way point, so my question to the officials was how could I miss a check point if I was following Devilliers' whose GPS picked it up.

"After much arguing and carrying on, I had officials on the GPS all sign a form and back me up, and Devilliers backed me up as well.

"The next day the stage was cancelled due to heavy fog reducing vision for the helicopters to take-off, so we ended up taking a cruising ride over the mountains, which saw us reach heights of 4700m. Temperatures changed that day from minus five on one side of the mountains to above 40 on the other side, and the scenery was spectacular.  This was also a marathon day, which means we had no support that night when we came in we were on our own.
 
"Back into racing, stage 11 was short at only 238km, but it was toughest of the rally by far because I had to ride in second and third gear all day, due to the steep hills. The terrain was very similar to the Australian Four Day Enduro which is usually best suited to 300kg rally bikes.

"Word got to me at the end of this day, that organisers decided that my penalty from stage 10 would remain, which meant I was no longer holding 19th position: I was back in 45th spot. I paid $US160 to submit a protest and had to then take it out of my mind, and not to let this bring me down. I just had to concentrate on the race ahead of me.

 "Stage 12 was the last of the dunes and these were nowhere near as hard as previous stages. My times were still in the top 20-25, and overall I was still around 40th -- but in my mind I was still in the top 20.

"The last two stages 13-14 were very similar to Australian terrain. We competed over 454lm on two-wheel tracks and back roads.

"At the end of stage 13, I came in and my crew were very quite. I didn't think much of it and went about my business of getting my maps ready, until one of them approached me with some bad news.  Officials had decided my penalty was not going to come off and they rejected my protest. They had all gone back on their own signatures on the form agreeing that I had not missed the checkpoint.

"I still had one stage to complete, and I was determined to ride home safe, and make up as much ground as possible with a view to appeal once I crossed the finish line.

"The final stage was a ride in the park compared to the rest of Dakar, but I couldn't get the penalty out of my mind. I crossed the finish line in 20th in my mind, but due to the four-hour penalty officials recorded my final position as 36th.
"I still have motor vehicle winner Janiel Devilliers backing me; he never went back on his word. but GPS officials still won't budge. I have now sent in an appeal to the officials, but I don't expect to hear back any day soon.

"Overall I really enjoyed the Dakar and congratulate motorcycle winner and fellow KTM rider Marc Coma on his win. Marc told me during stage five that I was riding at top speed and he was having trouble keeping up with me, which was a huge compliment coming from a multi-time Dakar winner."