Preview: 2014 Dakar Rally

Ben Grabham will be the standout Australian competing in the 2014 Dakar Rally, which will take riders through Bolivia (for the first time), Argentina and Chile from January 5-18.

Grabham finished 15th in this year’s event in January, just eight months after a breaking his back in the Condo 750 race in April. That attempt was something of a reconnaissance mission – learn the ropes, stay straight and safe and log a decent finish.

This time, with the benefit of a training camp with three-time champion Marc Coma and a final stage win in the Moroccan Rally behind him, Grabham’s intentions are much more outcome oriented.

“It’s been a lot more relaxed heading into my second Dakar having a bit more of an understanding of what’s ahead, not like last time when I was trying to prepare for anything,” Grabham said. “Last time I felt pretty fresh body-wise at the end; I was just mentally fatiguing from the concentration and the navigation. This time I’ll push on a bit more physically and hope that what I’ve learned about the navigation makes it easier mentally.

“This route will start in Argentina which I’m looking forward to. I enjoyed it last year and found it very similar to Australian conditions, but it’s important to be up the front so as not to lose time in the dust.

“My bike should be a good one. Since I won the Morocco stage I’ve been told I’ll have a good bike but I’ll find out how good when I get there. I’ve definitely got a better feeling for the Rally bike than I had this time last year because I’ve had one in the shed these past few months. I know now what it can and can’t do now so my feel is pretty good.”

Coma sat out the 2013 Dakar Rally with injury, but he’s back in 2014 to try and make it four wins on his factory KTM. His teammates will be Jordi Viladoms, Portugal’s Ruben Faria and Chile’s Francisco ‘Chaleco’ Lopez. Faria and Lopez were second and third in the 2013 Dakar behind then factory teammate Cyril Despres, while Viladoms – fourth in 2012 – has been drafted into the team at the last minute after the tragic passing of previous incumbent Kurt Caselli in the recent Baja 1000 desert race in Mexico.

KTM has won the Dakar every year since its breakthrough victory in 2001, except for 2008 when it was cancelled at the last minute because of security issues in northern Africa.

Despres (pictured), the defending champion and five-time Dakar winner – a record only bettered by fellow Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel – has now switched camps from KTM to Yamaha, and says the 2014 event is going to be tough, particularly with the new marathon stages.

“That means no outside mechanical assistance at the bivouac and so on those days you try and protect the bike as much as possible,” said Despres. “And the bike-only marathon stages mean the organisers can take you places where the cars can’t go, so you know the riding will be more technical and usually more physically demanding. The extra 1000km speaks for itself!”

The two marathon stages in the 2014 Dakar Rally will represent 2702km (1228km between San Rafael and Chilecito plus 1474km between Salta and Calama), including a special stage of 1590km (726km and 864km).

The new frontier of Bolivia in the 35th running of the Dakar Rally will also keep riders guessing.

“On some of the other stages we have a pretty good idea of what to expect but for the Bolivian stages we have absolutely no idea and even if we wanted to go and have a look we couldn’t because all reconnaissance is banned,” continued Despres. “What we do know is that they will be very demanding. For a start some of it will be raced at 4000m and at those altitudes the air’s pretty thin.

“Then Bolivia is both ‘marathon’ and ‘bike only’, so doubly complicated. But demanding is fine by me. What attracted me to rallies in the first place were the challenges – and the harder it is the happier I am.”

Meanwhile, other Yamaha hopes include Olivier Pain and Frans Verhoeven.

Husqvarna and Honda are also represented by factory teams in the 2014 Dakar Rally, with Husqvarna’s firepower including Alessandro Botturi and Honda’s Paulo Goncalves, Joan Barreda, Helder Rodrigues and Briton Sam Sunderland. Rodrigues was third in the 2011 and 2012 Dakar Rallies, while Goncalves was the 2013 Cross-Country Rallies world champion, ahead of Coma.

Other marques represented in the 2014 field include Suzuki, Kawasaki, BMW, Gas Gas, Beta and Sherco.

The remaining Australian entrants are Shane Diener (Yamaha), Troy O’Connor (KTM), Mark Davidson (KTM), Clayton Jacobsen (KTM) and Allan Roberts (KTM). All but O’Connor are rookies.

Australia’s highest place finisher in the 2013 Dakar Rally, Rod Faggotter, will not be competing in 2014.

Meanwhile, the world’s finest moto trials rider, Laia Sanz, will be making her third appearance in the Dakar Rally, and has switched from Gas Gas to Honda for the occasion.

There won’t be an Aussie competitor in the Quad class, and in the Car division there will only be three: Gary Connell in a Polaris, and Peter Jerie/Glenn Watman in an Isuzu. Connell’s navigator will be Swedish women Annie Seel, who competed in the motorcycle division of the Australasian Safari a few times.

Peterhansel is also a four-time winner of the Dakar car division, and will be the defending champion in 2014 in his Mini Countryman.

The Dakar Rally will conclude at Valparaiso on January 18, 2014.

SBS will screen a Dakar Rally highlights package at 5.30pm each night, starting from January 6. For more information on the Dakar Rally, visit www.dakar.com/index_DAKus.html.