The Red Bulletin June 2020 (US)

Rally driver, 46, FRA.
46 47
Despres won the Dakar Rally five times
on a motorbike, then switched to cars.
He has known Mike Horn for 12 years.
Cyril
Despres
Adventurer, 53, RSA.
The world-famous Horn has been around
the globe dozens of times, but until this
year he’d never done the Dakar Rally.
Mike
Horn
Last October Horn was cutting
across the ice in the Arctic (left)
when he agreed by text to join
Despres in the Dakar Rally.
The Art of Getting
Back on Your Feet
After barely escaping a tough Arctic trip,
Mike Horn jumped into the Dakar Rally.
Cyril Despres tells a story of resilience.
“It’s the end of October 2019, and I don’t have a codriver
for the Dakar Rally. Immediately, I think to
myself that Mike is the only person who could do
this on the spur of the moment. When I manage
to get through to him in early December, he’s in a
tough spot, backing up and cutting across the ice
on an expedition to the Arctic [from which he was
subsequently rescued]. But he says yes there and
then. The idea of the desert really motivates him,
because he always wants to learn new things.
“I pick him up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at 6 a.m.
on January 3. By 11 a.m., he’s on my right in the
buggy where we’ll be spending 12 hours a day in just
two days’ time. Physically, Mike has just been through
one of his toughest-ever expeditions. He still hasn’t
recovered, or seen the sun in four months. He’s very
thin and covered in blisters. Despite his exhaustion,
he sleeps under the stars in zero temperatures, and
takes in two months’ worth of data in 48 hours. In
the car, his energy makes me excel and go faster.
“When we’re forced to retire from Dakar 2020 to
give our engine to the Red Bull Motorsports team,
he reacts quickly and positively. I remember a very
emotional moment when one of the young drivers
who’d given up hope of finishing in a good position
was almost in tears. Mike told him that the most
important thing was how quickly he got back on his
feet. He always has incisive things to say, and when
he sensed the team was tired he made a speech: “If
we hang on for two more minutes and make one
mistake fewer, we’ll be stronger.” There’s one thing
I’ll take away from this Dakar Rally spent by his
side: Mike isn’t a superman; he’s superhuman.”
Instagram: @cyril_despres; @mikehornexplorer
SEBASTIAN DEVENISH, FLAVIEN DUHAMEL/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, PHILIPPE JACOB/RED BULL MEDIA HOUSE
PATRICIA OUDIT
64 THE RED BULLETIN