MOTOREX Magazine 2023 126 EN

MOTOREX MAGAZINE 22
Stefan Huber, (Rally Team Technical Director), with KTM since 2000
“The KTM rally team comprises some
40 people. We see Dakar as the most
important rally of all. We just give it
everything we've got.”
Also protects against
desert sand:
CHAINLUBE ADVENTURE
chain spray.
MOTOREX MAGAZINE 23
Even with a high degree of automation,
deft hands are always in demand.
Designed to perform: the fully synthetic MOTOREX
CROSS POWER 2T for high-revving 2-stroke engines.
A PEEK BEHIND
THE SCENES AT KTM
motorex.com/20-years-ktm
INSIDE
KTM
KTM's powerful and sturdy one-cylinder
engines are legendary.
2003
Richard Sainct wins the
first Dakar Rally for and
with MOTOREX in
January 2003.
Two decades ago, the two companies agreed that neither
was willing to settle for second place. There could be no
better foundation for building something great together.
But a damn-the-torpedoes approach seldom ends well in
motorcycle racing. The only way to achieve ambitious goals
is through a long-term strategic approach.
Triumphal start: Dakar Rally 2003
No other race in the world can look back at such an extraordinary
history as the Dakar Rally. Its past is filled with spectacular
stories from the world's most remote regions. Fabrizio Meoni's
first win in 2001 was the fulfillment of a vision for KTM. Likewise,
the launch of the MOTOREX × KTM partnership in 2003
could not have been more successful. The triple victory of
Richard Sainct, Cyril Despres, and Fabrizio Meoni provided
incontrovertible proof of KTM's dominance in the world's
most grueling rally. To date KTM has collected a total of 19
Dakar triumphs, 17 of them with MOTOREX. This year Kevin
Benavides and Toby Price scored a double coup to win the
45th Dakar in Saudi Arabia. At the end of the last of 14 stages
of a race lasting 44 hours, the two KTM riders found themselves
in first and second place, just 12 seconds apart!
2023
A modern approach
to safety includes
navigation devices and
a tracking system