KTM gets ready for the Dakar

[advrider]

KTM’s issued its annual “Hey, it’s Time for Dakar” press release, and we’re getting a look at a factory squad that looks a bit different from the team that raced Dakar at the start of 2021.

The 2022 race team consists of Toby Price, Matthias Walkner and Kevin Benavides. Going into ’21, Price would have probably been the favorite, due to his extra-terrestrial race skills. Now, we go into the ’22 race with Walkner the reigning king of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies championship, and Benavides the reigning Dakar champ (Benavides came to KTM last winter, after winning the January race for Honda). He’s a bit banged up going into Dakar this time, though, so he might face a tough battle from another competitor that’s not recovering from injury.

Price, meanwhile, hasn’t done much racing this past year since Dakar, as he required three surgeries and has been trying to heal up. Remember, Price has had some mega crashes to go with his mad speed, even before he raced at Dakar. He ran the five-day Morocco Rally, but only finished 13th overall. For years, there have been rumors that Price was on the brink of quitting racing motorcycles due to his ever-increasing total of broken bones. With Laia Sanz leaving the Gas Gas Dakar team to go race cars at Dakar this coming year, maybe Price will see some inspiration there?

Speaking of Gas Gas: With Sanz gone, KTM’s moved Sam Sunderland over there for the 2021 Dakar, mentoring Daniel Sanders. Sanders acquitted himself well at Morocco, finishing third overall, but maybe KTM thought he needed some guidance through the longer Dakar. Or maybe the team management just got tired of running such a massive organization, and decided to farm out some riders to other parts of the KTM empire (remember, KTM, Gas Gas and Husqvarna are all basically the same bikes now).

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