Broadlink KTM’s Riaan van Niekerk and Darryl Curtis have just returned from Swakopmund in Namibia, where they spent a week in the dunes fine tuning navigation skills and techniques in the sand, there is simply no better training than time in the saddle. The same Dakar spec ERTF GPS technology was used to plan and plot courses through the dunes, where Riaan had to follow the cap heading and collect hidden waypoints.

This will be Van Niekerk’s second Dakar and it will take a lot to equal his debut Dakar and his outstanding 13th overall, Riaan also won the rookie class and the Elf Trophy. This great result is still not enough to earn him an Elite entry from the ASO (yellow number plate), which means an instant advantage in the starting order, he starts in 30th position behind the elites. If he gets lost in the race, he won’t get an instant pass to the front of the queue the next morning. He will have to work hard to maintain focus and become the “desert fox”. His navigation skills are really good, although he lacks the experience of his team mates, he certainly has learnt a lot from them, especially after training with Marc Coma in Spain and finishing 12th overall in the rally of Maroc just a few weeks ago.

Darryl Curtis has still not recovered fully from his crash at the 2013 Dakar, he broke his back and tore muscles in his shoulder in Chile on stage 12 of the race. Darryl will take up the role of Team manager of the Broadlink KTM team, streaming information and images to the media at home. He will also have a role to play with the marketing of the KTM Factory team, who will be looking after Riaan once again. The KTM factory team is made up of Marc Coma, Ruben Faria and Francisco Lopez. Kuba Pryzgonski, Riaan van Niekerk and Ben Grabham will fill the 6 man squad.

Sadly, the young hopeful, Kurt Caselli will leave a hole in the team after tragically passing away at the Baja in Mexico. The team will for sure be riding for Kurt. The team leave Oliver Tambo for Buenos Aires on the 29th December, where they will collect all their equipment and the bikes before heading off to the 5th of January start in Rozario, Argentina. The 2014 Dakar promises to be exciting with a twist for the bikers, who separate from the cars on a Bolivian leg and a technical marathon stage that will bring some action for sure. Riaan’s progress can be followed at www.broadlinkktmrally.com please send messages on the site.

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To all our die hard Dakar fans

Please see attached our new 2014 edition Dakar T’s. We have opted for a better quality T, with better printing than last year. Shirts arrive tomorrow.

So please get your orders in with Chrizelda at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on 011 462 -5520

Thanks again, we really appreciate seeing you all out there !!

Regards,

Time for some fun...

Darryl Curtis and Riaan van Niekerk, briefly traded their two wheel Dakar machines in for four wheels, when they were invited by Regent racing and Polaris to race the Donaldson Westonaria 400 cross country car race, the last round of the National championships and grabbed it with both hands. 

The side by side category is an experimental class that runs behind the National categories and has been formulated as a less expensive form of racing and a stepping stone and introduction into the mainstream off road cars. Two manufacturers have been approved, namely Polaris and Can Am, who have both appointed partners to get the cars to comply with the cross country regulations. They need to be fitted with special roll bars, 5 point safety harnesses, GPS, Trip meters, safety nets, intercoms, parker pump and a few other bits and pieces. Six of these machines were entered at Westonaria and there are around twenty cars on order between the manufacturers, which means that the class will be highly competitive in the second quarter of next season. The class has already attracted the attention of national quad champ Leander Pienaar racing for Can Am and Brian Capper racing the Polaris for Regent racing. Don’t be fooled by their size or top speed of 115 Km/h, these little machines get there fast with their 4 wheel drive and eat rough terrain for breakfast.

Prologue:
The 55 Km did not go exactly to plan when some over enthusiastic driving from Curtis over the rough terrain soon resulted in a flat front tyre and a few damaged arms, whilst the pair were trying to figure out just exactly what size boulder was clearable or not. During the tyre change when the cars engine was off, the latent heat build up in the engine department caused “heat soak” and resulted in the engine temperature reaching 130 degrees and going into limp mode. Some 20 odd minutes later, the pair were back on the road again, remarkably still in third as there were a few other cowboys out there as well.

Raceday:
The main race, consisted of half the National fields race distance, 156 Km’s with Brian Capper, the prologue winner off first followed by Leander Pienaar in the Can Am who had suffered brake problems the day before. Curtis and Van Niekerk soon found their feet, passing Leander who still had brake issues, reeling Capper in setting the quickest time of the day. Congratulations to Brian Capper for taking the overall win ahead of Curtis and Van Niekerk.

Judging from the fun had by all and the new cars arriving in January, this class is definately going to grow into something big, but right now, we turn our focus back to Dakar and the Broadlink Rally team’s training in Namibia next week...