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Dakar Rally
The second stage of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia cost Matthias Walkner a lot of time and nerves on Monday. A problem with the clutch slowed down the KTM rider in the first kilometers of the Bischa to Wadi al-Dawasir stage. It took him more than two hours to continue. “Inexplicable to all of us, but if you don’t want to be, you don’t want to be,” said Walkner, who had to bury his chances for a higher job.
The 2018 Dakar winner was only back on track after about two and a half hours. Meanwhile, his competitors were clearly up and out. The stage went to the Spanish Joan Barreda, who celebrated his victory on Matchday 25, catching up with his compatriot and five-time winner Marc Coma. The Honda Barreda rider also took the lead in the overall standings.
Walkner went from position 95 to 69, but the realistic chances of the desired podium position are 2:26 hours behind Barreda. “Extremely disappointed,” the 34-year-old from Kuchl described his point of view afterwards: “It sucks big shit, but I can’t change it.”
Clutchless Challenge
After about 45 of 685 kilometers, despite several attempts, he failed to cross “extremely soft sand hills” with his bicycle and remained stuck. Then I quickly expected gearbox or clutch damage. “Then I called the mechanics, took everything apart and tried to put all the small parts in my jacket. Because everything that falls on the sand is more or less undetectable, ”Walkner reported.
He then stopped several drivers until a competitor was finally able to help him with a clutch disc. Before that, “he almost burst into tears,” waiting alone, he said. Using zip ties and tools from the organizing team, Walkner reassembled the bike, but then continued riding without the clutch, “which is quite a challenge in the dunes or in the sand at times.” However, he accelerated and pushed past trucks and cars amid clouds of dust, some of which then passed him again.
He finally reached the finish line completely exhausted. Now he wants to try day after day to climb a little higher. “Now we have to see if that was maybe a bad batch of clutches,” explained Walkner. “I never blew a clutch in my life, and now after three dunes it’s more or less burned out.” The third stage covers 629 kilometers in a circuit around Wadi al-Dawasir, 403 kilometers of which are special. The pilots expect another difficult navigation and many dunes.
