Hi everyone
I will be doing a series of posts about things like the bike, kit, support options etc.
First one will be the support options you have in the Dakar
The options riders have is either malle moto or being a supported rider. A supported rider is as the name implies someone that have a support team. There is quite a few companies that can provide these services and it may be a difficult decision to make. Of the South African privateers in recent years have opted for BAS trucking / Van de Velde motoren. They are based in the Nethrlands and have a very good track record. Superman, Joey Evans and Walter Terblanche used the the last 2 years, and all of them had only positive things to say. This made my decision very easy and I booked a place on the team early in the year.
Support packages is quite expensive, especially in ZAR terms, but it increases your chances of success dramatically. They sort everything, from entries, acommodation, bike hire, spares, wheels and tyres, mechanics etc. you only have to ride the bike, eat and mark your road book.
As mentioned before the other option is to go Malle moto. This is MUCH cheaper, about 50%, but your chances of success is also much smaller.
Being a Malle moto rider means you have to do all the maintenance on your bike yourself, and all your spares tools kit etc have to fit in one steel box supplied by ASO and a kit bag. These guys usually have longer days on the bikes as they have to be careful of damaging things that then have to be repaired by themselves. Longer days means less time to do maintenance and even less time eating and sleaping. Guys finishing the Dakar in the Mallo moto catagorie is a special type of tough!
I bravely decided to be a supported rider, as this might be the only chance I have of doing a Dakar. I would rather have the extra costs and stack the odds in my favour.
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Topic: Willem du Toit Dakar 2018 (Read 19311 times)
