Cycle News

MOTOCROSSER-TURNED-RALLY-RACER ANDREW SHORT P54 Interview start. Tell us how this year's rally went for you. The lead-up to this year's Dakar was perfect. I continued along the same learning curve. I had a lot of success. I was fast in Abu Dhabi; had some bike problems. Then Silk Way I was second, but more importantly I led out my first stage after winning my first stage at a world championship race. I was able to keep Benavides and Van Beveren behind me for sec- ond place. Then the race after that was Morocco and that's the last big tune-up before Dakar. Everybody's there. They introduced the new style of the road book where they hand it to you right before, which really helped me because there was less cheating, in a sense. It's more just pure naviga- tion, more old-school. That's how I trained with Jimmy and Ricky and those guys. So, it really helped me. The build-up was perfect. [However], once I got to Dakar [in Saudi Arabia for 2020] it was like everything was going against me. That's rally rac- ing. There're so many elements to be able to compete for a win. It was just clear from the beginning it just wasn't right for me. I had some big crashes and some stuff happened with my bike that I was fighting on day two. That was during the super marathon, so there was no assistance. At that point, once I was that far back, it was clear that I wasn't going to be able to win. It's also clear, on that team and that program, that if you're not there to fight for the win, then you're there to help the team. That's something I agree with, so I I tried to do every- thing I could to help. It was crazy. I had some big crashes. I really tried to push and do everything so I wouldn't have any regrets on my end, know- ing that I rode to my fullest, and it just wasn't meant to be. It was cool to see Ricky have so much success, es- pecially for America. I think it's great for the sport for us here in North America, because worldwide it's so big. I don't think people here really understand how prestigious this race is. It was cool just to see it. After this year's Dakar, it came as a bit of a surprise to many that you signed with the Monster Yamaha team. How did that come about? It was a really cool opportunity for me that kind of came up after Dakar. It was cool for me because being at Dakar this year, typically there's not many Americans there. You're kind of an outcast. The presence in the pits in the bivouac is very much Europe- an-based. But this year, there was a lot of people there from the U.S. from Monster, especially. It was cool to see all the Monster guys there. I think once we got back from the race that kind of opened up an opportunity for me. It was really cool just for me to "IT WAS REALLY COOL JUST FOR ME TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH A COMPANY THAT HAS A HUGE PASSION FOR DAKAR. THAT'S WHAT I'M ALL ABOUT NOW. THIS RACE HAS KIND OF TAKEN OVER MY LIFE."

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