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OFF-ROAD
I
Augu st 22-26 , 2004
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Red Bull KTM USA Dakar Rider Search
a ar r OU
Dumont Dunes OHV
Area was the ideal
testing grounds for th is
year's Dakar rally.
o wonts to be a rally
racer? How 'bout you? If
so, s tep right up, kid,
becaus e we 've got a
deal for you. Come on
out to our lillie rolly-team tryout. ride our
bikes and see how well you do. We 'll even
provide the food and lodging, plus a quickie
course in GPS navigation and deciphering
rood books.
But you'llhave to deal with learning how
W
26
to navigating while riding at speed overunfamiliar terrain on a bike carrying almost seven
gallons offue/. Oh, you'llalso have to bring a
sleepingbag because you'll also be living in a
lillie tent that you put up yourself. And don't
count on gelling much sleep because besides
keeping you busy for about 18 hours a day,
we'll also try to add to the sleep deprivation
by running genera tors, ANs and other noise
makers, so as to duplicate the atmosphere of
a real Dakar bivouac at night.
OOOBER 6, 2004 • CYCl.E NEWS
If the re's truth in advertising, that's the
sort of invitation KTM sent out to 16
potential Dakar Rally candidates earl ier
this year. Of those, half a dozen responded that, yes, they'd like to see how they
stacked up. And so Kenny Bartram, Chris
Blais, Andy Grider, Casey McCoy, Jonah
Street and KellonWalch gathered on a dry
lake at Primm, Nevada , in the middle of
summer for a shot at being one of three
riders chosen for a three-year American
40th Anniversary
assault on the most famous rally in the
worl d, starting with the 2005 edition ,
"Red Bull and KTM are trying to build a
three-year team, not expecting to win right
away," judge Malcolm Smith exp lained.
"We have to have some guys that can navigate and are fast and th ink quick."
Other judges included team co-manager
Joe Barke r; KTM 's Scot Harden, wh o will
also be the team manager as well as a
rider in 'OS ; Danny laPorte; and Jimmy
