How David Knight’s challenging virgin Dakar saw him seize a top result from the jaws of disaster… Tough road to Dakar
Off-road legend David Knight MBE has been there, done that, got the T-shirt. In a career that has spanned over three decades, he’s enjoyed periods of utter dominance – the sort of success that puts him on a par with Marquez. Five World Enduro titles only tell part of the story, because he’s also ruled the roost in Hard Enduro and Super Enduro, so when at the age off 42 he announced he was going to Dakar, the world of motorcycling stopped to take notice.
While no-one doubted his ability, Dakar remains the most challenging race in the world, fraught with danger and the risk of injury. There was genuine concern that a man like Knighter, so accustomed to winning, would push too hard, crash out and get hurt. But it didn’t take long for the focus to steer away from the danger and on to the prospect of what one of the UK’s greatest talents could do in the world’s hardest race. Appetite to see Knighter at Dakar gained momentum from the off, but when his title sponsor pulled out four months before the start, we got to see just how much the fans wanted to see his Dakar dream come to fruition. With a £75k hole in his budget a friend suggested he set up a crowd funding page and the response was both unprecedented and overwhelming.
“People always seem interested in what I do, but the whole Dakar thing was another level,” Knight told MCN. “I think the Gofund me thing captured the imagination. I believe in fate and I actually think the way I got to Dakar with my main sponsor pulling out was a good thing!” While the interest it generated was impressive it also brought a pressure and focus he’d never had to deal with as a fully sponsored or factorybacked competitor.
“It was hard for me mentally because if a sponsor pays for it all you go there and have a go and if you don’t finish, then you don’t finish. But with so many people putting money in from a fiver to a grand, it was hard because I knew I couldn’t mess up. I had to get to the finish.”
The hardest part of Dakar
They say the hardest part of racing Dakar is getting to the start line due to the training, fund raising, preparation and life sacrifices, but in Knight’s case it was even more literal starting with being able to physically leave the Isle of Man. Cancelled ferries, being denied entry into the Czech Republic en route and sleeping in airports were all part of his adventure, but he eventually made it to Saudi and into isolation. Countless Covid tests later and he’d arrived.
How big?
Despite having travelled the world racing in World Enduro, nothing
‘The way my sponsor pulled out was actually a good thing’
‘We hit the sand dunes and they were soft like snow’
could prepare Knighter for the sights and sounds of his first Dakar rally experience.
“I always knew it was a big event, but it was a shock just how huge it was. I didn’t appreciate that until I was actually there. The size of the bivouac and the amount of different nationalities took me back a bit.”
And being such a big name, Knight knew a lot of people in the paddock with luminaries including one of Knight’s former teammates Mr Dakar himself, Stephane Peterhansel (14-time Dakar winner – six bike, eight car) offering tips and advice.
“I had so many good people, people that had won Dakar make a point of telling me how I had to be slow in the dunes because I’d never ridden them. At the time I thought they were being a bit over the top, but they were right because I didn’t know how to read the terrain. On day two we hit the dunes and they were so soft like snow and with big drop-offs. In a couple of minutes I’d flat landed off two 20ft drops and that made me slow down.”
Finding his feet
Despite an innocuous slow-speed crash on stage two which saw Knight break two ribs, he began to show his true pace while always tempering his unquestionable speed in favour of accurate navigation and staying safe.
“It was frustrating at times, especially in the rocky sections where I knew I could go so much faster. I like the technical parts but there was a hell of a lot of flat-out stuff. I like fast stuff as well, but there are so many what I call ‘bullet men’ who just take their brain out, they can hardly ride a bike and you wonder how they haven’t killed themselves. But then later on in the stage you see them lying on the floor with the medical helicopter next to them with the jump leads on trying to revive them!”
Fastest of all
Having only competed in one rally prior to racing Dakar, Knight quickly learnt the importance of accurate navigation in what was regarded by veterans as one of the most technical runnings of the event to date.
“I realised I could just follow the tracks, but within a few minutes I had no idea where I was so I made a real point of making sure I was always on the roadbook. The navigation side is so important and over the course of the race I learnt to have faith to follow the roadbook, trust myself and go at my own pace.
“There was one day where it was sandy, fast, up and down and that was my favourite part of the race. I was with another guy and were just pinned for 90 minutes… absolutely brilliant.
“But the stages I didn’t like were the really fast, open ones where there were hidden rocks and rolling hills. Those days I just played it safe which was hard, especially if you were stuck behind someone in the dust. I found myself shouting at myself to keep my head and not take stupid risks.
“On the penultimate stage I rode for about 400km completely on my own, just got into a nice rhythm and ended up setting the fastest split times of anyone.”
I’d love to do it again, but….
With the dust now settled on the 2021 race where he finished 24th overall with a best stage result of 19th, the question on everyone’s lips is ‘will he do it again?’
“I’d love to, but I don’t think I’d want to do it as a factory rider. The pressure on those guys and the risks are massive. If you’re 25, maybe 30-years-old it would be different, but every one of the top 12 riders have had big injuries in their careers and you can see why when you actually race it.
“I’d be keen to ride for a manufacturer and be a support rider, carry spare parts and be a top 15, top 20 guy and if you can help one of the top guys with say a spare clutch – do that and crack on. “That would give more satisfaction at this stage of my career rather than going out and saying I’m going to finish in the top 10. Yes, I might be able to get a top 10 stage when it was rocky, but to do that every day is different. “There was one day where I hated every second. It was really fast with rocks hidden under the sand. Not one person I spoke to enjoyed it, it was so dangerous, and it didn’t matter if you were fast or slow because you’re still doing 50 or 60mph rather than 70 to 80mph. It’s still going to hurt when you crash. It was a day to get through and a day to survive, but if you’re a factory rider you have to push on and that was one day I was thankful I wasn’t one of them. “It’s like racing the TT in the damp, with no experience where it’s going to be wet – you’d hate it. The top riders will have to push on regardless, but if you’re Joe Bloggs in 15th, you can think ‘f*** that’ and slow down!”