Ktm

Aiming for a triple crown

The Americans took a while to show an interest in rally-raid. Jimmy Lewis blazed the trail and inspired the late Kurt Caselli who massively increased awareness of the Dakar among Stateside off-road fans. A stage winner on the 2013 Dakar as part of the factory KTM team, he was on the fast track to success before he died on the Baja 1000. Since then, we have seen ex-Supercross star Andrew Short arrive on the scene and of course Ricky Brabec, who became the first American to win the Dakar in 2020. Skyler Howes was next up. Best privateer in 2020, before signing with Husqvarna, he has played a crucial mentoring role to the latest American to set the world of rally-raid alight - Mason Klein. More computer geek than surfer dude in appearance, the 20-year-old Californian only made his rally-raid debut in 2020 on the Sonora Rally. Since then the rider from Long Beach has been breathing, eating and sleeping rally. Preparing road-books, playing Dakar on the Playstation, Mason is utterly committed to his new ‘career’. Winner of the Rallye du Maroc in Rally 2, he was both consistency and fast on his first Dakar and never more than 14th place overall. With a special stage podium as a highlight and a final ninth place overall, Mason finished sandwiched between previous winners Ricky Brabec and Toby Price! Winning Rally 2 by a comfortable margin he became the youngest best rookie in the history of the race. 
At the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, for the second round of the W2RC, the BAS World KTM Racing rider continued his faultless run. Like Sam Sunderland, he won the Dakar and the ADDC in quick succession in his category and the American now has 63 W2RC points in Rally 2. He is ahead of another rookie, Frenchman Romain Dumontier, who has 44 points heading into the season’s Spanish round. Mason can hope to win three W2RC awards this year: Rally 2, Best Rookie and Best Junior. A triple crown within his reach.