Ktm

Title holder under pressure

2012 MX3 motocross world champion, Matthias Walkner switched to rally-raid on the advice of compatriot and mentor Heinz Kinigadner. He won his first rally in Greece in 2014 and went on to take the world title in 2015, beating Sam Sunderland and beneftting from Marc Coma's mid-season retirement. Winning the 2018 Dakar after finishing second the year before, ‘Hiasi’ became the first Austrian to triumph on the Dakar, and in the process became an instant legend for the Mattighofen-based brand, achieving the goal ‘Kini’ had set himself but failed to achieve. In 2021 the Austrian won his second FIM Cross-Country Rally World Championship title after two consecutive seasons in third place. Consistent and fast throughout the 2021 he was second in Kazakhstan and Morocco and first on the Silkway Rally and the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. At 35 years of age, he took third place on the 2022 Dakar - his fourth podium in eight participations.
At the second round, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which he won the previous winter, the 2021 world champion finished in fifth place overall. This was enough to keep his third place in the W2RC provisional standings with a total of 35 points, but not enough to counter the comeback of Ricky Brabec. The American, second in the UAE dunes, moved up from seventh to fourth in the W2RC provisional standings, just one point behind the KTM factory rider, who is now under pressure.