VOL. 50 ISSUE 9 MARCH 5, 2013 P67
BY ROGER PATTISON
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATTISON AND
KTM/IMAGES
A
s a North American motorcycling enthusiast traveling
in Peru at the time of the
Dakar Rally, naturally I was doing everything possible to keep
up with the daily results by USA
contenders, Honda���s Johnny
Campbell and surprise lastminute participant Kurt Caselli,
who was filling in for the injured
Marc Coma on the Red Bull KTM
team. Campbell rode a very consistent race to end up a respectable 40th place overall in spite of
an injury, and while clearly experiencing a steep learning curve
during his first try at one of the
most legendary off-road events
in the world, Caselli placed an
impressive 31st, recording two
stage wins in the process.
While attending the podium
ceremony in Santiago, where the
president of Chile was presenting
the awards, I caught up with twotime AMA Hare & Hound Champion and now Dakar finisher and
chatted with him a bit about his
Dakar experience.
So, how and when did all
this come about, you riding
Dakar?
It was like a week and a half
before the race actually started,
my boss called me, and he got a
phone call from Europe asking if
I would want to do it, and so, of
course, I said, ���yeah,��� right away,
���of course, no problem.��� It was
late notice, but I was like, ���Yeah
I���ll be there,��� and then I hung up
