The 2015 Dakar is upon us…
While American entrants have always been few and far between
in the world’s most prestigious offroad race the ’15 edition is especially
lacking in riders and drivers flying the red, white, and blue. While Tony Gera was able to win a free entry
into the event via his 2014 SCORE Desert Racing performance, it is only SoCal
resident Antonio Narino who will be present on a bike from the US in this
year’s event (as rider #164).
Originally from Columbia, Narino moved to the United States
where he enrolled at Duke University to study business, a background that would
result in his employment with Hunter Industries (a major irrigation company). Like many in our world though, Narino had his
priorities “straight” and one of the first things he bought upon arriving in
America was a motorcycle in order to continue the passion he had picked up
racing numerous enduros in his home country.
This passion (Narino says he has never considered himself a
real racer) lead him to build up his Rally-Raid and ADV resume over the past
decade. His travels (many solo) included
two wheeled trips through Cambodia, Patagonia, Bolivia and Alaska. On the racing side Narino ran in events such
as the ’07 Por Las Pampas Rally, ’10 Rally dos Sertoes, and the ’07 Baja 500
and Vegas to Reno races as well as recent NORRA Mexican 1000 events and ’14
Baja Rally. With this history as well as
various desert training sessions including a visit to Morocco this past year
and trips in both ’09 and ’12 to follow along with the traveling circus that is
the Dakar, Narino is taking his first shot at entering the pinnacle of offroad
racing this year.
While Antonio’s “nothing worth doing is ever easy” attitude
is a major asset, as is his long term mountain biking and weight training
regimen, he is participating in the ’15 Dakar as a Marathon/Malle-Moto entry. This “pure” type of class allows no engine
changes during the event (per Antonio the ASO reserves 20 spots per year for
the Malle-Moto entrants for which you have to apply and be accepted into) and
requires an individual to perform all their own maintenance and service—no
crew, no mechanic, no assistance of any kind (not even to cook your food). For the “privilege” of running this class the
ASO provides you a “trunk” in which you have to store all your gear, spares,
tools and equipment and will transport it to each bivouac. In order to maintain absolute focus on the
task at hand, Antonio has left all family and friends at home so as to
eliminate any distractions. Having seen
racers at prior events bring their wives along and watched the drain on
attention that this can bring, he felt his focus needed to be maintained on the
race.
As of this writing, Antonio will have already arrived in
Buenos Aires and unloaded his bike and be proceeding through scrutineering
where each of the never ending checks administered by the ASO will be finished
with a stamp, he has already completed a dream.
Just arriving at the start is a major accomplishment for any racer while
an actual finish in the event is near unthinkable.
Having met and picked the brains of fellow American riders
such as Andy Grider, Jonah Street, Kurt Caselli and Kellon Walch, Antonio
believes he has picked up a few strategies that may get him to the finish. In seeing the heights that the course reaches
one might think that power loss might become an issue though Antonio has seen
that the fuel injected nature of his bike largely mitigates that concern. Communication issues can also present a
problem with the ASO speaking all French, the spectators and many entrants
speaking Spanish and practically everyone else attempting to get by on
butchered English. Fortunately Antonio
speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese easing his communication with nearly
everyone present. Navigation should also
be something Antonio has buttoned up having participated in and conducted
training with Dave Peckham and Rally Management Services for a number of Dakar
competitors who sought to perfect their navigation arts.
The real key to his success Antonio believes is to just keep
moving. Keeping up a minimum pace
despite everything the Dakar will throw at him he knows will be a brutal
proposition. Breakdowns and errors are
bound to happen, its dealing with them in an efficient manner that will keep
him in the event.
Hopefully keeping the repairs to a minimum will be a
combination of both Narino’s skills and the quality inherent in his chosen
bike. The 2013 Husqvarna 449 he will be
riding will not be his own. While he has
been a long time rider of Husqvarnas, the logistics, expense and hassle of
shipping and prepping his own bike from SoCal was actually more of a pain than
his alternative plan. Buying a fully
Dakar prepped (Sentinal system with light and noise notification, navigation
tower, etc.), yet very light and nimble (comparatively) Husqvarna 449 in
Portugal and having it shipped to Buenos Aires along with the vast majority of
other Dakar racers drastically simplified the process.
While most of us won’t be part of the millions following the
2015 Dakar in person, Antonio should be able to bring back some his
experiences, lessons, tips, and stories for release either here or another
publication TBD.
