Since Kurt Caselli died at this year’s Baja 1000, there’s been a slot open on KTM’s Dakar team. Now, they’ve announced Jordi Viladoms will be racing for them at the desert classic in 2014.
Viladoms is no newcomer to Dakar; he’s been competing at the race for years, and even raced for the KTM factory team before, from 2006 to 2010. In 2012, he had his best-ever finish, at fourth-place overall.
“It’s obviously a shame to be inheriting the ride under such sad circumstances, but I’ll be doing my best to put on a good show in Kurt’s memory,” said Viladoms.
Marc Coma returns for KTM this year, and Ruben Faria and Franisco “Chaleco” Lopez are also racing for the factory team.
The 2014 Dakar rally starts Jan. 5, and will cut through Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.
Sportsnet looks like it’ll be running Dakar 2014 coverage at various times daily. Yay. At least this year we’ll be able to follow the best ‘reality’ television available.
As long as you can find it between all that compelling (ugh) darts, soccer, hockey, poker and UFC coverage that dominates their schedule.