Nicola Dutto at Eicma 2018 announces his return to the saddle, with KTM in the 2019 Dakar

EICMA 2018 confirms itself in the name of the great “emotions”: from motolive freestyle to the amazement among the various stands full of news and special guests up to the words of the various riders present in turn in the exhibitors ready for next season in the relevant categories. Among the latter Nicola Dutt the legendary paraplegic pilot, guest of KTM stand for an "on stage interview" with the public present on Friday.

Accompanied by 2 colleagues KTM on the circular mini stage, the motorcyclist Nicola Dutto makes his appearance aboard his orange "Racing wheelchair" signed Nick Dutto, who is acclaimed by many of his fans unfortunately affected by disabilities in the front row and by hundreds of curious and passionate people around the stage.

Below are the on stage declarations:

Nicola we are here but not everyone knows your story...: 

– My story very briefly… Eight years ago I had an accident during a motorcycle race, in my life I had been lucky and had the opportunity to turn my passion into a profession. On March 20, 2010 during the Espana Baja, I fell and the result was the wheelchair... 9 months in rehabilitation after breaking practically everything... I always thought of staying in the off-road world but I never thought of getting back on a motorbike, then once I returned to racing with the sidebyside I decided to try again with a bike set up for my problem... after a few races in 2012 racing against able-bodied people I took home a 24th place, I still don't know how...

So have you started running again?…

– Yes, the same type of bike I was using when I had the accident, equipped and I went back to racing, then there was the meeting with the KTM family thanks to Angelo and Paolo with the Scorpion Bay and from there it's like eating cake…

You got hungrier and hungrier and then?…

-I got back into shape and recovered by competing in all the races I took part in: the Baja World Cup, the 250, 500 and 1000, reaching mid-table...

Mid-table? 

-It's the beauty of endurance races... if you manage to stay away from dangers and keep a good pace, in the end you know... it's like in a marathon you manage to get to the final result well... it's clear that behind it there is fundamental training in everything and you can't afford to gain weight because it's kilos to carry around and then a lot of postural training to manage balance, because having no sensitivity from the 7th vertebra down the perception of balance changes and must be managed on the off-road motorbike.

The 2 fellow presenters on stage broadcast a summary video of Nick's training sessions and first trials on the big screen at the end of which there was applause and teary eyes from the enthusiasts.

In the video we read Dakar 2019.. but is Dakar 2019 a new KTM model?

-Well no, it's a race and I'll be at the start with my number... 143 on the motorbike... (applause from the entire audience)

The question everyone will ask now… in your condition… will you fall?

– It's already happened, we've already ridden a couple of times but we waited a few hours for friends to pick us up... but in Dakar everything is different... we decided to have 4 of us registered, 3 ghost-riders, 1 in front, me in the centre, 2 behind. My problem will be the dunes... and in this Dakar 2019 there will be 70% sand in the entire stage... but in this way we will be able to take a change in case of a fall... we have trained a lot in Morocco in the last 20 days to go in the face of these unexpected events... it's tough... but then you understand how you have to work and how to proceed...

Have you already participated in the main African rallies that are taking place now?

– Yes, Libya, Merzouga and the last Morocco… have you completed all the rallies? yessisi, the last one I finished 5th. do we never win Nicola? (an engaging laugh) well but I don't even think about it, the good thing now is that one has to deal with the stopwatch, for now I can manage to stay on a 350/400 km special in 1 hour, on the sand it will certainly increase to 1,30 hours but this it will allow me to arrive calmly at the end of the stages, without having to reach the limit and be eaten by the Dakar, arriving late you don't have time to rest and prepare for the next day...

Have there been other riders in your situation in the history of the Dakar?

– No, no one on the motorbike yet, it will be the first challenge in these conditions and there are no precedents and I understand the many doubts they had during the preparation, but in the previous races in which we participated they showed us that they can participate in the Dakar.

Will you have a strong team then?

– Yes, the whole team is made up of 1 people, the 4 of us who race, 3 mechanics, and 3 assistants…

Dakar which leaves?

– He will leave on January 6th from Lima in Peru and return to Lima on January 17th… the real stress starts here… in preparing all the bikes and spare parts without forgetting any parts. We will race with KTM 450 enduros with light rally kits and not with normal rallies which would be heavy to lift... so God bless us!

Target? 

– I don't even think about it, neither about the position nor about anything else, in my opinion it's right and better this way... it's nice to live in the moment but yes, the real main objective will be to finish the Dakar...

At the end of the meeting, greetings to the public and lots of selfies with his number one fans and music to accompany the moment. We in the editorial team also join in wishing us warm good luck in this undertaking that Nicola Dutto will accomplish in the 2019 Dakar.