In Conversation With Matthias Walkner: “2018 Dakar Win Is My Biggest Achievement So Far”

Published: Thursday, September 17, 2026, 22:21 [IST]

The Dakar is the world's toughest rally-raid and those who conquer it are considered among the legends of motorsports. Matthias Walkner who was in Bengaluru this week for KTM's Adventure Rally Extreme is one such legend, who won the 2018 Dakar Rally in South America, becoming the first ever rider from Austria to conquer the toughest rally in the world.

Walkner's own Dakar journey has taken him from winning the motorcycle category in 2018 to a serious crash during testing in California in December 2023, followed by months of hospital treatment and rehabilitation. He has since returned to riding and is now preparing for a different challenge: a Dakar return on four wheels.

During his visit to India, we sat down with Walkner to discuss his Dakar-winning years with KTM, the differences between racing in the Dakar in Saudi Arabia and South America, his approach to training adventure riders, and his preparations for moving from two wheels to four at the Dakar.

DriveSpark: Hi Matthias, you've been in India for a little while now. How has your experience been so far?

Matthias Walkner: I've been here for five or six days now. I'm really enjoying my time here. The people are very friendly and respectful, and there is a lot of passion for motorsport, which is really cool.

The cities are huge for us. When I arrived in Mumbai, there were two and a half times more people living there than in my whole country. That's really impressive.

The traffic and traffic jams are another world for me. But when you go further outside the cities, I think we were in Amby Valley. It's an amazing place. It reminds me a little bit of Jurassic Park, with the jungle, all the vegetation and the nice red dirt. I really love that place.

DriveSpark: Let's talk about your run of form at Dakar. You were second in 2017 and 2019, and you won in 2018. You were incredibly consistent at the top level. What does it take to perform at that level, and can you talk us through your 2018 win with KTM?

Matthias Walkner: Dakar is a really tough and long race. It's not always the best or fastest rider who wins because so many different things have to work together.

There can be mistakes in the road book. If you are in the wrong group or go the wrong way, you can lose a lot of time. If the weather changes, things can change a lot. The bike can also have problems or troubles.

I think the main key is to be really well prepared for all kinds of scenarios. You also need a really strong team behind you. I think this is what has made KTM so successful over such a long period because everybody really knows what they have to do. We always had a really good bike and a really good team behind us. For me, 2018 was a dream come true.

After I came back from my injury, it was already really special to reach my first Dakar podium. Then, in 2018, we brought a new model and a new bike. I was more or less the main test rider, so there was also a lot of pressure on my shoulders to perform well.

We were also fighting with Kevin Benavides, who was riding for Honda. We went all in, and won and it is my biggest achievement so far. For an Austrian rider, on an Austrian bike with an Austrian main sponsor, Red Bull. It is really the dream of every Austrian kid.

DriveSpark: You've raced at the highest level for many years. What do you think separates a very fast rider from someone who can actually win at the Dakar?

Matthias Walkner: It's always really hard to say exactly what you need. But I think it's really important to learn from your mistakes. I've made so many mistakes. I've had many crashes and many injuries.

But the main thing is that as soon as you fall down, you have to get up again, clean your face, put your helmet back on and try to do it better. I think this is the difference between an amateur rider and a professional rider.

But we also can't forget that the most important thing is to have fun and have a good time on the bike. I don't think there is really a difference in terms of level. It doesn't matter if you're a hobby rider, an amateur or a full professional. The fun you have on the bike is more or less the same.

I reach my 100 percent when I'm on the bike, riding on nice dirt. For a hobby rider or an amateur, it's more or less the same. The important thing is to have a good time.

DriveSpark: Dakar has changed quite a lot since you won. You moved on to South America and finished third in 2022. What's the main difference you found between racing in South America and Saudi Arabia?

Matthias Walkner: The main difference is that Saudi Arabia stays more or less the same. You have a lot of sand and dunes, but the weather conditions don't change as much as they do in South America.

In South America, you can have minus five or minus 10 degrees the day before because you reach huge altitudes, like 5,000 metres in Bolivia. The next day, you can have plus 40 degrees in Argentina.

Then you have really fast gravel pistes, followed by dunes and huge riverbeds. For me, the mix between all of these things makes South America really special. There were also so many people there, which was really cool.

DriveSpark: You're here to train Indian adventure riders. What is the biggest mistake you see riders making, and what is the one thing you want them to take away from your training?

Matthias Walkner: Not just in India, but also in Europe, we all make more or less the same mistakes, especially when you try to prepare for a rally race.

The most important thing is that the way you go should be the right way. So, especially when you start with road book reading and rally racing, try to read the navigation properly.

Because there is no way around it. Even if you are the fastest person in the world, if you go five kilometres in the wrong direction, a slower rider will catch you. I think this is the key point: try to start slowly and keep improving step by step. When you start really fast, you can get lost, miss a note or have a crash.

So, try to be consistent and go step by step forward.

DriveSpark: 2023 was obviously a very difficult year for you. Was that the toughest period of your life?

Matthias Walkner: If I could, I would delete it from my life. It was a really hard test for me, my family and all the people around me.

It was by far the toughest time in my life. It was a really hard recovery. I was going into 10 days of testing in America as part of my final Dakar preparation, and I ended up spending seven months in hospital, with many operations and rehabilitation.

But now I'm out of it again. I'm back on the bike, and that's the most important thing.

DriveSpark: You're preparing to go back to Dakar, this time on four wheels. What are you doing to prepare, and how different is it from racing motorcycles?

Matthias Walkner: The sport is a completely different one. Motorcycles and cars can be compared a little bit, but not that much. The challenge of the open desert, the challenge of getting the navigation right and the challenge of energy management over such a long race are the same.

Now I have to work my a** off to develop my driving skills on four wheels. I'm already doing that. I try to drive a lot in racing cars, and I hope I can also be successful in the four-wheel category.