10 Minutes With: Rod Faggotter

This entry is part 21 of 320 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #1

Highest Placed Aussie at the 2013 Dakar

Adventure Rider spends 10 minutes with Rod Faggotter discussing the Dakar Rally and his future.

The Dakar Rally requires a rare mix of skills and speed is by no means the greatest – navigation, endurance and maintenance are also critical. Of the many Australians who competed and performed impressively, Rod Faggotter was clearly the best, finishing as the highest-placing Aussie. The achievement is all the more impressive considering he rode as a privateer, up against the world’s best factory riders sporting big teams and bigger budgets.

Q: The last few years have been busy and, by all accounts, very successful. What have been the highlights of your journey so far?
A: Getting to the Dakar was a distant dream, one I didn’t give too much credit to achieving, so getting there twice and getting the great result this year is pretty surreal. The problem is I want more!

Q: What were the things that really challenged you?
A: Definitely finance: trying to raise the dollars needed to get to the race.

Q: If you could change anything in the last few years, what would it be?
A: Nothing, it’s been a great experience.

Q: Is a day in the Dakar tougher than any day in any race we have in Australia, and if so, why?
A: Not necessarily tougher riding,but every long day at Dakar is followed by many, many more. It’s so wearing!

Q: What was the biggest surprise you had when you first went to the Dakar?
A: The spectator support in the middle of nowhere! And also, just how slow many of the Euro guys are – particularly in the fast stuff.

Q: What did you learn from doing Dakar in 2012 and how did that help you in 2013?
A: It helped mostly in two areas. It gave me confidence going into the race – a lot of stuff was not new to me, so I had a good idea what the organisers would throw at us. It also helped me understand there is a lot of hype surrounding the race and it’s important to not let it affect you.

Q: Obviously, sponsorship is important to get you to a race. How difficult is it to get support in Australia? Has it improved since your great finish in this year’s Dakar?
A: It’s very hard to raise that sort of support in Australia for just one race. The offers of support have increased and it’s something I’m working hard to pull together at the moment.

Q: What sort of budget do you need to get there?
A: You need a minimum of $70-80 thousand if you are willing to sleep in the bulldust at every bivouac, but you’d need to add another $20 thousand to do it in a little more of a civilised manner.

Q: How did you get your start in racing?
A: I grew up on the family cattle and sheep station and rode bikes all my life. I only started racing motocross when I was 19 or so and got pretty serious with it in my early 20s…until I had my family and started my business when I was 26. It went a little quiet for a few years there. Then I started into desert racing, just into my 30s.

Q: Being a family man, how do your commitments to racing affect your family, and how do you, your wife and kids cope?
A: It’s a stretch, for sure. I try and make the time leading up to events as quality as possible around my family. The good thing about modern technology is, even at Dakar, I could just ring on the mobile or sat-phone and keep in touch every day.

Q: Are there things you would like to see change in the sport in Australia to help get more riders ready and able to go to the Dakar?
A: Maybe not changes in the sport, but more ‘navigation style’ events would help, as would making the Safari longer and tougher. We are lucky enough to have many desert races in Australia that are accessible and feature types of terrain similar to those at Dakar. Many of the good riders are more than capable of running at the front – this was obvious after seeing the Australians’ results in this year’s Dakar.
There’s no doubt we’re disadvantaged by financial challenges and the lack of support in getting there; there’s a lot more support for the European riders, mainly due to the Dakar being a European thing. It would be great to have one of the mining companies, for example, use their Christmas fund to support half-a-dozen Australian riders on a two- or three-year deal.

Q: The Dakar is the main rally of the year but there is a World Championship each year. If you could, would you like to compete in these races? What would it take to get you there?
A: Time and money, for sure. But I’m so stretched now just doing half-a-dozen events a year, so it would also mean a shift in focus. It’d be the ultimate though: to race the world rounds and lead into Dakar on a factory team.

Q: Are you thinking about going again?
A: Definitely! As long as I can get the funding, I’ll be back to see if I can improve on my results from this year. Visit Rod’s Facebook page,

www.facebook.com/RodsDakarRally, for cool photos, updates on his progress and the opportunity to contribute to his sponsorship fund.

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