Famous Riders

So what happened to Sam Sunderland? Is he still racing competitively? We hope to shine some light here.

Sam Sunderland is a legendary Dakar competitor who unfortunately crashed in the 2020 Dakar Rally, resulting in 5 broken vertebrae and a broken shoulder, coincidently, on Stage 5 of the Rally. He continues to recover while setting his sights on returning in 2021 to claim an overall win, especially as he won the Rally in 2017.

Read on as we share more details about one of the quickest rally raid riders who has come out of the UK.

Sam Sunderland Overview

Sam essentially grew up racing motocross much like most other Dakar competitors. He was seen as a weapon on a 2-stroke and soon enough began racing competitively with some winning titles to his name in his teenage years.

Soon enough, he had set his sights on ultra endurance motorcycle racing, namely rally raid. The toughest race in the world for motorcycles is the Dakar Rally, and in essence, Sam soon found his way there in 2012.

Previous to this he had win the UAE National Baja Championship in both 2010 and 2011. He actually resides now in Dubai having migrated from the United Kingdom earlier in the last decade.

His 2012 Dakar debut started out strong though unfortunately, he retried early in the 3rd stage due to electrical issues with his KTM 450 Rally. In 2013, he suffered injuries to both wrists while training for the event. Ouch!

In 2014 he was back in the Dakar and this time riding for Honda. He had some quick success with a win in the 2nd stage, though again in the 3rd stage, he had to drop out. This time it was engine failure…or was it jinxed? Fortunately, he left that all behind him as he won in 2017.

Oddly enough, he competed in 2018 and had won Stages 1 and 3, yet crashed in stage 4. In 2020, he crashed in Stage 5. There seems to be a pattern here.

Going Forward

We do look forward seeing Sam recover from his injuries. Not only has he had a tough time at Dakar, but he’s also crashed during training.

Yet there’s something to be said for a man who gets back up on his motorcycle and keeps going. While the world has become soft and hides behind their smart phones, here is someone willing to go well beyond the realms of what is possible.

KTM certainly made a good decision.

Here is one of the most well-known riders in France, and one who has competed numerous times in the Motocross World Championships.

Marvin Musqin is today, still competing in motocross and supercross races nationally and internationally as part of the KTM race team. He has suffered his fair share of injuries in numerous motocross races, yet continues to power through guided by the support of his wife.

News has come that he has unfortunately missed much of the 2020 race season due to his knee injury. This is unfortunate and many fans missed out on seeing the champion dominate on the leaderboards.

Marvin Musqin Overview

We’re talking about a weapon on a 2-stroke, and Marvin is seriously committed towards taking out some podium wins. After all, the man was born to dominate.

His childhood years were spent developing skills that would later serve him very well in life. The school books were traded for constant practice runs to become one of the best French motocross riders in history.

By the age of 14, he had already won his maiden European Title riding a Kawasaki 85cc.

Championship wins

Marvin has won 2 MX2 world titles and 14 Grand Prix wins on his trusty KTM. He has competed in numerous countries including Brazil and the United States.

Interestingly enough, most people in North America don’t recognize his name. Yet in France, he certainly has a reputation for being very talented to push a dirt bike beyond the limits of physics.

Today he continues to set his sights on more championship wins. He isn’t done with his racing career yet, though there are riders 10 years younger who just happen to be more skilled with their clutch and throttle control.

This isn’t the last we’ll see of Marvin and we do hope he can continue to inspire the next generation of riders to get out there. After all, we need more kids away from the smart phones and on to twisting their throttle.

Pablo Quintanilla is a well known Chilean rally raid rider who has competed at the Dakar Rally using the No. 5 race number.

Not much is known about this rider in the English language, given he speaks Spanish and has a loyal fan base. Frontaer hopes to provide some more insights here.

Pablo Quintanilla

This is one tough rider! He has competed in numerous January races since 2013 and most recently, in 2019. In fact, his most recent race had him finish just off the podium which was unfortunately due to a crash on the final stage leading to a double ankle fracture.

Just imagine going through the entire gruelling Dakar Rally and crashing on the final stage. Frustrating! Fortunately, he claimed a win on the Atacama Rally with a second-place finish.

He is sponsored by Husqvarna, Rockstar Energy and Alpinestars, as well as a host of Chilean endorsements. His dream is to one day win a tough rally raid race.

Pablo Quintanilla Bike

Pablo rides a heavily modified Husqvarna FR 450 Rally which has a limited production run. It has been tuned extensively by Rockstar Energy and Husqvarna’s Factory Racing team.

With this bike, he’s been in hot pursuit of big names like Ricky Brabec from the United States and Toby Price from Australia. In fact, he’s shared the stage podiums with these riders in 2020, given that he came 2nd overall with the final standings. Indeed the highlight of his career and we’re sure that he’s just as happy to finish this tough race.

What’s remarkable is that Pabolo was just 16 minutes behind Ricky on this one. We’re sure that he has a fighting chance in 2021 to make this happen!

Going Forward

This is one hot contender to watch out for! He’ll certainly be on hot pursuit in his higher gears. Watch out KTM! You may not claim your consecutive streak back.

Franco Caimi is one tough enduro rider from Argentica who has competed numerous times in the Dakar Rally for Yamaha.

Riding his seriously spec’d up machine across the desert for thousands of kilometres, it’s clear that this man is built to win. One that won’t give up easily despite his numerous injuries.

Frontaer has done some research to bring you more information about this legendary rider.

Franco Caimi Overview

Just about every dirt bike rider in Argentina has heard of Franco, but not much is known in the English-speaking world. Needless to say that Argentinians weren’t surprised to see him finish 8th place on his debut yet in 2017, especially taking the top spot among all South Americans.

He was back the following year in 2018 but unfortunately sustained a nasty clutch problem mid-way through the rally. He then broke his femur on the Morocco Rally which he tried to recover from in preparation for the Dakar.

In 2019, he did make it to the Dakar! Unfortunately the pain in his leg meant that he had to call it a day. Not even the pain killers could help him through the difficult times.

Then again, a man of this persistence doesn’t back down easily. We do look forward to seeing him dominate in the coming years. His career certainly isn’t over year, given that most motorcycle riders in the rally are in their mid 30’s.

What We Can Learn

Ultimately, so many people today are glued to their screens. They’re watching others be successful when they could be honing in on their skills.

Frontaer has been busy building some skills development guides as well as showing you places where you can ride your dirt bike. It’s these same type of areas where Franco and many other enduro riders hone in on their skills.

While we may not want to become a winning enduro rider, life is just to be short to be watching others. Instead, spend some time crafting your own skills and enjoy your weekends. You only get better with experience!

Luciano Benavides is an Andalucia Rally competitor who has crashed on mutliple occasions, yet has achieved some remarkable wins.

In this English guide, we’ll help you better understand this rally raid competitor.

Let’s begin.

Luciano Benavides

Luciano is a Dakar Competitor and is known internationally to compete alongside his brother, Kevin Benavides. They’re seriously quick when riding side by side at a million miles per hour. They are known among the commentators as ‘THe Benavides Brothers’ given how much each shares the same passion.

Luciano generally rides a KTM 450 Rally and is with the Red Bull KTM Factory Team. Pair this with 6D Helmets and Alpinestars apparel, and you’ve got a competitor who can outperform most others. In the Dakar, he choses to have #16 bike.

Luciano happens to be one of the youngest riders in the Dakar Rally at age 23. He grew up racing motocross in Argentina and those skills have certainly transferred to the desert sands.

Riding for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing

Recently, Husqvarna Motorcycles has annouced the signing of Luciano. Certainly he’ll be much needed in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge as well as the RIM Cross-Country Rally.

He’s becoming ever more prominent and seriously which in the open country. Luciano isn’t as known for crashing or sustaining broken bones from accidents. Perhaps this is something to be said about his young age, and indeed, something that the brand would’ve been happy have on the team.

Future Plans

We do look forward to seeing Luciano taking a spot on the Dakar Rally in future years. Clearly the COVID-19 Pandemic has altered some rally competitions at this point in time.

What we know for sure is that there is no stopping this rider. He’s 10 years into a 25 year career and clearly loves the game. That is: Going fast and winning championships.

We’ll be watching this one closely.