Team Rally Raid Canada > Rally Racer Don Hatton

Don finished the rally in a very respectable 4th place in the Motorcycle Enduro Cup. Just to finish is a remarkable feat and Don and his team would like to congratulate everyone who took place in this years rally.

Don’s position throughout the stages of this years rally was very consistent. 

In Stage 1, Don placed 2nd among the motorcycles in the Enduro Cup. In stage two, Don slipped back to 4th, after suffering from heat stroke and having to stop and cool down midway through the stage. In stage three, Don again placed 4th, but was just eight minutes behind 2nd place finisher Lambert Wery. In stage four, Don managed a third place finish and moved him up to 3rd place overall. Don finished stage five in 5th place after being assessed a two-hour penalty, moving him down to 4th overall. In the sixth and final stage, Don once again placed 4th, just seven minutes behind Wery’s 3rd place finish. Overall at the end of the Rally, Don finished 4th overall.

Don provided the following overall summary of the rally.

The KTM 690 Enduro was definitely the wrong choice in bikes for this rally and I had to ride the wheels off it to place as high as I did. I can tell you I was longing for my dakar bike, as it would have been in its element on this course. The 690 Enduro is a good bike, but the thing that most people don’t know about it is that in order to get a lower seat height on it, they simply cut back on the suspension travel 25% to only 8 – 9 inches of stroke.

My navigation went very well. I was a little caught off guard by the heat in stage 2 however after a short rest in the desert I recovered enough to finish well that day. After that I wore a few less items of clothing.

I did not have any trouble in the large Dunes on stage 3 and was pleased that I was able to navigate my way through over 20 kms of Dunes successfully. I did make a couple of minor navigation errors but nothing serious.

Well next stop Dakar!