Ross Branch, former Krugersdorp High School (KHS) learner, also known as the Kalahari Ferrari, took on his third Dakar race in Saudi Arabia this year.

Ross rides for the Yamaha Factory Team under the Monster Energy Yamaha sponsorship. In 2019 he realised his dream of competing in his first Dakar race.

After finishing 13th overall in 2019 and taking the ‘Best rookie’ prize, Ross made sure that 2020 was a memorable year for him where he bagged his first-ever stage win in Stage 2 of the 2020 Dakar race.

This year, Ross started strong and managed to hover close to the podium a few times, even finishing second in Stage 6, trailing behind the Honda team by only 13 seconds.

Following Stage 6 the riders had a rest day and while Ross was geared up and ready, the next few stages dealt some heavy blows. Around 31km into Stage 7 Ross crashed his bike and although he came out a bit bruised he was ready for the next stages. He lost 32 minutes in that stage and had to make a plan to fix his chain lead.

The marathon stage continued with Stage 8, and Ross started making up some lost time. But then everything came to a halt in Stage 9 when Ross unfortunately had some engine trouble that could not be sorted out, and his 2021 Dakar race had to come to an end.

Unfortunately that is just the way things are. There are ups and downs in rally racing, and in any motor sport, and unfortunately we had to take one of the downs. We took a few punches but you know that is racing. We are going to get back up and be stronger than ever for next year.

“I am really excited. I think things went really well. I learned so much during this rally, I had an amazing time, I had the best time out on the bike and navigating was going well, and I think that I have grown a lot as a rider,” said Ross to his supporters on his Facebook page.

His alma mater, KHS, expressed their support on their Facebook page saying, “We are so super proud of you, Ross and what you have done. Tough luck, but you will be back faster and stronger next year!”