This is Dakar hell

Fully-fueled, a KTM 450 Rally, the fastest bike in the Dakar, weighs 465lbs. You really don’t want to have to lift 465lbs out of foot-deep, thick mud, do you? Especially not with a camera helicopter blowing hurricane-force sand in your face. And you haven’t just spent the day hauling ass across the Chilean desert. But that’s what the rally’s competitors had to do today, when a surface that looked firm turned out to be a thin crust disguising a nasty mud hole. Endo ahoy.

All articles remain open for 12 hours from their time of publishing. The full version of this article, additional photos and comments are available to subscribers. Click here to subscribe, it’s quick and easy. Already a subscriber? Click here to log in.