#016 🇧🇼Ross Branch – Rally GP Elite

“STILL A LONG WAY TO GO”

It’s hard to find a more enthusiastic rider on the Dakar. Ross Branch is living a dream. Ever since he conquered his first ever special back in 2020 as a privateer, his path to glory has never stopped evolving. It hasn’t however been a walk in the park since he joined the Yamaha factory team. His fourth Dakar, the first under his new blue colours was a bit of a rollercoaster ride that finished in tears three days after reaching the rest day within the top 5. A silly crash and a chain issue saw his hopes of finishing the Dakar in style fade away. Since then it’s been none stop for the Botswana native. As well as continuing to fly as a commercial airline pilot at least twice a week, Branch competed in all five rounds of the FIM cross-country World Championship: a good opportunity to keep on learning and make the mistakes he hopes he’ll avoid come the Dakar. Nicknamed the “Kalahari Ferrari” by a local follower in reference to a very fast donkey cart, Ross Branch has become a reference both in motocross and cross-country. He’s claimed all the possible continental titles in both disciplines. In 2019, for his first outing on the Dakar, he finished best rookie of the event reaching the final podium in an outstanding 13th position which remains his best finishing position so far. The goal now is to go several steps higher. While he aims at the Top 5 for 2022, he secretly dreams of winning the Dakar.

“During the Dakar 2021, it first of all was amazing to be able to show I had the speed to compete with the best. But I ended up being unlucky with my chain incident. I went from a world to another. Excited and then disappointed, but I managed to learn a lot. The crash I had was my mistake. Perhaps I was pushing too hard. It happens but I was devastated. After all the issues we had during the last Dakar, we tested a lot, pushing the bike to its limits in order to be ready. I certainly have changed. I have more experience and more confidence. But there’s still a long way to go. I now have to take the bull by the horns.
I’ve probably had the busiest year of my life. I still continue to fly. I compete and I also spend a lot of time training in Botswana with friends. I have my own road books here and we have so much open space. I’m happy to help other riders who come to train here and give back as much as I can.
My ultimate goal on the Dakar: to win. I’d like to go for the win. But first of all I’d like to show myself and aim at the Top 5 to start with.”