Update: I had an email exchange with Youcef. He finished 10th overall and second in the 8th leg, despite the fact that he broke his sternum. On the eighth stage of the 3,000 km rally, doing 100 km/hour, he went straight over his handle bars. “I woke up with a helicopter next to me. The medics decided I would be okay to carry on. I only noticed (my sternum) was broken a couple of days later.” I think he’s Baja material.
Australian rider Youcef Cummings is piloting the official World Diabetes Day motorcycle and will be competing in World Cross Country Rally and other regional events throughout Africa and the Middle East this year.
His first race, which began April 23 and ran for nine days from Marseilles, France through the deserts of Tunisia and Libya, ended today after covering 3000 kilometers.
Youcef rides a KTM 690 Factory Rally bike. It has a 72 hp engine with a top speed of over 175 km/hour on sand. The motorcycle is a limited edition factory produced bike designed specifically for desert racing. It has a range of over 350 kilometers and is fitted with navigation and survival equipment, including GPS, proximity warning devices, directional repeaters, two odometers and speed warning devices. The motorcycle sports the official World Diabetes Day logo in English and Arabic, as well as the distinctive blue circle on the tanks.
We wish Youcef the best of luck.
I figured I’d do a walkaround of 1101 for those who haven’t seen it up close. 1117 is stripped for painting before I start on the interior.
