Tenacious and talented, Team Rally Australia’s Christophe Barriere-Varju epitomises the spirit of the Dakar.

After making a late decision in May 2004 to compete in the race, Christophe missed out on a berth when record entries saw the applications close early.

From there, it was a baptism of fire for the French-born Australian. His 2006 campaign was cut short, but only after a Herculean ride over 220km with broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder… an injury he re-set himself.

Even after completing the race for the first time in 2007 and again in 2009, Barriere-Varju is not yet satisfied with a race he feels he has unfinished business in.

The 2006 crash was caused by the simplest of errors, the Trip Master roadbook tool measures distance travelled off the front wheel, and the mechanic had set the wheel diameter incorrectly.

“It was not set up on the right setting so it kept giving me the wrong reading, and that resulted in a massive crash in Morocco,” the charismatic KTM pilot explained.

“It said there was an obstacle a little while ahead of me, but when I looked up it was right before my eyes. I ended up with a cracked nose, a dislocated shoulder and a damaged knee. It took me 20 minutes, pushing and pulling, but I managed to reinsert the arm into my shoulder and took off again.

“20 minutes later I stopped to refuel, wipe the blood off my face and then took off again, but soon after I had a smaller crash, but broke three ribs.

“It was 220 kilometres back to the Bivouac, I had a broken ribcage, I couldn’t lift my leg properly or breathe through my nose. It was probably the most painful time I’ve had.”

Unwilling to stop, but barely able to get out of his tent, Barriere-Varju was forced to retire the next day.

After spending the 2005 race touring the Bivouacs, Christophe says he knew exactly what lay in store for him on the Dakar.

“I did have a good idea, because I’ve been racing motorcycles for a very long time,” he said.

“So I was watching people, the pain they were having and the different levels of fitness, so it gave me a good idea of how to prepare.

“Physically I was in very good shape in 2006 it was just a small mishap that caused more problems afterwards. If I didn’t break my ribs, I could continue with the pain from my shoulder, but the rib injury is really what cost me the race,” he says ruefully.

Driven by the lure of the sheer danger of the Dakar, ‘Dream Racer’ Christophe made the decision to take on the race at the end of his successful motocross career.

“I’ve been aware of the Dakar since I was a little kid, I’ve always thought those guys must be crazy to go so fast, not knowing where they’re going,” he explained.

“In 2005 when I decided to do the Dakar it was on my birthday, in May 2004, I’d been racing motocross for a long, long time so I was ready for the next challenge. 35 years old sounded like a good enough time to swap from one discipline to the next, and this is the most difficult race.”

After a comparatively easy 2007 Dakar, the 2009 edition once again did its best to bite the irrepressible Franco-Australian.

“In ‘09 everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I kept getting issues every day, completely unrelated issues, electrical fault, mechanical fault, suspension fault.

“On day number five, it was a very difficult day, one-third of the competitors stayed in the dunes all night that day. I had to go through the sand dunes all in third gear because my carburettor was damaged, and I had no GPS at all because I had an electrical problem.

“I had no idea where I was in the sand dunes, and I was running out of fuel after helping another rider earlier in the day. The night was coming, and the rain was coming, and I was running out of fuel, but about 20 minutes later I found the dirt road and then a checkpoint.

“It’s not good to spend the night in the desert that’s for sure!”

On his fourth attempt, Christophe will once again be treading the fine line between triumph and disaster.

“You try not to think about the danger, but you have to be careful not to fall for one thing, and the second part is trying not to get lost. Getting lost means running out of fuel, and once you run out of fuel it’s all over.

“There is not a lot of margin for mistake on the Dakar.”

Fuente: http://www.sbs.com.au/ | By Jacob Black | Deep in the dust
Foto: http://www.photoplayfilms.com.au/