British Columbian Don Hatton, riding a KTM 690 Enduro, placed fourth in the Enduro class at the 2009 Rally of Morocco while Frenchman Antoine Didier won the event on his KTM 450 EXC.
The six day rally covered 2650 kilometers in total distance through uncompromising rock and desert terrain in scorching 40 degree heat.
“I was a little caught off guard by the heat in stage 2. However after a short rest in the desert I recovered enough to finish well that day. After that I wore a few less Items of clothing”, said Hatton.
“I am not disappointed with my finish in anyway, I had to really dig in and work to achieve what I did, my navigation went very well. I did make a couple of minor navigation errors but nothing serious, my only real problem in the rally was the limits created by the lack of suspension on the stock KTM690 Enduro. I believe with better suspension I could have won my category. The 690 Enduro is a good bike, but the thing that most people don’t know about it is that in order to get a lower seat height on it, they [KTM] simply cut back on the suspension travel 25% to only 8 – 9 inches of stroke.”
“In any case I did finish and finished in a respectable position.”
Next up for Hatton is the Dakar rally.
