Back-to-back wins for rally rider

MOTORBIKE racer Matt Sutherland has achieved two major rally wins just days apart.

The KTM 450 rider took out the Sonora Rally’s National Malle Moto class at the end of April, before becoming overall winner of the National Off Road Racing Association Mexican 1000 rally this month for the second year in a row.

The 2023 Sonora Rally was part of the World Rally-Raid Championship, and included six days of physically demanding racing, beginning seven hours south of the United States-Mexico border and finishing in Colorado.

Landscapes Sutherland covered included coastal dunes, hundreds of kilometres of cactus fields, ranch land, salt flats, and rocky high-speed terrain, all in 40-degree heat.

“We were last off the line after cars, buggies, everything,” he said.

“The course became a pit of silt, like talcum powder dust. We had a nightmare of a time out there. This took out a lot of the need for navigation, which is my strong point usually.

“Everyone was focused on getting through the tough conditions, where normally it would be a fun experience following a road book with some tricky navigation.”

Although he was pleased to take out the malle moto class, Sutherland’s goal was to cross the line at the last stage.

“I hadn’t finished Sonora in three years. I blew up two motors in 2020, in 2021 I broke my collar bone, and last year I crashed and cut my leg,” he said. “I just wanted to finish the damn thing.”

The NORRA rally began in Baja, a day after Sutherland crossed the Sonora finish line, and it lasted five days. As the 2022 winner, he was first off the starting line.

“We’d do roughly 500 kilometres or more of racing a day, covering a lot more grounds, with a lot of high-speed riding,” he said.

“You’ve got the Pacific Ocean on one side, you’ve got mountains in the middle, and the Sea of Cortez on the other side.

“You get sandier terrain along the coast, before it gets quite rocky as you cross over the mountains. I think we crossed back and forth three times, from the coast, over sections of the beat-up old Baja 100 course.”

Strength, conditioning and core training, and a focus on nutrition, were things he said were key to his preparation in the two months leading up to the two rallies, and to his success on track.

“I wouldn’t normally do that, I’d just go out and ride, but this time I went to the gym, visited some marathon and triathlon stores, and played around with nutritional drinks and snacks, to figure out what I’d need to get me through those days,” he said.

“We’re burning around 5000 calories a day, so it’s impossible to get all that back into our body in one evening.

“Nutrition made a huge difference and at the end of Sonora, I felt 100 per cent. The hardest thing was fatigue from having four-to-five hours of sleep a night.”

Sutherland has his eyes on the Sunraysia Safari rally in outback New South Wales in September, the Rally of Morocco and the Baja rally in October, and the peak of the game.

“I’d like to refresh my mind with using the European ERTF computer systems, and it would be great training leading up to the Dakar Rally in January 2024,” he said.

“Mentally and physically I know I can tackle Dakar. It’s 14 days, and it’s about riding conservatively, not pushing the limit, because the risks are huge.

“I’ll probably do some small races in the meantime, but my main goal will be working towards Dakar, saving money and securing sponsors.”

He expects Dakar will be his toughest challenge yet, but alongside his fitness and nutrition, there’ll be something else giving him the energy to persevere.

“It feels good to have my family backing me from back home in Ballarat, and a majority of my support comes from them,” he said.

“I know Melinda, my aunty, stays up late to watch the tracking. I think about that while I’m racing; my family’s watching, so I can’t slack off here.”

Sutherland’s dad, Rick, suddenly passed away eight years ago, and is never far from his thoughts during a comp.

“Heading out in the mornings, I say to dad, if there are any rocks, get them out of the way,” he said.

“I get weirded out by fans and signing stuff, and being interviewed, but I just like the riding, having fun, and making the family proud.

“That’s enough for me.”

Running his own tiling and motorbike adventure businesses day-to-day, Sutherland says life can be hectic, but time on two wheels is his form of meditation.

“You get this silence and alone time,” he said.

“When you’re out there for five or six hours at a time, you get in a zone, you’re hypnotised, and there’s nothing else in the world that bothers you except for the job at hand.”

If you run a local business and are interested to sponsor Sutherland as he independently gets himself to the Dakar Rally, contact [email protected] or visit @m.sutherland23 on Instagram.