Interview, biography and sports career What does the Dakar mean to you? "The Dakar is a place to enjoy. It is a beautiful experience, in a fascinating place, where you experience the motorbike in a very special way. It's a real pleasure to visit all those countries and enjoy them in a way we couldn't if it weren't for the race. As regards the sporting aspect, it is a race where you need to navigate well to find the right way, it's not about racing. I have won six Enduro World Championships and I'm happy with what I have achieved in my sports career, so I'll be taking the Dakar with a different philosophy than, for example, Marc or Jordi, who are in the middle of their development. I'm here to help if I'm needed, to make my race, and to enjoy the Dakar and the people."
What is it that makes the Dakar such a special race?"I think that there are many things. In this race it is not important to be fast, but to be skilled. On the other hand, the place raises a real fascination among participants, it has a special charm. Is the only chance to travel around places like that, such as the dunes that make you feel like being in a different world. Africa is fascinating, all those who get there fall in love with it, but it is also an extreme terrain."
Which is the best memory you keep of all the times you've been there? "With no doubt the day I won my first leg. I'm not a 100% raid rider, I come from the world of enduro, so winning against much more experienced raid riders and doing it at the Dakar was a marvellous experience. The stories of humanity and friendship you experience there are also a beautiful memory."
And the worst?"With no doubt the death of Fabrizio Meoni early this year at the 2005 Dakar. We were team-mates for many years; I had been his helper until the previous year. Looking at a friend, lying there, dead, is not a nice experience. I also keep a bad memory of my crash in 2000."
With your experience, would you say that the desert is a friend or an enemy?"It's rather a friend. But you have to take it as such and treat it with respect and carefully, or it may betray you. I've been coming back for eight years, so no wonder I consider it as a friend."
What will be your job within the team?"A very gratifying job: helping. Right now, the bikes are highly reliable and they cause hardly any problem, so they don't need much supporting help. I'm very lucky being able to participate in a race as the Dakar and to do it with the best team, the Repsol KTM Team, together with the best riders and the best staff. The system of a helper does not imply a pressure as regards the result, so I can do my race. If there are no problems, I can even fight for a good result."
You have only taken part in one race of the World Championship this year, how do you think that you will arrive at the Dakar?"One raid is not enough to be at a 100%, so I've been at some enduro races, although the feeling of the bike is quite different. But I think that I got back the pace on the raid bike quickly at the Egypt Rally and I managed to be quite fast in the end. It is not the first time I use this bike, so I only had to refresh my memory. It helped me a lot and I'm quite confident for the Dakar."
This will be your second year in the Repsol KTM Team, what do you think about Marc's evolution?"Marc has matured a lot this year. He's always been a great rider, but this year he's made a big step forward. It's been very nice to watch him improving and evolving, because I do not only appreciate him as a rider, also as a person. We both come from the world of enduro and I can say that we are very good friends."
What would you highlight as a personal quality of yours?"My smile. I'm always smiling, even in the hardest times. The fact of going to the Dakar to have fun and not to achieve a fulfilment as a rider, makes me take everything with a different philosophy, even if the bike breaks down."
Biography and sports career Nationality: ItalianDate of birth: November 23, 1963Place of residence: Olera, Bergamo (Italy) Best results
1992: World Enduro Champion by Teams at the Six Days (Australia - Spain)Absolute Individual Winner at the Six Days (Australia)1993: 500cc World Enduro Champion500cc Italian Enduro Champion1994: 250cc World Enduro ChampionWorld Enduro Champion at the Six Days (USA)Absolute Italian Enduro Champion250cc Italian Enduro Champion1995: 250cc World Enduro ChampionAbsolute Italian Enduro Champion250cc Italian Enduro Champion1996: Absolute Individual Winner at the Six Days (Finland)Absolute Italian Enduro Champion250cc Italian Enduro Champion1997: World Enduro Champion by Teams at the Six Days (Italy)Absolute Individual Winner of the Six Days (Italy)Absolute Italian Enduro Champion250cc Italian Enduro Champion1998: World Enduro Champion, over 175cc classAbsolute World Enduro ChampionIndividual Winner of the Six Days (Australia)Absolute Italian Enduro Champion250cc Italian Enduro Champion17th in the Dakar1999: World Enduro Champion, 400cc 4-strokeOverall Italian Enduro Champion250cc Italian Enduro Champion7th in the Dakar2000: World Enduro Champion by Teams at the Six Days (Australia - Spain)250cc Italian Enduro Champion2001: 250cc Italian Enduro Champion14th in the Dakar2002: 250cc Italian Enduro Champion6th in the Dakar2003: Runner-up in the World Enduro Championship by Teams at the Six Days (Brazil)Runner-up Italian Enduro Championship, 250cc 4-stroke14th in the Dakar2004: 8th Absolute Italian Enduro Championship Champion of the 250cc 2-stroke class21st World Enduro Championship (8th class II)2005: 8th in the Dakar4th in the Rally des Pharaons in Egypt
Gio, as everybody calls him, was born in Gorle, in the province of Bergamo, on November 23, 1963. The beginning of his career as a rider was quite curious: although he lived hundred metres from the Farioli Team headquarters, his debut in the world of motorcycling was on a Fantic 125cc motorcycle. His inborn enduro talent took him to win his first championship title in 1981. Then he moved on to motocross where he reached the senior category with some help and a lot of adversity. But, as the proverb says 'No love like the first love', in the early 1990s he returned to occasionally race in enduro. In 1991 he finally became part of the official Farioli KTM Team and began his escalation of the world championship title. In eight years, he won a total of 46 races, became five times World Champion and two times runner-up. Gio remembers as the most beautiful moment of his career, the 1997 Six Days Enduro in Lumezzane, where he won the cross test on the last day. The worst moment of his sports career was the defeat in the 1992 Enduro World Championship.
His performance during the 1998 World Championship should not be forgotten either, when Sala won all the races and was voted the fastest Enduro rider in the World Championship. Always in the pursuit for new stimuli, he has also taken part in the adventure of the Dakar. He was protagonist of the 1998 edition, where he obtained a valuable 17th position, overcoming his inexperience and some crashes. The Italian remembers the 1998 season as the most important moment of his sports career; because he won everything he could possibly win. That year he took the absolute and over-175cc World Enduro Championship, the absolute and 250cc Italian Enduro Championship and he won the Six Days in Australia in the over-175cc class.
In the 1999 edition of the Dakar, Giovanni was the protagonist of the official KTM Gauloises Team and took the task of "quick supporter" for fellow-bikers due to team requirements. All the same, he was able to win a stage and finished seventh overall, being first of the Italian participants. 1999 was an important turning point in his sports career. For the first time he competed in the 400cc four-stroke Enduro World Championship, on a bike that was totally different to the 250cc two-stroke machines Sala had always ridden to obtain victory after victory. With friend, rival and team-mate Mario Rinaldi, he took on a thrilling duel to keep all the fans in suspense until the end of the Championship and only at the last race in the Czech Republic, Gio was able to be crowned World Champion of the class.
Gio hasn't missed a single Dakar since 1998, and of the eighth times he has participated he hasn't been able to finish in only two occasions: 2000 and 2004. In 2004, while he was fulfilling his task as a squid to Fabrizio Meoni, Sala suffered a strong crash after only six stages. Despite being assisted by young Repsol rider Marc Coma, the Italian was forced to retire from the race, not without first helping Coma to continue in the race, giving him the mechanical piece he needed to move on. Premonitory or not, Giovanni Sala made a new step forward in his sports career signing for the Repsol KTM Team at the end of 2004, contributing with his invaluable experience after Nani Roma's withdrawal in order to fight for the title of the big African challenge.
The prologue stage of the 2005 Barcelona-Dakar was not a good debut for the Italian rider who had a problem with the clutch at the beach of Castelldefels only a few metres before the finish. His team-mates Esteve and Coma helped him to take the bike to the finish but he was penalised in the overall standings. Sala worked hard and quickly recovered positions, and he would surely had won the leg between Zouerat and Tichit if he hadn't lost valuable time helping his team-mate Esteve, who had run out of fuel. Only five days later he had to give part of his fuel again, this time to Marc Coma, three kilometres before the finish. With no doubt, the death of his friend Fabrizio Meoni was the biggest shock for Gio at the Dakar. Despite the disaster filling him with deep sadness, just as the other participants, the Italian gathered all his strength to continue and reach the finish in Lake Rose in eighth position. Dedicated to teaching and federative tasks, Sala only participated in some enduro races in 2005 and it was not until last October when he took a rally motorbike to race the Rally des Pharaons in Egypt where he finished in a meritorious fourth place. He rode always at a good pace, close to the leaders and made a magnificent team work. He invaluably collaborated to Marc Coma's final victory in the last stage, where Marc run out of battery and Gio gave him his, just on time to let Marc reach the finish and keep the top place in the standings.
In 2006, he will be facing his ninth Dakar challenge, once again within the structure of the Repsol KTM team. The cheerful Italia rider has experience, excitement and the will to work, always ready to help the team to go for the top at this 2006 Dakar.
Giovanni Sala, defines himself as an honest and nice man, who dedicates his spare time to enjoying rock and Latin-American music, Italian gastronomy and extreme sports; obviously not forgetting to keep himself in shape, jogging two or three hours a day with his inseparable dog or riding one of his enduro bikes.
