Nationality: Chilean Date of birth: July 14, 1969 Place of residence: Huelquen, Chile
Sporting career
1987- 1995
Enduro Champion in Chile
1993
Bronze Medal at the Enduro World Championship. Tulsa, Oklahoma
1996
17th in the Rally Granada Dakar
1997
Rally Dakar-Agadez-Dakar, retirement after a crash Ç4th in the Master Rally Paris-Moscow-Peking
1998
12th in the Rally Paris Dakar. 1st in Marathon. 3rd in Production. 8th in the Atlas Rally. 1st in Marathon. 3rd in the International Rally Dos Sertoes.
1999
8th in the Rally Granada Dakar. 1st in Marathon. 2nd in Production. 7th in the International Rally Dos Sertoes 4th in the Master Rally 5th in the Egypt Rally. 12th in the Dubai Rally
2000
Rally Paris Dakar, retirement with broken engine. Rally Tunisia, retirement in the last stage after a crash. 2nd in the International Rally Dos Sertoes. 2nd in the Master Rally Paris- Istanbul 1st in the Rally Las Pampas de Argentina 3rd in the Egypt Rally 2nd in the Dubai Rally Runner-up FIM Cross Country Rally World Cup
2001
3rd in the Rally Paris Dakar 3rd in the Rally Tunisia 3rd in the Rally Montes de Cuenca. Spain. 1st in the Rally Por Las Pampas. Argentina. 3rd in the Egypt Rally. FIM Cross Country Rally World Champion
2002
4th in the Rally Arras – Madrid – Dakar 2nd in the Rally Tunisia 4th in the Rally Morocco Rally Por Las Pampas, Chile. Retirement after a crash. 5th in the FIM Cross Country Rally World Cup
2003
8th in the Rally Paris Dakar Rally Tunisia, retirement after a crash 10th in the Rally Morocco 7th in the Rally Des Pharaons Egypt
2004
8th in the Rally Paris Dakar 6th in the Rally Tunisia. 1st in the 450cc class. 6th in the Rally Morocco. 1st in the 450cc class. 3rd in the Rally D´Orient Turkey. 1st in the 450cc class.. Rally Des Pharaons, Egypt, retirement after Richard Saincts death. 1st in the Rally Por Las Pampas, Argentina FIM 450cc Cross Country Rally World Champion
2005
Rally Dakar, retirement after a crash. 3rd in the Rally Patagonia Atacama. 1st in the 450cc class. 2nd in the Rally Tunisia. 1st in the 450cc class. 4th in the Rally Morocco. 1st in the 450cc class. 4th in the Rally D´Orient Turkey. 1st in the 450cc class. 2nd in the Rally Dos Sertoes Brazil.1st in the 450cc class. FIM 450cc Cross Country Rally World Champion 2nd in the Rally Des Pharaons, Egypt.
Biography
Carlo de Gavardo Prohens was born in Chile, on July 14, 1969. His full dedication to sports on two-wheels, together with his effort and his passion resulted in the great victories he has offered to his country. He made his first steps in the world of motorcycling on the enduro tracks in Chile, guided by his father Giorgio de Gavardo and his uncle Santiago Lazo. His technical level began to increase and he took his first National Enduro Championship in 1987, keeping the crown for almost a decade. But that was only the beginning. In 1993 he also took the bronze medal in the Enduro World Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Carlos passion for motorcycling grew day after day, so that in 1996 he decided to take part in the mythic Paris-Dakar Rally. Without having much means, he gathered all he could in order to let Chile be represented for the first time in the motorbike class of the African rally.
It was a difficult task and not many believed in him, but his perseverance lead him to the seventeenth place in his first participation. On his arrival at Lake Rose, Carlo said that it would be his first and last rally, although as soon as he went back to France he already started to plan the challenge for the next year. 1997 brought the first setback in his career, when he was forced to retire following a fracture of tibia and fibula. But you learn from all of your experiences and the accident made him realise that, in order to be prepared, he would have to train himself throughout the year at lower level international races to face his big dream with higher guarantees. In August of that same year, he took part in the Paris-Moscow-Peking Rally, finishing fourth and starting to show his big skills on the bike.
After a year of thorough preparation, he went for the 1998 Dakar Rally. He finished twelfth overall, winner of the marathon class and third in the production class, in addition to being awarded the FIM Fair Play for sacrificing his position in order to save the life of another rider. He took part in two further races that year achieving very good results: eighth in the Atlas Rally, winner in the marathon class and third in the International Rally Dos Sertoes.
He kept on improving and was eighth in the 1999 Dakar Rally, winning again in the marathon class and finishing second in the production class. That was also the year when the project De Gavardo Rally Team 2000, was born, a way to sponsor his participation in several international races, thus being able to enter the fight for the FIM World Cup: International Rally Dos Sertoes (retired), Master Rally (fourth), Rally des Pharaons in Egypt (fifth) and Desert Challenge in Dubai (twelfth).
2000 was the year of Carlo de Gavardos international confirmation, and also the year he was holding out more hopes of his participation in the Dakar Rally. But a broken engine after only 150 kms of the first special collapsed his dreams and aspirations. Despite the deception, Carlo gathered all his strength and took part in the Tunisia Rally in March, making one of the best races of his life. He was second overall, but in the penultimate stage of the rally he crashed at high speed against another rider and was out of the race. But this did not hinder him from getting on the podium in all the remaining races. He won the Rally Las Pampas, was second in the International Rally Dos Sertoes, in the Master Rally Paris-Istanbul, and in the Dubai Rally and third in the Egypt Rally, thus becoming runner-up of the FIM Cross Country Rally World Cup.
With renewed confidence and more than prepared, he finally was able to get on the longed for podium of the Paris Dakar Rally with an excellent third place and got an offer from KTM to be part of the official team. He faced the 2001 World Cup with conviction and after one victory in Argentina and three third places in Tunisia, Spain and Egypt, his effort bore fruit and Carlo became 2001 World Champion.
The 2002 season started very well for the Chilean rider. He was fourth in the Dakar Rally, second in Tunisia and fourth in Morocco. He arrived at the Rally Chile equal in points with the leader Richard Sainct, but the pressure and the craziness of a country wanting to see their idol, took him to make a mistake that had serious consequences. Carlo suffered one of the worst accidents of his career, fracturing radius and ulna in both arms, thus having to say goodbye to what was left of the season. Difficult months followed, but the support of the people around him and a big effort, both physically and mentally, made him reappear in the world of rallying at the 25th Dakar Rally, and he crowned his comeback with a commendable eighth place.
Once the Dakar was over, bad luck came back. After a change in the road book which was badly marked by the organisation, Carlo suffered a heavy crash at the Tunisia rally, dislocating his left shoulder and was forced to retire. But KTM did not loose confidence in their rider and Carlo signed for further two years with the Austrian brand. Two months later he was back into action at the Rally Morocco, finishing tenth. That year, the Repsol rider faced another challenge: testing the new 450cc engine developed by KTM. He accepted the challenge with responsibility and enthusiasm and finished his first race, the Rally Australia, in fifth place. Only one month later, and despite several mishaps, he managed to finish the Egypt rally in eighth position.
His recovery was being slower than Carlo had expected, but an intensive physical training combined with the adequate psychological work made him reach the 2004 Dakar in good conditions. Although he was hoping for more, the eighth place made him recover the lost faith and confidence. In the 2004 FIM World Cup, Carlo took a new challenge in his professional life. He became the official KTM test rider and the only rider to participate in all rounds of the championship. Two sixth places in Tunisia and Morocco, a third place in Turkey and the victory in Argentina, were enough to be crowned FIM 450cc Cross Country Rally World Champion. But there was another fact that would mark that edition of the Championship. In the fourth special of the Rally des Pharaons in Egypt, the French rider Richard Sainct died leaving a big empty spot in the KTM team. Terribly sad about the loss of a good friend, the whole team decided to retire from the rally as a sign of respect.
With Sainct still in his memory, Carlo De Gavardo stood again in front of his big dream: the 2005 Dakar. Dressing the Repsol colours, he started his African adventure on the 450cc KTM with the aim of clinching the top spot of his class. Faithful to his sporting and team spirit, he stayed with Jordi Duran, who had suffered a terrifying accident in the second leg of the rally, until the assistance arrived, without even thinking about the minutes he had lost. But his own way was short as well, because he suffered an accident in the following leg, hindering from continuing the race. Once at home, he received one of the worst news of his life, the death of his master and friend Fabrizio Meoni. After an exhaustive work-out plan, he arrived at the first round of the World Cup, the Rally Patagonia Atacama, where he finished third. Two second places in Tunisia and Brazil, and to fourth places in Morocco and Turkey took him to regain the world title in the 450cc class. The end of a phase had come, because for the next round, the Egypt Rally, he left the 450cc machine to face new challenges on a KTM with a larger cylinder capacity. And the result could not be more hopeful. In his first race on a 700cc, Carlo finished the Rally des Pharaons second, right behind Marc Coma, who only a couple of weeks later was proclaimed 2006 Raid World Champion.
In the 2006 Dakar, Carlo De Gavardo will be facing a very significant year, because it will be his tenth year in the world of raids. The Chilean rider will put all his eagerness and effort in his clear aim: becoming the first American rider to win the Dakar. His preparation has been exhaustive and he hopes to take his team, the Repsol KTM team, to the highest step of the podium at the big African challenge, the 2006 Lisbon-Dakar Rally.
