Matthias Walkner is officially rally raiding once more, albeit as a driver. He will run this week’s BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal a Can-Am Maverick X3, competing in the SSV class before moving up to Challenger for the Desafío Ruta 40 and the rest of the W2RC season.

The 2018 Dakar Rally bike winner’s career on two wheels was cut short by a testing crash in December 2023 that resulted in severe leg injuries. After over two years of recovery, his legs have mostly improved to where he can ride a motorcycle again but not in a competitive environment.

Since then, he’s mainly been test driving his Can-Am and did the Ennstal-Classic vintage rally last July in a Mini Cooper. The Maverick X3 he’ll drive in Portugal is a four-year-old car that he knows won’t be competitive, but his plan for the race is just to gain track time.

“I think this is the best category to start as a rookie and then let’s see where I end up,” Walkner explained. “For my rookie year, I’m really trying to enjoy the maximum, to keep learning a lot. After such a hard time in the last two years, I feel like I can enjoy this time here more than before.”

Walkner cited “spirit and fascination” for his reasons to come back to rally raids.

“You need to race, then you’ll understand it,” he said. “More than 20 years of professional motorcycle riding, 10 years rally racing, and the one time when you smell the spirit, when you have these moments when you are out in the desert alone with your copilot on a marathon stage with just a such a cool community, you miss it a lot.

“It’s really always like a hate-love, but in the last two years where I have no time, I have just rehabilitation, a really tough time, I feel a lot how much I miss it. It keeps me motivated and strong to be quick in my rehabilitation to come back on the start line.”

Oliver Pyerin, a former member of the Jagdkommando (Austria’s special forces) who currently works as a personal leadership coach, will be his navigator. While Pyerin doesn’t come from a racing background, Walkner appreciates that Portugal will be a learning experience for both of them.

If things work out in SSV and Challenger, he hopes to eventually move into the top-level Ultimate class. Ford has expressed interest in him as a potential replacement for Carlos Sainz should the latter leave the team.

Featured image credit: Kin Marcin / Red Bull Content Pool