RUBEN FARIA

Rubin Faria of Portugal has served the KTM factory team as support rider or water carrier for five times Dakar winner Cyril Despres since 2011 and has also been consistently upping his own performance. He delivered a fine ride in the 2013 edition, finishing in second to Despres, a big improvement on his eighth place finish in 2012. Faria also won the final stage and arrived at the finish in Santiago, Chile to the roar of the thousands of fans that turned out to meet the riders after their epic 8000 km plus ride.
Born in 1974 in Olhão, Portugal, Ruben first raced in the Portuguese Championship in Piscainho in 1982. He also became the first rookie to take a stage victory in his first outing in 2012. Ruben first rode a KTM machine, a KTM LC4 620 in 1995 and is passionate about racing the mighty Dakar.