Matthias Walkner leads KTM Rally Extreme training in India

A Dakar winner's first trip to India

Matthias Walkner, the Austrian rider who won the Dakar Rally in 2018, came to India for the first time in September 2026 to run KTM's new Rally Extreme programme in Mumbai and Bengaluru. Talking to DriveSpark about his career, Walkner said he was second at Dakar in 2017 and in 2019, and finished third in South America in 2022. He told the site that a testing crash in the United States in December 2023, during preparation for his next Dakar bid, put him in hospital for seven months with what he called many operations and rehabilitation.

What the Ride and Train day covered

KTM split Rally Extreme into two tiers, as laid out on the KTM India booking pages and reported by Motoroids. A Face to Face meet and greet, open to any motorcyclist, cost ₹500 and ran in Mumbai on September 11 and in Bengaluru on September 15. The Ride and Train leg that followed was open only to KTM Adventure owners, cost ₹5,000, and put 50 riders through each city across two days, in four groups of 25.

Autocar India sent a correspondent through one of those days on a production spec KTM 390 Adventure, the same 349cc bike sold to customers here. The day ran in four stages, a timed prologue with jumps and mud, a 3.5 kilometre roadbook navigation course on the bike's display, a riding with disability drill in which KTM pulled the gear lever and locked the bike in second gear, and a mechanical stage where riders had to refit that lever and pull and reseat the air filter themselves. Counting six visiting journalists, 31 people rode that day. Autocar India's rider wrote that Walkner's own demonstration came only after the two main riding stages, with tips offered once the group had already struggled through the navigation leg on its own.

Why KTM sent a Dakar winner, not just an instructor

In its announcement, carried by Motoroids, KTM said Walkner would bring rally bred insight rather than run a standard riding clinic. Applications for the Ride and Train slots went through a KTM panel rather than open sign up, and the fastest rider from each city wins a fully paid trip to Europe for a two day advanced roadbook session with Walkner.

For owners of the 390 Adventure in India, that is a rare chance to train in roadbook reading, self recovery and trailside repair with someone who has needed all three on the Dakar itself. Walkner told DriveSpark that he has made many mistakes and had many crashes of his own, even with three Dakar podiums to his name. KTM is selling that history, not just the bike, as the reason to sign up.

Sources

• Matthias Walkner Interview: 2018 Dakar Win, Recovery After Major Injury & Switch To 4 Wheels, DriveSpark
• KTM Announces Adventure Rally Extreme With Dakar Winner Matthias Walkner, Motoroids
• KTM Adventure Rally Extreme, Getting Rally Ready, Autocar India
• KTM Rally Extreme, official programme page, KTM