Motorsport: Kiwi finishes in Dakar top 30

Kiwi Chris Birch on his way to a top 30 finish in the ultra-challenging Dakar Rally. Photo / Supplied

New Zealand motorbike rider Chris Birch became only the second Kiwi to ever complete the Dakar Rally, finishing his class in 27th place.

The notoriously dangerous and difficult event, with 15 days across desert terrain in South America, is widely regarded as one of the biggest challenges in motorsport - and Birch managed to finish in the top 30.

Five-time kiwi enduro champion Birch entered the race as a privateer, starting 110th out of 178 entrants in the motorcycle category.

Birch pushed through to an impressive 27th in the class on his Comsol, KTM and Red Bull New Zealand-sponsored KTM 450.

"The sand was so soft that if you stopped you would have to quickly get off your bike and run along it to keep it going, or else you would sink," he said after countless hours of tough sand riding through Argentina, Chile and Peru.

It didn't all go according to plan, with Birch hit from behind by another competitor on day four, causing him to crash and damaging the KTM.

""I had a hell of a crash, a real big one," he said. "Someone ran into me and off I went. I walked away without a scratch but the bike was quite damaged - the oil cooler was broken. I tried instant metal and that didn't work.

"So I had to strip down the bike and bypass the oil cooler and work some Kiwi magic into it. I lost heaps of time I know, but it was all fixable and luckily I was fine. Of course I wish it didn't happen but it's not the end of the world and I just had to focus on getting on with the rest of the race."

He lost more than an hour, and remained problem free until a nasty incident on the second to last leg in which he was injured - but enough to stop racing.

"There was a big drop off that wasn't really marked on the route book, and it took me by surprise. I jumped about three metres down, and just landed wrong - face planted into the safety equipment on the bike.

"I thought I had broken my nose, and I sort of knocked myself out for a second as well. Not only that I sprained my ankle pretty bad. It was a pretty big one, very scary, and I was quite sore."

Despite a bloody jacket and the daunting task of pulling a motorcycle boot over a badly swollen ankle, he pressed on through the short final stage with just 30km of racing and a 254km transition stage - finishing within the top 30 in his class.

"My goal for Dakar was just to finish, just go there and come home in one piece," said Birch.

"It has been a truly amazing experience from start to finish, I am so grateful for the opportunity to have completed the event. It is totally different to anything I have ever done before and I have really enjoyed the race - apart from crashing!"