Rally Pan Am flew home from Argentina having finished the 2016 Dakar Rally all “teeth and thumbs.” Both team riders, Ian Blythe and Scott Bright, not only crossed the infamously impossible finish line (on average only half the entrants complete the race) but placed in notable positions. 

Today Dave’s a California man, although he was born and bred in Rhode Island. He’s easygoing, with hard opinions, and we appreciate all the lessons racing and riding have taught him. 

Rally Management Services at the 2016 Dakar Rally.Rally Management Services at the 2016 Dakar Rally.

AM: How long have you been racing in rallies? 

DP:I’ve been focused on rally since 2007, when I did my first, the “underground” Death Valley Rally. I was instantly hooked and did everything I could to ride any rally route I could. 

AM: How long have you been involved in rallies as a manager, support, sponsor, savvy technician? 

DP: Almost from the beginning. I started training and riding with my predecessor, Charlie Rauseo. By 2008, I was an assistant instructor at his navigation training schools. It was the only way to get more rally riding in, to scratch my itch. I immediately found it enjoyable to incorporate “working” while riding. I think I’m like a working dog breed—happiest when I have a purpose. 

AM: How else are you involved in rallies and motorcycle racing? 

DP: I took over Rally Management Services in 2012, when Charlie went back to lawyering. As one of the instructors, and also the guy who built RMS’ webstore, it really made sense. I also own ICO Racing, the world’s leading manufacturer of rally computers for motorcycles. These two business are the backbone of the pro race team, Rally Pan Am. To help grow the sport, I’ve also donated a lot of time to the RallyNavigator.com project. 

AM: Why did you form Rally Pan Am? 

DP: Charlie, along with friends Robb McElroy and Niles Folin, all from San Francisco, founded Rally Pan Am back in 2004 or so. RMS, the business side, actually grew out of the race team, as other teams searched for hard-to-find parts and services. When I took over RMS, Rally Pan Am’s pro rider, Jonah Street, had retired, so the team was on mothballs. Once I’d gotten a handle on RMS and ICO, re-booting Rally Pan Am was the next step. 

AM: How did you meet Scott Bright and Ian Blythe, your current team riders? 

DP: I met Scott at an underground four-day race called Kings of the West a few years back. When I started looking for new riders, I didn’t go to the SoCal Baja crowd. I looked for endurance racers with international racing backgrounds. This led me to Ian, an ISDE and world enduro rider. While looking for a second rider, Scott’s name came up. When I discovered that he and Ian had a long-time friendship, it was a simple choice. 

AM: Why Dakar? Though this rally is infamous worldwide, it still hasn’t seemed to win the hearts of the majority of Americans. Why take on the physical, financial, and mental burdens? 

DP: The cerebral nature of rally navigation combined with the self-sufficiency required to be alone in the desert really appealed to me. The challenges of being an American in this most grueling race are brutal. I suppose it’s that same challenge that makes it all the more appealing. I’m also a huge fan of the international nature of rally racing. It’s great to be a part of a cross-cultural event and to meet up with old friends—to see places around the world. The racing scene at home, and in Baja, are pretty heterogeneous. 

AM: Yours were the only American riders on an American team at the Dakar Rally. Did you feel any pressure from the responsibility of representing the U.S. at this race? 

DP: The pressure is always to finish. For us in particular, as an underfunded privateer team, there is pressure to show that we can do everything that the factory teams can—even without all their polished bells and whistles. It’s a kind of blue collar, get it done, work ethic. This year we had a Top 10 stage and 100% finish rate, with only two crew for two riders. I think factory KTM had a 39-person crew or something. 

AM: What’s it take to keep riders going? Challenging breakdowns, engine blow-ups, and stress…. 

DP: We had a few moments where it could have ended. But there’s always a solution, if you are creative and persistent. Ian’s bike burst an oil cooler line in one stage. Luckily, he noticed it and made a repair to stem the leak. When he arrived in the bivouac, we naturally worried about whether any internal damage was done. But the KTM rally engines are tough. We opened it up a bit, discovered it looked good, and took the risk of running it rather than taking the 15-minute penalty of changing motors. Ian also took a fall one day and punctured a fuel tank. Before he noticed, it had leaked enough to let him run only about 12 kilometers. He had to wait a little while before Scott arrived to tow him in. 

AM: What’s the least you could get away with? 

DP: We like to run minimal. Next year we will ditch the gas generator and just add another battery to the truck. We’ll replace the AC air compressor with a heavy-duty 12V version. That saves space and the effort of unloading it to use it. It’s also quieter. We’ll make sure to fit the truck with more water storage, so that we have a better bike wash. 

AM: How do sponsors factor into your ability to attend the event? 

DP: Our sponsors are absolutely key to our success. Had I remained a software engineer, I would have had more money. But my passion is for racing, and now that it’s my profession, there’s no way to self-fund a professional team like this. We have a number of gear sponsors, but when it comes down to it, it takes hard currency to race. The ASO won’t accept bike parts or jackets as payment. Thankfully we have some great sponsors like If You See Kay Wines, ICO Racing, Klim, MX1WEST, and Motion Pro who helped us out beyond just free product. 

AM: Who were your sponsors at Dakar 2016? 

DP: For Dakar 2016 we had a great team of sponsors: ICO Racing, If You See Kay Wines, Craftsman, MX1WEST, Motion Pro, Baja Designs, Klim, Konflict Suspension and many more. 

AM: What difficulties did you and the team experience in order to attend and complete Dakar? 

DP: It’s hard to race rally professionally as a U.S. team. The sport is still gaining popularity here, whereas it’s huge in Europe. Rebooting the team from scratch meant getting all new sponsors to fund a yet-unproven new team of riders. We made it about halfway to attending Dakar 2015, but had to pull the plug. It was a shame since Ian had won the Dakar Challenge in 2015 and had a free entry. We had to forfeit that, and the ASO held our deposits for 2016. Thankfully our sponsors didn’t lose hope. Scott and Ian both had great race results in 2015, so I’m sure that helped. In 2016 we were able to pull ICO Racing and If You See Kay Wines in as sponsors and make it to the finish!

AM: How do you feel now that you’ve finished a race that was such a long time coming? 

DP: Really happy and proud of the whole team. It’s a ton of work, all uphill, and a ton of money. There are a
million reasons to quit, and very few to finish. But our team stuck through the ups and downs and made it happen. It’s pretty rare to have a group work so well right from the start.

AM: Any plans for Dakar 2017?

DP: You bet. Plans started the moment we hit the finish podium. We’ll race the Sonora Rally and Baja Rallies here near home, plus hope to race Sardegna again this year. And of course, we’ll be at Dakar 2017!

RallyManagementServices.com

This story first appeared in the May/June 2016 edition of Adventure Motorcycle Magazine.

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