Riding the Yamaha Rally Team WR450F, the 41-year old managed 10th despite stopping to help his Argentinean teammate Franco Caimi. The Queenslander then suffered an injury to his hand, but pushed on with some self administered anti-inflammatories and an ice bucket.

“With my hand completely numb from the swelling I had no choice but to ride conservatively for the last two days” he said.  “And I was very glad the final stage was only 90 minutes.

“It was a huge step forward for our Dakar preparation. Come January we’ll be very familiar with what we’ll face during the first week of Dakar. Meantime, all I have to do is keep up my fitness with a little motocross with my kids.”

There was more good news for the Yamaha crew, with Adrien Van Beveren finishing just 20 seconds behind winner Paulo Gonçalves (Honda). Kevin Benevides (Honda) filled the podium with Yamaha’s Xavier De Soultrait fourth; less than three minutes separated the leading quartet after 10 hours of relentless slog over the Peruvian sand dunes.

“It’s definitely a four-way battle between KTM, Husqvarna, Honda and our team,” he concluded.

By Peter Whitaker