Ruben Faria (born 30 July 1974 in

Olhão Olhão (), officially known as Olhão da Restauração, is a city and municipality in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 45,396, in an area of . Located near the regional capital Faro and form ...

) is a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

rally-raid and

enduro Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on extended cross-country, off-road courses. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges. The main type of enduro event, and the format to which the World Enduro Championship is run, is ...

motorcycle rider, best known for his participation in the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal ...

in which he finished as runner-up in

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Career

Faria made his Dakar Rally debut in 2006, winning only his second ever stage, set in the Portuguese city of Portimao, riding a

KTM KTM AG (Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen, formerly KTM Sportmotorcycle AG) is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and sports car manufacturer owned by Pierer Mobility AG and the Indian manufacturer Bajaj Auto. It was formed in 1992 but traces ...

motorcycle. Despite this success, Faria could finish no higher than 35th overall by the end of the rally, and was forced to retire from the race in 2007 after the eighth stage having won the opening stage in Lisbon. His next participation would not come until 2010, his first appearance for the works KTM team as "water-carrier" (support rider) for teammate

Cyril Despres Cyril Despres (born 24 January 1974) is a French rally racer and resident of Andorra. He won the Dakar Rally five times, in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2013, riding a KTM motorcycle. He also won the Red Bull Romaniacs, one of the toughest hard e ...

, where Faria took another stage win in the final day of the rally to cement an 11th place finish in the final standings. He then took his first top-ten overall placing by finishing eighth in 2011, though he failed to win a stage for the first time, and finished 12th overall in

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in spite of sustaining a wrist injury on the third day of the rally. Faria enjoyed his most successful run in the Dakar to date in 2013, finishing second to team leader Despres, 11 minutes down on the winning time, his win in the final stage bringing his total to four. Faria continued with KTM in

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, no longer in a supporting role, but was forced to retire from the rally after three days having suffered a crash, after which he was transferred to hospital but found to be not seriously injured. Outside of the Dakar, Faria has won other major rally-raid events such as the Moroccan Rally (in 2007) and the Portuguese-based PAX Rally (in 2008, part of the Dakar Series). In 2016, Faria will be riding for KTM sister company, Husqvarna, but crashed out of Stage 6, retiring from the race because of injuries, retiring from the sport shortly afterwards. In 2017 he was a consultant for the team, but will return to the race in 2018, following in the footsteps of

Stéphane Peterhansel Stéphane Peterhansel (born 6 August 1965 in Échenoz-la-Méline, Haute-Saône) is a rally driver from France. He holds the record for wins at the Dakar Rally, with 14 victories. In the 2018 season he was one of the official drivers of the Team P ...

, and

Nani Roma Joan "Nani" Roma Cararach (born 17 February 1972) is a rally racing driver from Folgueroles, Barcelona, Spain. He won the Dakar Rally riding a motorcycle in 2004. Since then he has entered in the car category, taking the win in the 2014 edition ...

, all distinguished Dakar motorcycle racers who switched to cars later in their career, paired with Andre Villas-Boas in a

Toyota Hilux The , stylized as HiLux and historically as Hi-Lux, is a series of pickup trucks produced and marketed by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The majority of these vehicles are sold as pickup truck or cab chassis variants, although the ...

in the car category.Husqvarna’s 2016 Dakar Rally Team Announced
''advjoe.ca''. Retrieved November 20, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faria, Ruben 1974 births Living people People from Olhão Portuguese motorcycle racers Off-road motorcycle racers Enduro riders Dakar Rally co-drivers Portuguese rally drivers Dakar Rally motorcyclists Sportspeople from Faro District