RUST magazine: RUST #45

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THE BIG QUESTION
So let’s get the big question out of the
way. I do fancy at least one more crack
at the Dakar, but most likely in Malle
Moto. I’m going to suggest 2022 is my
target. I wrote in the online RUST blog
about how a Dakar is a huge consumer
of time and 2021 is just too much too
soon, especially with baby Keyworth
due in March.
As well as knowledge and an
understanding of it that can’t be gained
from questioning other people (I did
this a LOT!), having done a Dakar the
advantage is that I won’t really need
to do any other qualifiers or hoop
jumping. I’m in the club. It’s relatively
exclusive. Only so many Brits have a
recorded a finish (who? Well that half-
Brit Pavey comes to mind, his son Llel
too, then Plumb, Extance, Sunderland
of course, Deacon, Craigie – although
he’s Irish…). Probably less than 20 guys.
It’s not a question that a Google search
has an answer to.
We should mention my little band of
desert brothers here. Friendships have
been cemented in the sand along the
way, and Neil Hawker, Simon Hewitt,
Mick Extance and David Westwood
have all been a part of my journey. The
stats are brutal. I’d pointed out before
the start that at least half of us were
unlikely to make it, and I was right.
David crashed out of Rally Maroc,
winning a proper break of his arm in
the process, meaning he never made
the start. Neil crashed out in stage 5,
breaking a shoulder. He rode out of the
stage like a hero but it was the end of
his 2020 ride. Mick had a serious day
in the desert which saw him loose a
tyre, then an engine, then his finisher’s
medal after he was pulled out before
making the final check after being
towed and coming in after the ‘closed
door’ time. Simon had a catastrophic
engine failure, putting an end to his
race on day 7.
Both Simon and Mick went on
to ride the Dakar Experience, both
having rebuilt engines; Mick with
the assistance of our own crew (and
some of the factory KTM boys too, who
couldn’t help themselves getting stuck
in until well after tea time), Simon with
the assistance of his Drag-On racing
support team. Simon’s race nearly
fizzled out before the start also, when
he was terribly let down by his previous
support arrangements. He found out
just a matter of weeks before that a
bike had not only not been built for
him, but a base WR450F hadn’t even
been sourced. It’s not all lollipops and
rainbows out in the rally world.
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