| Team Dome BMW - Simon & Nick: 9th Jan 2005 |
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Pavey beats odds and strives for Dakar finish
Honorary Brit and BMW's Off-Road Skills instructor Simon Pavey had his first day of rest today
after battling some of the toughest conditions in this year's 2005 Telefňnica
Dakar Rally.
The most difficult stage to date was on Thursday for the seventh stage,
which took competitors
from Zauerat to Tichit in Africa. It included a 660km special with large sand dunes and hundreds
of kilometres of camel grass. To add to the already difficult stage, a
massive sand storm kicked
up and made conditions almost impossible for competitors.
Many competitors – motorcycles, cars and trucks – failed to reach the bivouac
at the end of the
day, including Pavey. In the pitch black of night, they either camped out
in the freezing cold
conditions or continued to race, hoping to make it back to the final check
point.
Friday's 520km special stage was cancelled because so many competitors had not reached the
Dakar base camp. Instead, a massive clean up was the highlight that day.
Many competitors had
run out of fuel or lost their way, and the infamous Dakar sweeper trucks
began picking up
competitors to return them to base.
BMW's Off-Road Skills instructor had no intention of waiting for help and giving up his dream of
finishing this year's Telefňnica Dakar Rally. Simon rode on and managed
to start and complete
Saturday's ninth stage in 78th position and is 89th overall.
On Sunday's rest day in Atar, Team DOME BMW rider Simon Pavey was able
to call in and
describe his gruelling three-day experience: "It has been complete madness and all of the days
seem to have blended together.
"On Thursday the subframe on my bike broke 200km into the special
stage. It took me two hours
to patch it up, using zip ties and BMW straps, and I had to abandon the rear fuel tank. Then it got
dark, but I managed to see loads of competitors and I rode with a group
for a while.
"It was almost impossible to ride over the sand dunes in the dark.
You couldn't see anything. I
tried15 times to get over one dune and kept hitting lumps of camel grass
and then I was
catapulted over the handlebars of my bike. I eventually got over the sand
dune and found 15 to
20 competitors camped out on the other side. One of the top riders was there [number 13,
Frenchman Luc Pagnon] who said that Friday's stage would be cancelled because
so many
riders were still out in the desert.
"Therefore, I decided to camp with the others, knowing that if I continued in the conditions I
would probably get lost or fall and be injured. We all tried to sleep but
the wind was so strong
and the sand storm was bad. I wrapped myself in my riding kit and silver
blanket and tried to
get warm and sleep for a few hours.
"The next day we started again at dawn, but the sand storm was still raging. The conditions
were really bad and I could hardly see where I was going. It was actually
quite scary. I rode
with a Canadian guy and we later met up with an Irish guy and helped fix
his bike.
"I believe it was the hardest stage of any rally that I have ever
competed in [Simon has competed
in four Dakar rallies – 1998, 1999, 2003 and 2004]. We just kept riding and finally reached Tichit
[the destination that competitors were scheduled to arrive on Thursday
evening] at 2pm on Friday.
"I didn't stay there long. I managed to have some food and then I
began my ride towards Tidjikja
[the location for the campsite that night]," said an exhausted Pavey.
"Although 40kms on, the fan
on my bike broke and then the bike overheated. I stopped and let it cool
down and it seemed
okay. But then, another 10km on, it did it again. I had to stop several times on the way and finally
arrived at 10:30pm on Friday night."
Many competitors had fallen victim to the severe weather conditions, which
included strong winds,
sand storms and non-stop rain. Many support vehicles were also stranded in the African desert.
"My support crew hadn't made it back to Tidjikja, so I worked on the
bike. I fixed the fan and
checked the subframe and I was content that the BMW would be ready for Saturday's ninth
stage.
"Yesterday's stage was beautiful," said the delighted Pavey.
"It was very technical and there
were plenty of second and third gear sections. It was rocky and it also
had big sand dunes. I
loved every minute of it. It was pretty physical, but flowed nicely and
was really good fun."
After racing through yesterday's 361km special, competitors had a 35km liaison before arriving
at Atar. "In the liaison I finally got to appreciate the spectacular
scenery. I was riding through a
beautiful gorge. It was amazing and one of the most magnificent places
I have ever been."
Pavey finally met his support crew in Atar on Saturday evening and after
a good nights sleep the
team mended the bike so that Pavey can continue his Dakar dream.
Tomorrow's tenth stage, with a 483km special, rally starts and finishes in Atar and promises to be
the toughest of this year's event. There are only 276 remaining competitors
(129 bikes, 99 cars,
48 trucks).
Frenchman Cyril Despres continues to lead the Dakar, followed by Marc Coma and then South
Africa's Alfie Cox.
Highlights of the 2005 Telefňnica Dakar Rally can be seen on Europsort. See
your local guide for details. |
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