Rally driver Dick Partridge and co-driver Keith Parker were back in Ipswich last night, tired but elated, after completing the two-week Total Dakar Rally – the only British car team to enter:  Alison Withers reports

The rally was conceived by Frenchman Thierry Sabine in 1978 when he and some friends decided to drive from Paris to Dakar just after Christmas.  It has become an annual event and the route has been modified so it now takes place wholly in Africa.

It was a typical British effort – lots of ingenuity, little back-up and a shoestring budget.

Dick Partridge and Keith Parker are understandably delighted at completing the tough, two-week challenge with an almost standard car, no spares and little money.
For Dick, 40, of Akenham, Ipswich, it was fifth time lucky.  His previous attempt was in 1991 when Keith, of Shotley, went for the first time as co-driver/navigator.
The two spent about 10 months working on the Isuzu Trooper they bought as a write-off.
“We strengthened what we could and took off everything we could,” said Dick, “but it was still basically a road-going car with only standard suspension and transmission.”
Without the capacity to carry spares or take back-up teams, nursing the car to the end was a close-run thing.  Sponsors provided parts, the money needed to enter and to ship the car to Dakar, Senegal, where 107 cars began the race on January 4.
Dick’s previous experiences had led him to set up the car for sandy terrain, only to find this year’s route took in a lot more savannah-type country than previous races.  “This year was rougher than I’ve ever know it.” He said “You don’t know the route until a couple of months before and you get the detail of each stage the day before.”
The two decided completing the event was more important that racing for a top position and so treated the car as gently as they could, concentrating on finishing each stage without incurring time penalties or damage.  But even their best efforts meant long nights for Keith, who had to manufacture and fit new shock absorbers each night out of discarded mud flaps.  That was not the least of their mishaps and Keith’s motor engineering skills – he has his own business in Shotley – were soon used to the full.  Apart from the expected punctures and the wear and tear on shock absorbers he had to patch up a broken transmission shaft and a cracked back axle.
They were nearly out of the event in the early stages when they rolled the car on to its roof and smashed the windscreen.  Officials concerned for their safety said they must have some kind of mesh or net to replace their windscreen if they were to continue.  Initially they rigged a net from strips of an old sheet wound tight into strings with a hand drill.  That only satisfied the officials for a couple of days.  They haggled with the inhabitants of a hut near one of the rest stops to buy an old wire mesh bed base.  “They wanted £100 for it but we beat them down to £50.” Said Dick.  “It was actually worth about 4p, but we had to have something.”  Thankfully they never had to use it.  They were given some plastic mesh screening from another back-up team later in the day.
The two soon became favourites with competitors and officials, many of whom thought they would never finish.
Two days after the race began Keith’s sleeping bag and rally suit were stolen.  Rest stops were not only short of sleep but also cold.  Then towards the end of the race his bag was stolen, leaving him with only the clothes he stood in.  He bought a pair of colourful cotton trousers and a T-short when they returned to Dakar.
But there were heart-warming moments.  Maggie Heraty, a woman from UNHCR whom they met in Timbuktu, realised they were British from the St Elizabeth Hospice sticker on the car.  She gave them £20 for the hospice.
They almost ran out of money by the end of the race and were forced to make a frantic phone call to sponsor Ray Walters of Orwell Motor Cycles, Ipswich, who arranged their airfare home.
Would they do it again?  Dick is already thinking about it.  Keith was more cautious, but judging by the gleam in his eye it wouldn’t take much to persuade him.