Dakar Rally.co.uk

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Evening Star, 23 January 1997. 'DESERT STORM'

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Some folk climb mountains, others walk across the Antarctic.
But for two Suffolk ‘adventurers’ their goal was to drive through the burning hot desert for 15 days.
Dick Partridge, from Akenham, and Keith Parker, from Shotley Gate, have just successfully completed the Total Dakar Rally to become the first British team to achieve this feat in a decade.
Star writer ELVIN KING talked to them about their amazing adventures in the desert.

They made it to Dakar and back as true achieve the impossible

"We have done the impossible," pronounced driver Dick Partridge within minutes of landing back at Stansted Airport.
"We were the lowest budget entry by some way." Said navigator Keith, before going home for his first good night’s sleep for some while.
Of the 136 cars and trucks which started the marathon Total Dakar Rally their Isuzu Trooper was one of only 83 who completed the 8,500 kilometre trip through some of the worst terrain in Africa.
Despite a series of disasters and scrapes they came home in 76^th place - which despite only winning them a ‘tree-shaped’ finishing trophy was an incredible achievement.
This is Dick’s first finish in five starts.
In 1988 he partnered Ipswich speedway star Chris Louis when the event began in Paris and ended in Dakar
The following year Dick’s partner was former Witches junior rider Andy Davey, and in 1990 it was Matt Dickinson.
The next year Dick linked up with workshop owner Keith, but it was almost a case of mechanical failures causing their hopes to be dashed yet again.
With a modified standard vehicle which took 10 months to prepare, their hopes of finishing looked bleak when they rolled over. For a few stunned moments they contemplated failure, before literally picking themselves up - making the necessary repairs - and getting back on track.
The main problem caused by the crash was damage to the windscreen which meant they travelled two and a half days without one.
"It was hot and dusty, "Said Dick.
"The temperature outside the vehicle was over 40 degrees and inside it was much more. Our water bottle was so hot you just needed to put in a tea bag to make a hot drink."
The intrepid pair made some makeshift rope out of a sheet to act as a net that by rally rules had to be placed in front of the screen to protect them from flying rocks and stones. They then paid £50 in Timbuktu for an old bedstead, planning to use the mesh in place of the damaged grill.
"The guy thought he had won the pools as £50 is an enormous amount of money over there," explained Partridge, who used to promote speedway at Mildenhall.
But before they could assemble the ‘grill’ they came across a piece of see-through which they managed to screw on to replace the missing screen. "It rattled a bit but did the job," added Partridge.
"We also had numerous punctures and other problems which Keith had to put right each night.
"The biggest concern was when the steering track rod broke and we had to lash it together with a piece of jack handle and tie-down strips. We were able to improvise to get things working again, but our vehicle wouldn’t have passed the MOT!"
The pair drove between four to 13 hours a day from one stage to the next with one day’s rest in the middle of the 15 days. Nights were spent in a tent erected by the pair in the sand.
"There is less sand funnily enough now in the rally than there was when it used to start in Paris, but it was much tougher." says Partridge.
"Under the right circumstances I would do it again, as it can be great fun, with a wonderful sense of achievement if you reach the finishing line."
One thing which encouraged the Suffolk pair was to meet up with a couple of supporters who were waiting for them at the end of some of the stages. Mark Stennett and Nick Wright, from sponsors RH Freight, flew out to the Dakar to watch the event. The Felixstowe-based duo even took a taxi for 500 miles as they chased the competitors around, and had to catch a lift back in a Hercules plane when their taxi driver took fright in Niger, and returned hot-foot to Senegal.
"Seeing Mark and Nick waiting for us at the end of a stage gave us a big lift," said Partridge. "We often did not start a section until late in the morning as the bikes went first followed by cars and trucks in race order.
"With a minute’s difference between each start this meant we often had to finish in the dark. We also met up with an English woman who donated £20 to our St Elizabeth Hospice charity. We had cut her up in Timbuktu in our haste to purchase some fuel. She was very polite about it and recognised we were English by the St Elizabeth Hospice sticker on our vehicle.
"Her name was Maggie Heraty and she works for the United Nations as a refugee worker. When we returned to Timbuktu on our return journey she was waiting for us and was so thrilled we were still going well."
Another friend they found in the desert was Bury St Edmunds-based Matt Stephenson, who works for the Jean-Louis Schlesser team and their Seat-engined buggy. Once his work had been completed for his own team he would assist Partridge and Parker, with use of the Schlesser lighting systems and welding equipment.
"Some of the bigger teams had five lorries in support .We were on our own and had to carry our own tents and clothes," explained Parker, who travelled back to Stansted in a baggy pair of highly coloured trousers.
"Its not a fashion statement, but a necessity," he said. "I had my sleeping bag and racing suit stolen on the second night. And later on all my clean clothes went missing as well. I had to finish the rally in the same clothes and purchase some new ones in Dakar to get home.

"I dread to think what my wife Christine and sons Neil (18) and Sean (14) will think."

The pair made no arrangements for the trip home. "We would have lost money if we gone out early and failed to return to Dakar," they said. The Isuzu is being shipped home via France while they had to contact friends in Ipswich to enable them to get a plane home.
"It was great to finish, but it was not just down to us," said Partridge. "We would not have done it without the financial and moral support we received."

Driving round the quiet Suffolk back roads will never seem the same again for these true blue Brits.