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WHILE MOST of us will be celebrating New Year’s Eve Dick Partridge and Keith Parker will be in West Africa, making final preparations before the start of the most gruelling rally in the world. They are the only British team to have entered a car in the 16-day 1997 Dakar Rally. Originally the Paris-Dakar Rally, the 1997 event starts on January 4 from Dakar, capital city of the former French colony Senegal. This will be the 19^th running of the Dakar.
“This is not just a motor race. It is an education, an overwhelming experience and a race all rolled into one unique tapestry to be savoured from the memory for the rest of our lives. And we want to give it our best shot,” said Dick.
Dick and Keith, who both come from Suffolk, will be driving an Isuzu Trooper prepared by them selves, in which they aim to cover the expected 11,000 Kilometres of the event over some of the world’s most inhospitable terrain.
The rally is renowned for its gruelling conditions and as well as facing the shifting sands and stinging winds of the Sahara Desert competitors must cover endless miles of rock strewn, pot-holed roads and river beds. Their vehicle has been prepared with durability in mind rather than out and out speed because they expect to have little or no back-up and lengthy maintenance work during the race would mean even less sleep for privateers.
They must race all day for up to 800 km a day in temperatures of more than 130F, then, as the temperature drops below freezing, inspect their vehicles at night before undertaking essential repairs, joining the queues for fuel and food, reading through the route book covering the next day’s section, putting up their tent and getting as much sleep as possible with the noise of mechanics working through the night all round them.
This relentless regime continues for more than two weeks, depending on the route. The rally has become a special event for all the competitors, the professional teams fighting for first place and the privateers fighting for survival.
It will be long-awaited return to the event for both men. Dick has competed in four previous Dakars, while this will be Keith’s second run, having accompanied Dick on his last entry in 1991.
Forty-year-old Dick learned to drive early in his life on his father’s farm. When he was twenty five he fulfilled a long standing ambition by learning to fly an was soon competing in aerobatic competitions around the UK. Soon after that he sold his plane to finance his first Dakar entry and for the next four years competed as a privateer.
Keith Parker is forty two and is a qualified motor engineer of many years experience. His association with Dick began in 1981 when he went to work for him, helping him set up a dealership and establish workshop and MOT testing facilities at his garage.

Trooper in a sorry state

In 1984 he set up his own business, continuing to supply specialist technical knowledge and practical help to Dick. He became involved in preparing the vehicles for Dick’s domestic rallies, principally an RS2000 and Sierra Cosworth, before turning his attentions to the Trooper. He became fully involved with the Dakar vehicle following its recovery from the desert in a very sorry state in 1989. It was completely stripped, lightened and rebuilt in Keith’s workshop. In response to problems suffered by the vehicle he designed and made rear axle cooling system and fitted a ford engine for which tuning parts were readily available.
His first experience on the event came in 1991 when he followed on the mechanics’ plane to look after the vehicle. After a freak transmission failure put Dick out of that years event Keith was able to effect sufficient repairs to drive the car back to England from Southern Libya and he accompanied Dick for the journey, his place on the plane being taken by Dick’s navigator.
In 1991 the now very tired Isuzu faced what was to be its last Dakar with the addition of a gearbox cooling system, again designed and installed by Keith, who this time went along as navigator. Dick had never doubted his technical ability and was pleasantly surprised at his effectiveness as a navigator.

But why do you do it?

All went well into the first third of that event but the old Trooper was worn out and expired just before the halfway point. By that time it was in such a state that there was no point recovering it and it is probably still where they left it.
Many people wonder what makes Dick and Keith so determined to be part of the motoring mayhem of this event. Dick shed some light on this subject saying: “Where else in the world of motor sport can we line up with Formula One and World Rally Champions, as well as others in our own position, in a situation where every one is fighting against the conditions and not just each other?
“The difficulties of the event forge a special bond between all those taking part, especially when the gruelling conditions provide more competition than our rivals. Where else can we test ourselves to the limit of our endurance, at the end of our tethers, knowing that losing our composure is a recipe for disaster?”
Keith is as committed to the cause as Dick “Where else can you be helped by a total stranger as if they were a long lost brother?
“Its great to see the wonderful smiles on the children’s faces as they watch these crazy white men in their amazing contraptions pass their villages; villages that have stayed the same for a thousand years”
Competing in the Dakar is not cheap. The vehicle is now purchased and prepared, but there are still substantial entry fees and fuel costs, plus emergency and safety supplies. The greatest bonus for the sole British Dakar duo would be spares and mechanical support. While sponsorship for the team has been the best ever this year, there is as yet no cash left for this important item.
For contact numbers and to follow Dick and Keith’s progress call their Dakar Newsline premium rate telephone service on 0891 800 639. (Calls cost 49ppm peak 39ppm all other times. All proceeds support rally costs)