Firstly I shall very briefly outline our previous experience on the Dakar Rally. I first entered the race in 1988 with co-driver Chris Louis, and due to general lack of knowledge of the event and some mechanical problems we did not get beyond the first desert stage. In 1989 I entered with Andy Davey navigating for me, and we made it to the half way mark before rear axle failure put us out. 1990 saw journalist Matt Dickinson navigating for me with Keith Parker following on the mechanics plane, but our race was short lived due to front transmission problems. In 1991 Keith took on the role of navigator, and despite ongoing problems throughout this attempt we got about half way (which was well over 3000 miles) before engine failure stopped us. Various problems dictated that no more attempts were made until 1997, and this report tells how we fared.

1997 was the first time that the Dakar did not start in Europe. After pre-event scrutineering all the vehicles were shipped to the Senegalese Capital for the start of the new look East-West route. The only downside to this exciting new format for us and many other competitors was that we suffered somewhat from the effects of Dakars culinary delights, from which we did not fully recover until about four days into the race. The other main change for the 1997 race was that servicing was much reduced, but as we didn't have any service back up this made no difference to us at all.

Stage 1. Dakar-Tambacounda. Jan. 4th. 1997.

Liaison 206 km, Special 275 km, Liaison 106 km, Total 587 km.

The liaison stages are non competitive transit sections between the competitive special stages, and a comfortable time allowance is made for their completion, so there is no need to hurry in populated regions or on busy traffic routes. The first liaison was on an extremely busy road, and took us through Dakar’s Independence Square where a large crowd watched the Rally pass. As we got closer to the special stage start at Mbake the local traffic diminished dramatically, and we could feel that we were approaching the more remote Savannah regions. We started the special stage very carefully, fully aware that there was a long way to go, and that we really had to look after the car. But it was only about 20 kms into the stage when the oil pressure light came on, and fearing the worst we pulled off the track to investigate. An oil pipe to one of the coolers had not been properly constructed, but we were able to quickly repair it (and another one with the same problem) and we were underway again within 10 minutes. The problem really should have become apparent during pre-event testing, but due to budgetary constraints there wasn't any!

We had no further mechanical problems on this stage, but the other snag was the enormous amount of dust. It really was like driving in thick fog at times, and often we had to slow right down to walking pace. We just hoped that any following traffic would be as patient. One reason for the dust was that although the organisers had seeded the entries as well as possible there were a lot of faster cars starting behind slower ones, which led to a lot of overtaking. We were passed by quite a few faster vehicles, and the subsequent dust, or fech fech as it is known locally, caused us a lot of delay. As the race went on the problem reduced, because cars started the next stages in the latest finishing order, and after a few days the race had settled down so that normally there would be a slightly quicker car in front and a slightly slower one behind.

We also had a slight navigation mix up on this stage. It was our first experience using the recently introduced GPS. (Global Positioning System) and we mistook an en-route GPS point in the road book as a passage control at which we should have our time card stamped. We spent 10 minutes looking for this non-existent passage control before realising our error and continuing along the stage. Apart from this there were no other navigation problems, despite the difficulties caused by many very similar looking tracks going off into the surrounding Savannah. Our error reminded us that 5 years away from competitive motorsport leaves you a bit rusty, and also that the event had evolved during our absence. But we were still running, and learning fast!

Stage 2. Tambacounda-Kayes. Jan. 5th. 1997.

Liaison 7 km, Special 505 km, Liaison 82 km, Total 594 km.

Once again this stage was very dusty, and extremely rough. We were crossing a lot of very lush vegetation and some of the tracks were quite narrow. We saw a group of Baboons scampering into the bushes at one point as we were approaching the Mali border. The border crossing was marked by the Faleme River, which we had to ford. There was some potential for problems here, as the crossing was around 150 yards long and over 2 feet deep in places, but we got through by taking it very steadily. There were several competitors who looked to be having major problems with water getting in where it was not wanted, especially on motorbikes. At least those few yards were not dusty!

We finished this problem free special stage to be greeted by a group of British expatriates at the gold mining settlement of Sadioli, and were sorely tempted by their invitation to have a beer with them. But we still had the liaison to do, and any spare time would be better spent checking the car at the night’s bivouac, so we stuck to the job in hand. Also we were becoming aware of a problem with our shock absorbers; they were still working, but not as well as we would have liked at this early stage.

At the first bivouac we found it difficult to sleep well because of the nightlong noise from generators being used by the larger teams, so tonight we pitched our tent on the very edge of the camp. This was to prove much quieter, but it also made life easier for a thief. While we went for food someone went into the tent and stole Keiths race overalls and sleeping bag. Of course we should have been more careful, and for the rest of the event we didn't pitch the tent until we were ready to get in it!

Stage 3. Kayes-Nara. Jan. 6th. 1997.

Liaison 5 km, Special 552 km, Liaison 35 km, Total 592 km.

This stage took us into the Sahel region, with much less vegetation and slightly faster tracks and thankfully almost no dust. Our first incident of the day happened when I took my eye off the track for an instant to identify a Ssanyong that had stopped in the stage. As I looked back at the track it was clearly too late to avoid hitting a large egg shaped rock with the drivers side front wheel. The car leapt into the air at a rather worrying angle, crashed back down to earth and bounced around a bit before I regained control and said sorry to Keith! Luckily not much damage was done, although one wheel was severely dented.

But worse was to come! About a third of the way into the stage we were on a fairly fast and narrow sandy track which was set into the surrounding plain by about 12 inches. For some reason the car started to weave, not helped by the weakening shock absorbers, and the sides of the track caused an oscillation to begin. After a couple of swings the car climbed up the left bank and promptly rolled onto its roof! It was not a violent accident, and after asking each other if we were all right we got out of the side windows. But what to do now? We recovered some belongings that were spread around the vicinity, and Keith took a few photos! It was clearly impossible for the two of us to roll the car back over so all we could do was attach our tow rope to one of the rear spring mountings and wait for a following competitor to pull it back on to its wheels. After a few minutes a Spanish entered Range Rover appeared and stopped to see if help was needed. Within 45 seconds our car was upright, and the Spaniards were disappearing into the distance.

A quick look around the car showed no severe damage, but the windscreen was out, and its rightful place was rather out of shape! The engine started reasonably easily, although it generated a lot of smoke for a while, so we strapped ourselves in and continued the stage. We had to get used to having no screen, and take extra care with the time card, as there are severe time penalties for losing it.

Half way into the stage we stopped to investigate a noise from the front of the car, and found that the front wheel which had hit the rock earlier was loose with one broken stud, which illustrated just how hard a hit it must have been! There were some very soft sandy places during this stage and we engaged four wheel drive for the first time on the event. We were trying to avoid using the front transmission except when really necessary because it is not particularly strong on the Isuzu and had given problems on previous attempts.

The latter part of the stage was quite difficult and slow, and to cap a trying day we had a puncture just two kilometres from the end of the stage. We emerged from the stage very tired, but with no time penalties and no missed passage controls. We were still going, and being penalty free was a bonus!

Stage 4. Nara-Tombouctou Jan. 7th. 1997.

Liaison 5 km. Special 552 km. Liaison 35 km, Total 592 km.

This was the longest stage of the event and we found it quite difficult, especially without a windscreen. On the subject of the screen our interpretation of the rules was that we could still run without one so long as we had motorcycle goggles to wear. However, we heard that the technical commissioner was not happy with this, and that he wanted us to have a mesh of some kind to prevent debris entering the cab. By now it was too late to find anything from another team for this stage, so after much head scratching I decided to make a mesh using strips of old sheet (which had originally been taken to use as head scarves if protection from the sun became necessary). We had a small hand drill, which made winding the strips into a crude twine a lot easier, and the roll cage made a suitable frame to weave the net onto. Visibility was somewhat impaired by the net, but despite some funny looks at the start we were allowed into the stage!

As the stage progressed the tracks became sandier, and the vegetation changed to cacti. There were areas of deep ruts caused by the passage of trucks during the wet season, and many of these ruts were full of very fine dust. Of course clouds of this dust came into the cab as we pushed through these deep ruts, not daring to ease off the throttle for fear of getting stuck! I remembered getting stuck in a similar situation in 1988, when the ruts were so deep that no wheels were on the ground!. This is not too bad if you only have to shift sand from under the car, but on that occasion it was hard baked mud, almost impossible to dig, and it took a very long time to get going. So I was determined to avoid the same problem this time!

Night fell as we were about 200 km from the end of the stage, and navigation was very difficult. At one point we lost the track, and after a few moments saw the rear lights of another competitor ahead. We drove towards these lights, only to find another crew who had lost the track! We stopped for a brief conference, but the Japanese crew of the Toyota spoke very little English, and we can not even say Hello in Japanese! We also spoke briefly to a local inhabitant who told us it was 'That way' and pointed out an arc of about 60 degrees! We decided to press on alone, and using his ever improving GPS skills Keith managed to get us back to a point on the track near to where we had inadvertently left it. It was satisfying when the much faster Toyota we had seen eventually caught up and passed us half an hour later!

As we approached more desert like zones there were more sand dunes, although these did not cause many problems. The tracks were slightly faster and sandier for the last 100 km., and there were areas of many parallel tracks, which can hinder navigation.

This was certainly the hardest day yet for us, and to cap it all we got a puncture when we were almost within sight of the end of the stage! But we were still going!

At the bivouac the organisers told us that they were not really very happy with our screen netting, and asked us to do something better. We explained that we were having difficulty explaining to other teams what we needed, as they were nearly all French speaking, but we promised to keep trying. The technical commissioner said he would ask around for us as well, and on that basis we were allowed to start the next stage with our existing net. The next morning, as we were preparing to leave for the days stage, we spotted an old bed outside a straw hut, and it struck me that we could probably use the wire mesh that once supported a mattress to make something better than our existing net. We found the owner of the scrap bed, and he informed us that he wanted £100 for it! After much hard bargaining we ended up owning it for £50, which really was a small fortune for the now very happy seller! There was not time to try to use it straight away, so we put it in the back and made our way to the local fuel station.

As we got close to the fuel pumps we passed and slightly cut up a non rally Toyota. We then realised that this car was going for fuel too, and a few moments later the driver came over asking if we were English. She introduced herself as Maggie Heraty, and told us that she was working for the UNHCR. She had seen our St. Elizabeth Hospice sticker on the car, and thereby guessed our nationality. We had a quick chat, and it became clear that we had not upset her too much with our passing manoeuvre as she gave us a tenner each to have a drink before wishing us luck for the rest of the race! It seemed the right thing to do to pass our tenners on to the Hospice!

Stage 5. Tombouctou-Gao. Jan. 8th. 1997.

Special 415 km. Liaison 9 km. Total 424 km.

This was a trouble free day for us on a stage that followed the Niger River. There were some scenes of breathtaking beauty as we passed along sandy tracks through many valleys. But there were traps for the unwary. (Or unlucky?) As we passed close to the river edge we saw a few extremely soft and wet patches, and there was one where a vehicle had got itself well and truly bogged down. We made a mental note to try to avoid this happening to us. The day went well for us and we finished the stage in daylight, giving us more time to address the screen problem.

We were early enough to attend the nights briefing, and while we were there the technical commissioner found us and told us that he had persuaded the Nissan team to let us have some Macrolon plastic sheet. This is the same material we used for our side windows, and although not perfect as a windscreen because it scratches too easily, we gratefully accepted this kind offer. The sheet was crudely cut to cover the screen opening and attached with self-tapping screws and duct tape. We were relieved to have a solution that would satisfy the organisers and looked forward to the slightly more comfortable days to come.

Stage 6. Gao-Menaka. Jan. 9th. 1997.

Liaison 8 km, Special 332 km. Total 340 km.

This stage saw the first major change to the originally intended itinerary. It was intended to go to Tahoua on a liaison section of 396 km. after the stage to Menaka, but a later stage in Niger was to be cancelled, and to keep up the competitive distance it was decided to make Menaka to Tahoua a special stage for the next day. This was a relief to many competitors, and as the day turned out it did us a huge favour too!

The start of the stage was quite fast on a sandy track surrounded by large dunes and with vegetation typical of the Sahel. All was going well until I stopped because the car felt as if it had a puncture. A quick check showed that all the tyres were OK, but something was definitely wrongs A more thorough examination revealed that the front wheels were pointing in different directions, due to a broken track rod. It seemed that the only hope was that a truck would come along carrying welding gear and be willing to spare us 20 minutes. It struck me that this was at best unlikely, and in any case would mean a lot of wasted time, so I stared into the back of the car just looking for ideas. I then saw the jack handle, and thought that with our desert engineering skills, we could probably use a piece of it to repair the broken rod. We had a quick discussion to decide the best approach, and ended up making a sleeve to cover the broken section of rod and using a tie down strap to hold it together. We set off again hoping for the best, but realistically expecting more trouble. After about 40 km. our repair broke, and we re-fixed it. This happened a couple more times before we decided to try to get 2 of these rather bulky load straps into the confined space available. Fortunately they went on and we got out of the stage by driving extremely carefully and slowly over the worst of the rough. It was dark by the time we got to Menaka, and we knew that if this stage had not been changed we would have had problems getting to Tahoua that night.

We got the track rod welded by some kind soul, but it did not look very good at all, so we decided to eat and then try to get it done better. We had made friends with the mechanics on the J.L.Schlesser team, and one of them made a super job of re-welding our repair.

So, with the luck going mostly our way we were happy with our progress

Stage 7. Menaka- Tahoua. Jan. 10th. 1997.

Special 390 km. Liaison 6 km. Total 396 km.

No problems today, although the track was quite difficult. It was certainly tough enough to be a special rather than a liaison (It was probably originally made a liaison because of the border crossing into Niger). We reflected on how difficult it would have been to do the previous night with a bodged track rod, and reckoned that it would have taken all night if we had had to do it! We got to the bivouac around dusk, and took the chance to look at the by now very tired suspension. Keith found that the rear spring bushes were severely worn, as were the front top wishbone bushes. We had no spares to fit, but something had to be done to ensure that the car would keep going. Keith had the bright idea of using some mud flap material, Kaylan, to make up some bushing. He cut it to size and soon had the rear bushes repaired well enough to last the rest of the race. The fronts were more difficult, but he made a good enough repair, and we had plenty of material left too!

Just by chance we were talking to someone who commented that we had got a time penalty the previous day. We were both certain that we had completed the stage within the allowed time and went to check with the organisation. They found our time card, and sure enough it was their error! We were lucky to get this put right, because otherwise we would be starting right at the back of the field, and lose valuable daylight as a result. Another stroke of luck, but could it last?

Stage 8. Tahoua-Arlit. Jan. 11th. 1997.

Liaison 2 km. Special 575 km. Total 577 km.

Looking at the map before this stage we thought that we were in for an extremely hard day, but although it was by no means easy our worst fears did not materialise. The first 30 km were on a very windy and rocky track across the hills of the Ader, with one very steep decent out of the hills. The tracks became rather faster after this, and we caught up a few trucks, which gave us problems with dust. I was quite keen to pass one particular truck to let us make the most of this stage, and I cut a long sweeping corner to sneak past. As I rejoined the track, going slightly sideways, I was suddenly aware of a second truck that the first one was trying to pass! We bounced across the path of the pair of them, and got into an oscillating situation very similar to that which preceded our roll on day three! We got away with it, but we could visualise the potential wreckage! About 30 km. further on we had to stop because of a puncture, and sure enough both trucks passed us again.

Shortly after the third passage control, which was three quarters of the way into the stage, we realised that we were following the wrong track, as our headings did not tie up with the road book. There were several other vehicles in the same situation, all doing their own thing to sort themselves out. We decided to use the GPS to help us pick a heading that would take us back on track, and we found ourselves in a loose group of five vehicles driving flat out across a hard and fairly flat plateau. This was a bit nerve wracking because being off track meant that we had no road book notes to warn of dangers on the track. Indeed, we were not on a track at all, we were just steering a heading! Fortunately as dusk came we found the correct track and were able to confirm our exact position. This may have been more difficult after dark!

Towards the end of this stage we came across a competitor on a quad bike who seemed to be in difficulties. We stopped and he told us that his gear casing had broken. There was nothing we could do about that, but we suggested that we could take a written message to his service truck advising them of his problem and GPS position. We left him with a bit more water and hope than he had before we found him!

About 20km before the end of the stage the road book warned us of a very difficult dune crossing. As we approached it we could see several crews in big trouble, so we stopped to observe for a moment. We reduced our tyre pressures to help get across the very soft sand and picked a route to follow. We did get stuck here for a moment, but managed to get going again without resorting to sand ladders. We saw one car that looked to be stuck on a rock with no wheels on the ground. There seemed to be several people trying to help, so on this occasion we didn't offer our assistance. We finished the stage well within the time limit, and made our way to the town of Arlit to find the quad riders assistants.

The organiser’s original plan was for the bivouac to be at Arlit, but the stage from Arlit to Agadez was cancelled for security reasons, and the Rally was a day late getting to Arlit because of the Gao-Tahoua leg being split into two days. So, having completed a long hard day’s stage we had to continue on a tarmac road straight to Agadez for the halfway rest day. This section was 250 km. and by the time we got to Agadez we were certainly ready for that rest!

The Rest Day. Jan. 12th 1997.

The rest day gave us a chance to check over the car more thoroughly, and Keith once again attended to the front suspension bushing. We also had to tighten the body to chassis mountings, re-shape the very battered sump guard, and carry out various routine servicing operations.

It was a pleasure to meet up with friends from Felixstowe who had come to Africa to follow the Rally. We were able to swap tales, and it was obvious that they had enjoyed their many scrapes as much as we had ours! You don't have to be in the race to make Africa exciting!

This was by now the furthest we had got on any of our Dakar attempts, and any more we could do would be a bonus! We were refreshed (slightly) and cleaner (slightly) and ready for the remaining stages.

Stage 9. Agadez- Oclan. Jan. 13th. 1997.

Liaison 35 km. Special 350 km. Total 385 km.

The organisers, again for security reasons shortened this stage, so a difficult mountain section was left out. What was left was a relatively easy stage across some sparse savannah, and some barren dry desert. We were surprised at how many nomads we saw in this area, which looked like it was incapable of supporting any life at all. After a problem free day we finished the stage well before dusk. Oclan was well and truly in the middle of nowhere, and there were only a handful of locals to be found. This was the only stopping point that we could not find on any map. It was a very relaxing bivouac, and we noticed how much smaller the race was getting as various competitors fell by the wayside.

Stage 10. Oclan-Kidal. Jan. 14th. 1997.

Special 537 km.

The start procedure for this stage was different to normal in that rather than each car going at one minute intervals there were lines of ten cars going at five minute intervals. When our time came I managed to get on the upwind end of the line to avoid dust that would be blown across the track. We found ourselves in front as our group went off, and for a moment all was well. Then we hit an enormous jump, not easily visible in the sand, and went flying. We came down with a bang and as our suspension was rebounding from maximum compression a second larger jump sent us skywards again. This time we really did get quite a launch, and Keith and I had plenty of time to look at each other as we waited for what we thought would be a huge crash out of the race. But once again our luck held out, as we landed rear wheels first and control was re-gained. As the dust settled in the cab we noticed that we were still ahead of the rest of our group, and we guessed that they were all in fits of laughter at our aerial antics.

With 400 km totally off piste this turned out to be quite a quick and flowing stage back into Mali, but we could feel that the car was getting tired by now. Navigation was straight forward despite there being very few landmarks, and after our flying start we decided to ease off to preserve the car. Towards the end of the day we had difficulty seeing as we drove west into the setting sun, so we stopped to remove our plastic screen, and stowed it in the back of the car. This made life a whole lot easier, and we enjoyed the extra fresh air! We arrived at Kidal in reasonable time, and checked over the suspension again. The rear was not too bad, but we found that both off side front shock absorbers were detached. The inner one had lost its lower mounting bolt, and the outer one had broken its top-mounting bracket. We found a suitable bolt in our spares kit, and our friendly French welder repaired the broken mounting for us, as cheerfully as ever!

By now the prospect of finishing was looking realistic, but we knew that the car was worn out and we still had a long way to go. But we were still penalty free and in with a chance.

Stage 11. Kidal-Tombouctou. Jan. 15th. 1997.

Liaison 2 km. Special 568 km. Liaison 7 km. Total 577 km.

As expected this was a very long arduous and slow stage. The first 200 km. was on fairly good tracks, but then we were down to a crawl! There were some extremely rough passages, and others that were very soft for miles on end, which caused the engine and transmission to get hotter than we would have liked. There was a long section through an area of camel grass, which made it very rough, making it impossible for us to go quick enough to get the tyres working well on the soft surface. All we could do was pick our way as carefully as possible through this and try to remember that we had to preserve the vehicle no matter how long it was to take.

Well into the afternoon we came across a Range Rover that had broken down, and we were waved down by a pair of frantic Frenchmen, who we later named Laurel and Hardy. They had a problem with a leaking radiator hose, and initially we thought we couldn't help them as we had nothing like it. But it then crossed my mind that it would be worth trying a puncture repair patch, so we got our spares out and mended the offending part. We were then presented with their spare one to mend, which we did willingly whilst enjoying the cabaret act of two highly stressed competitors who seemed unable to agree on anything!

The last 60 km into Tombouctou was very soft sand, well churned up by vehicles that had already passed. By now it was very late, and Keith said that we should be passing a well soon, but we would probably not see it in the dark. Just as he said it I got the unmistakable whiff of livestock, and sure enough we were passing a watering hole!

It was starting to feel like a long day when we got back to Tombouctou, but once again we were within the time limit, and we had all our passage control stamps.

We were very hungry and tired, so we decided to check the car in the morning and get some dinner. As we were eating at the catering area we were delighted to see our friend Maggie from UNHCR again, this time with a friend. She told us that she hadn't really expected to see us again, judging by the state that we were in when we first met! She commented on the wine that could be bought at the bivouac, and said that it was a real luxury for her. She had a dozen small bottles tucked away for later! We had an interesting conversation about her work with refugees in Mauritania, and compared the times we would expect to take over certain tracks. By now it was very late, so we said goodbye, Maggie wished us luck, and we went our separate ways.

Stage 12. Tombouctou-Nema. Jan. 16th. 1997.

Special 577 km. Liaison 8 km. Total 585 km.

This turned out to be the most difficult stage of the event. It was slow and rough right from the start, and the navigation was more demanding than usual too. Part of the stage used the same track that took us into Tombouctou a week earlier, and was very badly cut up. We had a few problems, the first of which was a low oil pressure reading. We proceeded carefully, and guessed that we would be OK so long as the pressure warning light didn't come on. A little later it did come on, so we stopped to investigate. One of our engine oil coolers had cracked, and we had lost a lot of oil. We by-passed the damaged cooler and poured in the last of our oil, which just brought the level to the low mark. There was nothing to do but press on, so off we went expecting to see a better oil pressure reading, but although the light was out the gauge still read low. I just hoped that it was a faulty gauge! As dusk drew on we were only just over half way through the stage, which was still as rough as ever. We were expecting to collect a time penalty if things didn't improve!

To make matters worse we hit one enormous bump and the nearside headlamp fell out, just hanging by the wires! More time was lost re-fitting it, using plenty of duct tape. By now we had again removed the plastic screen for better visibility; we needed every chance to miss the worst of the rough! Towards the end we got another puncture which held us up some more. It seemed that inner tube failure rather than tyre failure was causing our punctures, but at the time we didn't have time to worry about these academic points. All we wanted was to finish this stage, and we began to wonder what had possessed us to enter this race in the first place! But despite or maybe because of these passing thoughts when the end of the stage was finally reached it looked even better than usual And amazingly we had managed another penalty free day, just by minutes this time. It was 2am by the time we were in the tent, and tomorrow’s stage was an early start with a 5am breakfast. But Dakar was getting ever closer.

Stage 13. Nema-Kiffa. Jan. 17th. 1997

Liaison 290 km. Special 308 km. Liaison 6 km. Total 604 km.

After the early breakfast we found time to repair our punctured tyre, and Keith found a fault on the oil pressure gauge circuit. It was good to see that little needle pointing at the correct figure! A quick look around the car revealed some of the previous days damage, particularly to the sump guard which now seemed to follow the contours of everything it was meant to be protecting, and was loose on its mountings.

The long tarmac liaison was very easy, and we were quickly at the special stage start of Ayoun el Atrous. The scenery here was fantastic, with huge pillars of rock and cliffs towering above us and casting wonderful shadows in the mid morning sunshine. But we were more interested in topping up our engine oil with some that we had bought on the way, and relaxing while there was a chance!

The special was not particularly difficult, although we did see a few vehicles in trouble. Just 10 km. into the stage a truck was very stuck in a sandy bowl, and our friends from the Schlesser team were giving a tow. There were chances to hit trouble from large rocks lurking in the generally sandy track, and we next came across an Isuzu that had hit one such object and promptly broken his sump. That was the end of their race.

The last part of this stage looked like it was going through a parched country park of one of our hotter summers. We were in the shade of many tall trees, and the ground was covered with sparse but even grass. We then found ourselves on fairly fast tracks passing large dunes, with a few very soft sections before arriving at the bivouac in daylight.

Stage 14. Kiffa-Saint Louis. Jan. 18th. 1997.

Liaison 455 km. Special 166 km. Liaison 130 km.

This was the last long stage of the race, and tired as we were, we were looking forward to the long tarmac liaison to the special stage start at Boutilimit. But we were in for a surprise! The road that was shown as a good main road on our maps was anything but that, and was harder on the car than many of the special stages had been. By now our shock absorbers were completely useless, and we had to crawl along as best we could. Despite the care we were taking we had 2 punctures and lost the exhaust tail pipe on this road section, and there were several other cars in trouble too. A Mitsubishi pick-up came rapidly past us and promptly hit an enormous pothole. He got in all sorts of muddles as he landed and tried to regain control. A little further on we saw him by the side of the road repairing his broken suspension with load straps and anything else he could find! It looked like he had severely displaced the rear axle as a result of his escapade.

We took seven and a half hours to cover the 455 km. of road section, and would definitely gone over our time if the last 100 km. had not been good tarmac on which we could go very quickly. As it turned out we got to the start of the special with enough time left to quickly repair our two punctures and prepare ourselves for the stage to come.

The stage was much easier than the liaison had been, and as we got closer to Senegal the vegetation was becoming much denser. The track was smooth but quite soft so we were using a lot of engine power to cross it. After some time of this hard work the engine began to misfire, and eventually stopped. It felt like a fuel problem, so Keith got under the car, lying on the prickly vegetation, to check the fuel filter. This was OK, but the fuel was very hot, due to the tail pipe having fallen off! It seemed that this was the cause of the problem, but while he was under the car Keith noticed that the rear axle had started to crack! Our priority changed to nursing the car out of the stage, and as we did so the fuel cooled off and the engine problem was solved. It was a bit frustrating having to drive so slowly along this potentially quick and flowing stage, but we hadn't come all this way to break down now! We exited the stage within the time allowed, (I think we were last but one in on that section) and checked the condition of the axle before the following liaison section. The crack was now nearly a break, but all we could do was hope that this road section would be fairly smooth and continue towards Saint Louis. As we turned out of the special stage finish area onto the road our friends in one of the Schlesser support lorries was passing, so we stopped them, described our problem and asked them to follow us to the night stop. This they did willingly, and we got there without further incident.

As we were back in a densely populated region again there were thousands of people in the rather chaotic bivouac area, and there was something of a carnival atmosphere to the place. But when we found that the axle had now broken we had to concentrate our minds on getting it fixed. The Schlesser team welder said he would weld it if we got it ready, but not until his teams work was all done. The best use of the time available was to eat now then get to the axle job.

We thoroughly enjoyed the dinner that night, and a local band was playing traditional music beside the campfire. The eating area was packed with sponsors and supporters as well as the remaining competitors. The locals were trying to sell their artefacts and souvenirs to any one that looked at them, but we settled for dinner with an amateur Danish team that we had got to know, and treated ourselves to a drop of red wine! The next thing I knew there was no one at the table with me! I realised that I had just woken up, and went to see how Keith was getting on with the car. It turned out that my help was not needed, so up went the tent for the last time and I was gone! Unfortunately in that busy bivouac Keith’s bag of clothes and belongings were stolen from the cab of the car while he was working at the back! He was not happy but nothing could be done.

The next morning I woke to find a well repaired car waiting for the last stage.

Stage 15. Saint Louis-Dakar. Jan. 19th. 1997.

Liaison 237 km. Special 18 km. Total 255 km.

We were away from the bivouac before sunrise, and the road to the start of the special at Kayar was all good. We arrived at Kayar beach with several hours to spare, and passed the time taking a few photos and looking at some of the bikes and cars waiting on the beach. Again there was a big crowd of locals there watching the proceedings, and the atmosphere was electric. As the start time for the bikes drew near, (they all start at once on a line for the last stage) we noticed a Japanese rider with the top off his engine! We wondered how he would feel if he couldn't get it fixed for this last little bit, and remembered that we were by no means home and dry yet either!

The cars and lorries started in pairs, and our start time duly came. The first 4 km. were on firm wet beach, the only danger was getting too close to the sea and drowning the engine. But this race still had a sting in its tail. I noticed a couple of cars stuck in soft sand off to my left, and thought 'What are they doing over there?' I then realised that we had to go towards them to leave the beach and travel through a scrubby area of dunes, and as we got closer to them we could see that these crews were in big trouble with the soft carved up sand. We managed to keep going into the dunes, and found ourselves following the Range Rover we'd helped earlier in the race. There was no chance of passing and no point either, as it would not affect any results now. We came to this event to finish it, and were not about to take any chances! Obviously we were concerned about the axle repair, and we both started hearing noises from that direction. We went as carefully as possible, but could not avoid using full power on some of the softer parts, as we would have got stuck!

We were following very close to the vehicle in front at one point, and I eased off a little to give us some distance. As soon as I did this we were stuck ourselves, with another lorry right behind. We got out to dig free, discussed the merits of getting the lorry to push us out, and quickly decided to try to get going with a push from the crowd that had turned out to watch. We were soon away again, but there was worse looking ground ahead. We stopped on a piece of higher ground and reduced our tyre pressures to below 10 pounds, and tackled the rest of the stage. As the 18 km mark approached we could still not see the finish, (18 km was the published length of this section) but surely it could not be far now! The lake around which we were to drive came into view and the track was a lot better again, but we only dared to crawl along for fear of breaking the axle again. The 25 km point passed, and still no end in sight. All we could do was keep on nursing this poor old car. Then suddenly we saw the flags and banners of the finish and the end was in sight! But we could still fail if we broke the car, and we slowly wound our way round the lake. I said to Keith "I won't be happy until we're close enough to carry this thing over the line!" He agreed that it wasn't over yet.

"We're OK now", I said as we were within 100 metres of the end, and we were elated as we crossed the finish line and drove onto the podium. We shook hands, and said "we've done it mate" before being greeted by the organiser Hubert Auriol who seemed nearly as pleased as us. He congratulated us as the first private British team to finish the Dakar for 15 years.

We parked in the area just beyond the finish, and it slowly sunk in that we really had made it. We looked around the car and saw that the axle was still intact, and we had to laugh at our over active imagination during the last stage! We told each other that we knew all along that we would make it, and in the next breath were saying we weren't sure until we'd actually crossed the line! Anyway, I think we did quite well in our self-prepared ex-write off, running on the lowest budget of any team entered.

We had another 30 km to drive to the parc ferme at Rally Headquarters near Dakar, but this was not really part of the race. All finishers have to leave their vehicles in this area for post event scrutineering, but cars are normally only checked in the event of a protest. All we had to do now was get ourselves cleaned up for the presentations, deliver the car to the docks the following morning, and find a flight home.

Epilogue.

My first interest in this race started with Chris Louis when we watched a video of it in March 1987, and now, nearly ten years later, on January 19th 1997 Keith and I had finally achieved that elusive finish, in 76th place out of 83 finishers and about 150 starters. At times it did feel lonely out there, but we most certainly did not do this on our own. Keith had the unwavering support of his wife Christine and sons Neil and Sean, as well as his friends and associates. I too had my family supporting me and I also relied heavily on a few close friends. It was particularly pleasing for me to have the total moral support and best wishes of Chris, with whom the whole project began in 1987.

Also now is the time to remember that it’s a hard old world out there, and most motorsport wouldn't happen without sponsorship. We are indeed very much indebted to our sponsors, large and small, and hope we did a good job for them in the unquantifiable world of public awareness! We certainly tried very hard!

Our main sponsor was the RH Group based in Nottingham and with one of its many branches in Felixstowe. Our thanks go to Mr. Neville Baxter and his sons, and to Mark Stennett of the Felixstowe office.

Thanks are also due to Ray and Judy Walters of Orwell Motorcycles in Ipswich not only for their financial support but also for running the news distribution operation for all the time we were away. This must have been a full time job, and it was done superbly.

Along with Orwell Motorcycles there are two other sponsors that have helped us on every attempt, they are Phil Dodd of Healeys Printers, and Jeremy Goddard of Goddard Estate Agents, both firms based in Ipswich.

Also helping us this time were Dave Richardsonwho updated our Dakar NewslineSilkolene LubricantsDean Newson WindowsAutovalet SuppliesCar Glassand TrimMayfields GarageMAC ToolsJayarPhilson LogisticsScholar EnginesSterling SafetySPA designSigns ExpressADL BlueprintRiverside PressNeil CawthornMark Baldwin Microsonic. We pleased to carry the Saint Elizabeth Hospice name on car.

All these sponsors were vital to this project, and our grateful thanks go to them all.