Kiwi Safari Team to Dakar 2014

The ASO released the dates and the route for the Dakar Rally 2014, so I figured it is a good time to open a thread here and start getting some information flow happening.
So here's the route:


The key dates are:
Start in Rosario, Argentina - 5th January 2014
Rest day in Salta, Argentina - 11th January 2014
Finish in Valparaiso, Chile - 18th January 2014.

The route travels into Bolivia for a couple of days, and there seems to be rumours that those days may be consecutive "Marathon days" and those stages for bikes only. Almost seems to suggest that Bolivia won't allow cars to cross the border, so no service and support vehicles and no competition vehicles. I wonder if it extends to Quads?

The ASO also promises "longer special stages and shorter liaisons" and a few "surprises and challenges in the Atacama Desert".

So, time to get serious with preparations. Entry applications open in May. Any wealthy sponsors out there looking for a hole in a South American sand dune to throw money into?. Seriously though, I am looking to be a real "Kiwi" entry and I'd love to get some Kiwi company support behind me and get noticed out there as a Kiwi entry. Kiwi Ben (ADV inmate "Topo") will be coming over from NZ to be my service crew, and I have a service and support manager from Perth coming over too (Don from CPW Safari fame).

I've already spent just over $50k to buy the best bike in the world to complete a Dakar on:


I'll keep this up to date with plans and prep as we go, and hopefully my entry application is accepted and we can continue down the journey together all the way to Chile. Feel free to ask any questions as we go and I'll do my best to answer.

Cheers
JayBo

Excellent, I'm more of a lurker around here but I have followed all your other Rally threads and will be checking daily for any updates.

Sorry, I'm not wealthy enough to sponser you or else I'd give it a crack myself.

Isn't that a DRZ fairing?
I feel sure I've seen one on a DRZ?

Great news Jaybo send us a link for donations, when you get your sponsorship package worked out I'll happily toss in a few dollars to help.

Long way to go from here but it will be a wonderful experience.

Might be difficult to pull off, but a couple of different levels of sponsorship etc (like Neduro and Lyndon Poskitt did) would appeal to me.

Well, it seems I can start by answering my own questions

I translated the Spanish text on a flyer released in South America and discovered:

and:

So it really does look like the Bolivian stages will be Marathon for the bikes and quads only, and possibly means two Marathon days back to back with service only possible at the end of the second day out when we enter Chile.

So that's two days of no risk of being run over by flying cars and trucks.

Ciao (I suppose I'd better learn some Spanish - my only Italian word might not help me too much in SA)
JayBo

nice one jaybo, will be following progress entusiastically. good luck!!

Hi Jaybo great to hear you're doing the Dakar.

Have you thought about some sort of crowd funding like Lydon and others have done?

Also if you need to translate something from spanish I can help. I'm not a translator but speak both languages, even speak proper spanish (unlike my english )

Cheers

DAKAR BABY YEAH!!!!!!

Not sure how i missed this thread. Applications for entry open on May 15th so things will start getting "real" pretty quick after that

Cause you're a slack bugger?

I have no idea how you missed this thread topo:huh. But that's okay, you can miss the odd thing now ... it's in December & January that you're not allowed to miss anything anymore.

Things have been very quiet here on the Dakar front. I have been very busy at work making absolutely sure that my big project is finished well, thereby securing my job (my Dakar budget relies heavily on me being employed) and the time off over Dec/Jan. I will be going to the Dakar presentation being run with Chris Evans (ASO focal point for Australasia - and Cyril Depres' manager) and Justin Hunt (Australasian Safari CEO/manager) in Perth on May 3rd. As "topo" has said, applications for entries open on May 15th, and for first time entrants close on June 6th. I will work up my CV to ensure the ASO can't even think of running the event without me along.

In the mean time I have managed to complete the 5-Dams Challenge - the cycling event I was training for last year when I crashed and broke my jaw and left hand. This was a 236km ride, visiting 5 of Perth's metropolitan dams, that involved about 2,500m's of ascent over several category 3 and 4 hill climbs, with a time limit of 11 hours. A tough nut to crack! My ride partner (you ride as a pair and both have to ride the whole course together from start to finish to qualify as a finisher) got 2 punctures in the first 25km and then I broke a rear wheel spoke at the 45km mark. Took a few phone calls to get my wife to find the tools and spare wheels in the shed (ever tried to describe specialist cycling tools over the phone to someone completely ignorant of cycle mechanics) and get them to me so I could swap over the cassette (rear wheel gear cluster of 11 sprockets), brake pads (the spare wheel are full carbon fibre that require different brake pads to the composite rims I had on) and wheels. We eventually finished with 25 minutes to spare - after I clocked 89.5kph down one hill:eek1!!! Great Dakar training in perseverance and dogged determination, if not the pure fitness aspect!

With that now behind me, I switch into "enduro racing mode" now, with the first round of the WA State Enduro Champ's kicking off next weekend a few hours south of Perth in Denmark. The 530 will finally get some movement out of the shed. I'll now also bulk up with upper body strength on the rowing machine, now that I don't mind putting weight on seeing as I don't have to drag my sorry arse up category 3 hill climbs through the pedals!

I'm also preparing the shopping list of spares and bits I need to replace on the 450RFR to prepare for the Dakar. There's a few things I've broken in the two Safari's we've done and a few small improvements I'll implement. More on this soon.

Cheers
JayBo

Awesome, I'm more of a lurker around here but i have followed all of your Safari threads Jaybo1 and this one is gonna be a cracker!

Rock on JayBo1.

If you want I can put in a word to the ASO for you. I was talking to them recently about some changes they wanted to implement for the next event, but I told them it would prob be pretty unfair to only allow BMW airheads - gotta give the mechanics something to do.....

Good work on the cycling front - you may need to pack on a few kilos to carry you over the marathon days

Awesome news. Go for it.

Welcome along for the ride Te Hopo. ... and Dotbond.

An update:
I rode the first round of the WA State Enduro Champ's down at Walpole (about 400 kms South of Perth) last weekend. It was a fairly tough event, with two special tests in tight bush with lots of logs, rocks and constantly twisting between trees. The course was basically a loop of 85 km's broken into three loops. I left home at 4am and got to the Parc Ferme at 8:45am. A looong drive with the trailer (I regret selling my Bike Hauler - tow hitch mounted bike carrier). It was great catching up with the enduro guys I haven't seen for a while. I worked out it has been a bit over 2 1/5 years since I rode an enduro!!! (Easy to work out because the club has been using the transponder timing system for 2.5 years and I had to buy a bracket to mount one as I've never had one on the bike). I rode steady, sometimes in pretty greasy conditions, and finished 20'th out of 33 starters in the Masters class. Nothing flash but okay for a starter. I enjoyed the faster and flowing twin tracks, that were more like rally conditions, but the tight bush sections that count for the timing weren't my normal preference - at least I didn't drop it in the tests or get stuck in the bog hole with a few others. It was great to be back on the enduro bike though and every muscle in my body was aching for the next week which helped reinforce the importance of getting plenty of bike time between now and January 5'th!

I went to the Dakar presentation night in Perth last night and spoke with Chris Evans for a while regarding my entry intention. Interestingly he can't help me too much because he doesn't represent NZ for the ASO, only the UK and Australia. I had thought he looked after Australasia, but nope. We did work out that I should copy him on all my correspondence with the ASO so it might prompt them to ask him for an opinion when reviewing my application. He'll also provide some feedback for me on my application brochure if I send it to him for review before sending it in to the ASO.

He also suggested I prepare a glossy resume / application brochure with some good photo's in it and we discussed what information to put in the CV of my rally racing history. Some good points I picked up. We also discussed different support options and maximising my chances of starting, let alone finishing.

He didn't seem to think I'd have too much problem given my record of Safari 100% finishes ('09, '11 & '12) and a couple of respectable results (15th outright '09 & 12th outright '12). Finishing the A4DE a few years ago (Bronze medal) will also help. Of course, the ASO also run the Tour de France, so Chris readily agreed that mentioning my cycling as support of my general health and fitness would be a positive point. The ASO seem to be most concerned with competitor heart attacks, being sued and service crew road accidents. The first I should have covered, the second just isn't what Kiwi's do and the latter I'll just have to trust in Topo Ben and CPW Don.

So things are still looking positive. Applications for entry open on the 15'th May, so only a couple of weeks away.

Ciao
JayBo

Entries opened today and are open until July 9'th for newbies like me - unless they close early due to over-subscription, which happens occasionally.

So I've started the process of the on-line entry. What a pollava that is! I see I'll be spending a bit of time at work photocopying 50 million documents and searching the internet for results sheets and searching my albums for good photo's that prove I was at the events I claim I was at.

A tricky bit will be providing the registration details for my bike (it's not registered yet) and providing details of the service vehicle (I didn't think I'd need those details this early in the piece).

I'll post up a piccie of the glossy brochure type "Rider Profile" I have to snail-mail to them (although I cheated and already emailed it to a couple of ASO guys earlier this week).

More soon.
JayBo

Awesome!!!

Heya Jaybo

With our circumstances having changed we will be there.

So, there are a few other kiwis and Ozzies as well so there will be a reasonable group.

While we are on a budget that has taking a pounding so we can't offer you coin but I offer myself and my bike as a helper if needed.

If the Bolivian section doesn't allow cars then maybe it is on the cards to assist with transport of components or whatever if needed via a bike .

Food for thought.

So here's my Rider Profile I promised to post up:







I transferred 6.000 Euro to the ASO last night (AU$8,416) as a deposit for my entry! I'd better put some thought into fundraising soon huh! It starts getting very, very real:eek1.

I also spoke with a Chilean team manager about what they offer in the way of support packages an vehicle rental. They do a package of "just walk off the plane with your gearbag" for about 25.000 Euro (AU$35,067) - that's hiring a KTM 450 Rally and full mechanical and logistical support. Not a bad option ... if I didn't already have a KTM 450 Rally that cost me AU$50,500!!! Worth considering though.

Glad to know you'll be there too. The Bolivia legs will be "Marathon" days, so no outside assistance or support is allowed. You never know what might might eventuate though, and sneaky things have happened in the past to scrape people through, so definitely look me up when you're there. Any idea where you'll be and when? They say the rest day (January 11'th in Salta) is the best place to catch up with the circus, as access to the Bivouac is likely to be easier and the competitors are around (assuming I made it into the Bivvy the night before).

More details as they develop.
Ciao

Looking great Jaybo
I'll be keeping a close eye on your progress over the rest of the year with your preparations & progress then updates through out Dakar itself.

Your in good hands with Don and Ben as your support crew.

Are you still planning to give Safari a miss this year and focus fully on Dakar, I recall us breifly speaking about it in Geraldton after last years Safari

All the best