Pic: Antonin Vincent/ DPPI
per week,” continues Ben, explaining that his moto riding
was generally in sand dunes in the Victorian (Australia)
coastal town of Anglesea. He adds that he believes that
much of the preparation for the Dakar is mental.
“Besides the training it’s all about mental attitude and
just keep going to finish,” he smiles.
“I had crashed on day 5 and fractured my right hand so
it was pretty tough mentally to keep going and get to the
finish.”
Ben did continue, overcoming the pain, to finish his
first Dakar, “I did not look at the results until I got to the
finish line.
“I said at the beginning there is 149 riders so as long as
I finish in the top 149, I will be happy,” Ben smiled.
“I would rather finish last than be saying I was top 40
when I crashed out … “, he laughs.
“Finishing was my only goal, I didn’t care if I came first
or last,” agreed James. “I went to Dakar with only 1 thing
on my mind. Finish the race so I don’t feel pressured into
going back again to get a finishers medal.
“At the end I think I was one of the slowest riders that
finished but this doesn’t bother me at all as I know I could
have ridden much faster,” James explained acknowledg-
ing that speed comes with a great risk of crashing out.
“I passed many injured riders and bikes left in the des-
ert which always reinforced my strategy to keep it slow
and steady.”
John continues the conversation agreeing that the
main aim was to finish the Dakar, “I had a bunch of
friends help build the quad but the most effort was put in
by Nick Jones. We both worked tirelessly for over 2 years
to prepare the quad. It was truly amazing. Rock solid and
reliable.”
“My only main hope with Dakar was to finish and we
TRAVERSE 19