2004 DAKAR RALLY DIARY...Cont'd
 By Mick Extance - the 1st Brit Home!

10^th January stage cancelled

A day to chill and time to reflect on the last three days, I felt very drained and spent the day sleeping and catching up drinking water as I was starting to feel dehydrated. The day passed by very quickly and the weather was very hot 50degrees, my poor mechanics were still driving the 1000klms to rest day.

11^th January stage cancelled.

A nice easy ride down to Bobo Dioulasso 500klms on the road, rode through many villages and starting to see the African culture, many local lined the roads and cheered us on though a few kids threw stones at us something they don’t show on T.V. I was riding along with fellow Rally Raid team mate Swedish guy called Bertil Marcusson, when suddenly his engine blew up I have never seen an engine in such a mess, bad luck for bertil but a sigh of relief for me as this engine

had been intended for my bike at rest day!!! We had to wait along time for the support truck to arrive it was dark when we came into the bivouac.

One very poorly engine!!!!

Rest day, Bobo Dioulasso

A welcomed rest for competitors and the mechanics, my mechanic had not slept for three days. I managed to do two interviews for the national newspapers and a T.V. interview for Euro-sport, nice to have some recognition for once.

All bikes repaired racing kit washed, my other clothes had been stolen so I had to wear my race kit. I had woken up with a very swollen face, that’s why I had felt so tired, I went over to the medical tent that called a taxi and took me to the local dentist, it was filthy, and on the side was a pair of ancient pliers and a drill my tools were in better condition than his. Thankfully after an examination of my mouth the dentist said it could be treated with anti-biotics and anti inflammatory drugs, I still had to convince the rally organisers that I was fit to continue the rally. On the side of caution the mechanics decided to have some extra spare flown in for the bike. The last job on the bike in the evening was to drop the oil only half a litre came out we soon realised that we had a problem with the bike burning oil. I had found out why the two hour penalty had been imposed, I had asked for a new time card in stage 6 as mine had become worn out, the organisers at the

checkpoint had given me a new one but the race control did not know this and had assumed that had lost my original card, the penalty was removed.

The Luxurious washing facilities at the Bivouacs 

13^th January stage 12 Bobo Dioulasso - Bamako

All of us were itching to get back on our bikes after a short liaison we were back into the special, this stage was to be a slow one, we passed through 9 villages that all had to passed at a set speed set by the organisers of 30kph a lot of competitors picked up fines of 300 euros this goes back to the villages and a flashing light on your GPS indicates when to slow down. A bit of a jolly compared to the previous stage. Overall placing 49th

14^th January stage 13 Bamako – Ayoun El Atrous

I had now decided that I was not going to be able to get my top twenty finish that I had hoped for, but decided to go for first Brit.

By now the bike was starting to burn oil at an alarming rate, the mechanic s set about stripping the engine and had ordered a piston from Belgium.

Much to our horror after stripping the engine right back, the piston that came did not fit. Once again my rally was in jeopardy I decided to retire to bed as I needed a break from it. The mechanics worked into the night and patched up the bike the best they could tomorrow was going to be a marathon stage and it was touch and go if I would finish it.

15^th January stage 14 Ayoun El Atrous – Tidjikja Non assistance day

Armed with extra rations of food and as much spare oil as I could carry in my pockets I set off, wishes of good luck and lots of fingers crossed followed me out of the bivouac

I began the liaison of 200kms. Once at the start of the special I checked the oil and well over a litre of oil had burned off. I started to refill my oil when a French mechanic who used to spanner for petahansel came over and suggested that I used diesel truck oil as this is much thicker and takes longer to burn. With nothing else to lose I emptied my bottles of bike oil and filled up with the truck diesel oil, and set off on my way into the special, wondering if I would come out the other side.

After 50kms into the special I checked my oil, much to my delight it was still full luck it seemed was finally on my side. The finish line was a welcomed site one I had not expected to see once again without my mechanic I bedded down for the night. Overall placing 47^th

16^th January Stage 15 Tidjikja – Nouakchott

Fuel was going to be tight on this stage everyone left the bivouac with heavy tanks as the first refuelling point wasn’t to be until 340 kms into the stage. Everyone was being careful not to push their bikes too hard as they were so close to the end of the rally and did not want to run out of fuel. The stage was back in the dunes with tracks and camel grass.

Once refuelled, the going was good and I was able to push the bike a little more.

I arrived back to the bivouac much to my mechanics amazement, he thought I had gone out due to the oil problem. Nice to see Steven Hague a little while later we were now the only two Brits left in the motorbike category. I too was feeling great I had found my second wind and the antibiotics had started to work on my tooth and I was at last pain free.

Overall placing 44^th

17^th January stage 16 Nouakchott – Dakar

Dakar now in my sites but never be complacent in this rally anything can go wrong. This was to be the last desert stage of the rally, I remained cautious and continued to check the oil on a regular basis but as the French guy had said it was still working. It was a relief to leave the final stage behind, we treated ourselves to a meal in a hotel our first glimpse of civilization in a long time. It felt very strange knowing that the Rally would soon be over we spent our last night in the tent

Overall placing 43^rd

18^th January Dakar-Dakar

Can smell the sea of Dakar coming ever closer, up early for a 7.00am start still classed as a stage and cards still have to be stamped. Short liaison followed by a 27kms special took it easy I wanted to see the beach at Dakar I had waited twenty years for this and I was going to enjoy every moment of it.

Mick celebrating - 1st Brit across the finish line.

The atmosphere at the end of special was electric waited for the only other surviving Brit Steven Hague and rode to the beach together, where after the special we walked into the sea fully clothed in race kit and just stood there taking it all in and taking what I think will be one of the best moments of my life. I shouted out "you Bastards You didn’t get me" A short ride back to the Merridien Hotel and I was up on the podium once again collecting my medal but this time I am 1^st Brit home. I felt sad that the rally was over I wanted to wind the clock back and start all over again as tough as it truly was I loved it This years Dakar will go down in motorsport history as one of the toughest yet and after years of working hard towards this and a lot of sacrifice made by myself and my family, I am proud to say I was one of the few who finished and survived the 2004 Dakar Rally.

Overall placing 43^rd

Waiting to go on the podium, PG Lundmark in the background

Finally I would like to thank everyone who has supported me in the last three years, sponsors friends and family a very big Thank-You without you I would have not been able to do it.

Plans for 2005, yep I’m definitely going back, ideally on a fully sponsored ride so I need your help anybody who is interested in helping me especially financially can contact at:extance@aol.com I would like to see more commitment from the UK and with your help I am more than capable of a top twenty finish.

This year I am supporting cancer research so not only would you be helping me you would be giving to a very worthwhile cause, this charity was chosen as my father who was a founder member of Poole speedway died from prostate cancer nearly four years ago, my wife also works on a cancer ward and has seen much suffering.

Thanks for reading this and keep supporting me its great to know that people are behind you.

Mick Extance 
  

Articles Copyright ©  Adrian Harris 2003. Not to be reproduced without prior permission.