Pavey is Ready for Andes Dakar

Added on Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments

insidebikes spoke exclusively to Simon Pavey about the first Dakar Rally to be held in South America. Aussie Pavey is an instructor at the BMW off-road Skills Centre in South Wales and has completed several Dakar rallies in North-West Africa.

IB; Simon, you’ve been in the African Dakar rallies many times, how will this differ?

SP; The main difference I guess will be that nobody has a clue what to expect. The course is obviously new to all the riders, although there is still some desert sections, gravel roads, wildlife hazards, plus all the usual tough navigation challenges.

IB; Do you think the location makes the race more open, will a surprise leader emerge perhaps?

SP; I don’t think so. The thing about a 9600 kilometre race is that the factory guys have all the resources, the experience and the pressure on them to go hard, right from the off. I suppose the local South American riders will make a strong effort as it is in their backyard, but everybody has their work cut out.

IB; Been training hard?

SP; Not really. Training is a fine balance between keeping bike fit, and not tiring yourself out. The odd thing this year was watching the bikes being loaded up in October, ferried off to Buenos Aires with the Dakar logistics crew, then working for another month or so as normal. I have been itching to get over there really.

IB; Do you think the altitude of the Andes will make a difference?

SP; Definitely. For me, I haven’t ridden much above 6000 feet or so, but there are some high altitude sections, which are gonna take their toll on bikes and riders. You get a bit giddy, lose concentration, then stuff happens!

IB; Will you be keeping a blog or anything?

SP; I’m gonna try yeah. It’s at www.worldofbmw.com and hopefully I will have the time to keep posting as the race goes on. There’s just one rest day in an 18 day schedule, so it is going to be hard, but it wouldn’t be the Dakar if it was easy!

IB; Good luck Si.

The Dakar Rally 2009 starts on 3rd January from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Keep coming back to insidebikes for more Dakar rally news.

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