Scottish Dakar bikers

[SpyInTheCamp]

The Dakar starts this weekend. Best of luck to the Jocks...

Hard not to spot them in the maze of administrative checkpoints. Biker jackets, biker boots but sporting their kilts, Iain Shankie and John Whiteford are proud to wear the traditional outfit of their native Scotland; they are impressed by the size of the event. "It’s huge. It’s the ultimate challenge. It’s agonizing", says Shankie time and time again. He will be one of the 5 members of a 100% Scottish team together with Whiteford, McKenzie, and brothers Neil and Ewan Buchan. The project was launched by a 60 year-old highlander called Robbie Allan who had tried his luck last year on the Dakar but had to quit just before the rest day. "He is our inspiration. He brings us together, he encouraged us, insists Whiteford. No Scot has ever reached Dakar. With a little bit of luck we might have a way of writing a new page of history." To this end, however, they will have to trade their kilts for trousers that better match the tough desert lying ahead.

More at www.dakar.com

Kai

 

[G.C.]

I didnt know there was a team in the Dakar.
Good luck to them, hope they finish

 

[Monsieur]

Good luck to them all

Is coverage on eurosport again this year?

 

[G.C.]

Looks like it.
No details on their website about coverage but lots of info on the race.

Will Coma last an extra couple of days this year, thought he was going to win easily last year, its such a tough race

 

[SpyInTheCamp]

Good Is coverage on eurosport again this year?

Yes. Around9pm-ish every night!

Kai

 

[arcboutant]

whaurs oor Afreeka man ................

thanks Spy in Camp ,cheers for url.

Good luck the lads

 

[H.R.H. Nashskye]

Hats off to the lads, takes a huge amount of guts...and dosh!!
Good luck to them!

 

[AndyT]

I see Robbie Allan isn't doing it again this year. He said he would be back with different tacticts but to be honest I thought he was inspiration to lot sof folk last year as most didn't see him getting past day 1.

He used to run a pub down the road with his brother Vic who was a successful MotoCross rider in the days when it was "Scrambling on Grandstand".

Good luck to all in the race and especially the Brits.

 

[arcboutant]

I mind of Vic Allan....................

............. Lampkin etc etc etc

 

[Tartan Terror]

www.scotlandtodakar.com

All the info here folks.

 

[Tartan Terror]

FFS Dakar has been cancelled due to security threat!!!!!!!

 

[SpyInTheCamp]

FFS Dakar has been cancelled due to security threat!!!!!!!

Sadly so...

A.S.O. cancels the 2008 edition of the Dakar rally
After different exchanges with the French government - in particular the Ministry for Foreign Affairs - , and based on their firm recommendations, the organisers of the Dakar have taken the decision to cancel the 2008 edition of the rally, scheduled from the 5th to the 20th of January between Lisbon and Senegal’s capital.

Based on the current international political tension and the murder of four French tourists last 24th of December linked to a branch of Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, but also and mainly the direct threats launched directly against the race by terrorist organisations, no other decision but the cancellation of the sporting event could be taken by A.S.O.

A.S.O.’s first responsibility is to guarantee the safety of all: that of the populations in the countries visited, of the amateur and professional competitors, of the technical assistance personnel, of the journalists, partners and rally collaborators. A.S.O. therefore reaffirms that the choice of security is not, has never been and will never be a subject of compromise at the heart of the Dakar rally.

A.S.O. condemns the terrorist menace that annihilates a year of hard work, engagement and passion for all the participants and the different actors of the world’s biggest off-road rally. Aware of the huge frustration, especially in Portugal, Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal, and beyond the general disappointment and the huge economical consequences in terms of direct and indirect repercussions for the countries visited, A.S.O. will continue to defend the major values of great sporting events and will carry on its engagement for a durable development through the Actions Dakar, started 5 years ago in sub-Saharan Africa with SOS Sahel International.

The Dakar is a symbol and nothing can destroy symbols. The cancellation of the 2008 edition does not endanger the future of the Dakar. To offer, for 2009 a new adventure to all the off-road rally passionate is a challenge that A.S.O. will take on in the months to come, faithful to its engagement and its passion for sports.

 

[cunning fox]

major dissappointment, another friend of ours was taking a team over

http://www.walker-dakar.co.uk/

 

[Deleted account rno]

I'm gutted. I was hoping to announce this later on today...


www.kimmel-macgregor-boorman-team.com


Feckin' Africans Next thing you know, they'll be at one another's throats. You mark my words

 

[Tartan Terror]

What!! Civil war in Africa!! Surely you jest?

 

[ricardo]

Gutted just about sums it up. Hard luck on the factories that have spent millions, but the it's the 'privateers' I feel for. A years work, houses mortgaged etc and then its cancelled IN LISBON. Would be bad enough with a couple of weeks notice, but to be at the start...

I just hope it's not the end of the Dakar.