Sand, sand and yet more sand!

A motorcycle enthusiast has completed a lifelong dream by competing in the Morocco to Dakar rally race – aged 64.

Stuart Gummer, of St Helens, completed the 600km (373 mile) event which included 105 vehicles, including cars and motorbikes, with 60 in the motorcycle section. He finished 19th of the 35 motorcyclists who completed the course. Unsurprisingly, he said: “It was the toughest thing I have ever done in my life!

“When I was growing up, I would watch the Paris-Dakar Rally on television and think ‘that’s what I want to do’.

“I only started rallying this year and have done three, but this was on my wish list. We rode through the desert from Morocco through Mauritania and finished in Dakar, Senegal. It was an amazing experience. We had to complete special stages each day and, sometimes, more than one stage in a day.

“We had GPS navigation systems, but never knew which terrain we could be going over. There could be a track, or it could just be through the desert sand.

“We started at a base camp, and were supported by Desert Rose Racing. They gave me a team who would go ahead of me and I would meet them at the end of each day at the next camp and they would make any repairs.

“It was relentless. Sometimes, you were just riding through miles and miles of sand; that’s all you saw. If you hit something, you could come off the bike, but you would have to dust yourself down and get back on and continue.

“Sometimes, the track could be blocked, so you would have to go back and find another way through. For the first few days, I would only get five or six hours sleep, because there was a briefing at the end of each day.

“The camp could be set up near a town, on a campsite, or even in the desert. It was mentally and physically exhausting, but very rewarding.”

Stuart is semi-retired, having formerly owned a garage in Bembridge. He is now a director in a storage business. He added: “I would like to continue rallying, but I think I’ll stick closer to home from now on!”