Terror threat!
Published: 21st January 2008
Author: Words by Jonty Edmunds Photo by Geoff Walker
Osama and his mates may have forced the cancellation of the ’08 Dakar Rally but Jonty reckons it’s just another hurdle for the hardcore competitors to overcome…
‘Due to a direct terrorist threat made against the 2008 Dakar the organisers, in conjunction with the French Government, took the difficult decision yesterday to cancel the event the day before the first Portuguese special stage…’
The above is the depressing opening paragraph of the first and last press release issued on behalf of reigning Dakar Rally motorcycle champion Cyril Despres. What should have been the first of many media releases detailing Despres’ sporting adventures as he endeavoured to win yet another Dakar, it instead confirmed that the world’s single biggest motorsport event had been cancelled.
The cancellation of this year’s Dakar was a sad and disappointing day for many millions of people, not least those who had spent months preparing themselves for what is undisputedly the most demanding of all off-road motorsport events. But the Al-Qaeda-linked murder of four French tourists in Mauritania on December 24 and threats launched directly against the race by terrorist organisations left event organisers ASO with no other decision but to cancel the great sporting event. What a way to start the New Year!
The Dakar Rally isn’t as popular in the UK as it is in certain other European countries. It never has been and never will be. And as such it’s unlikely that the cancellation of the event will be felt as hard here as it is in, say, Spain or Portugal. Distanced further from the event than our Southern European cousins, what we can’t see and touch we don’t - generally speaking - share the same enthusiasm for.
The Dakar is a huge event in many ways. Drawing a global TV audience of God-only-knows how many millions, the event is the real Olympics of motorcycling. Attracting colossal investment from many of Europe’s biggest car manufacturers, it is one of the few sporting events where the elite and the great unwashed compete side-by-side. It is an event that pushes its competitors to the edge. It is an event that acts as a two-week shop window for off-road motorcycling. While TV coverage of the world motocross, enduro or trials world championships arguably only appeals to those with an already healthy interest in a chosen discipline, the Dakar has mass appeal.
But forget for a minute the fact that the event simply isn’t running this year and think about why it isn’t running – because of threats launched directly against the race by terrorist organisations. Terrorism was, not so long ago, something that affected motorsport, well, never. Yes, it has affected the Olympics before and remains a thorn in the side of any Olympic organising committee and yes it has affected those that live in Northern Ireland, New York, Madrid and London but never has it affected such a high profile motorsport event, or any motorsport event if my memory serves me correctly.
So what of the future of the Dakar? Despite this year’s event having been halted by the very real threat of terrorism, I for one reckon that the event will continue to go from strength-to-strength. Over the years numerous motorcycle riders have lost their lives but each year the event ignites more and more interest and is rapidly becoming over-subscribed. Over the years competitors have been held at gunpoint while their machinery has been stolen and some have even been unlucky enough to stray off the course only to get themselves blown up by land mines.
The Dakar Rally is all about risk, danger and battling against the unknown – it always has been and always will be. In a strange way the fact that a ‘terror threat’ may now hang forevermore around the event’s neck only adds to the mystical danger. But the long and ever growing list of reasons why not to compete is in part exactly what has intrigued, attracted and continues to attract adventurous motorsport enthusiasts from around the world to compete in the Dakar.
The Dakar is all about overcoming challenges – logistical, mechanical, physical and psychological. Terrorism is just another hurdle that has to be overcome. And the Dakar Rally will overcome that hurdle.