DESERT STORM

There are races, and then there are races. The Dakar Rally has long enjoyed the moniker of ‘The Toughest Motor Race in the World’. When you consider the levels of endurance, focus, guts and sheer bravery that are needed to cross 8,000km of the world’s most forbidding terrain, it’s easy to see why. No matter which class competitors race in – from motorbikes through to trucks – the competition, formerly known as the Paris-Dakar Rally, is a daunting prospect.

This year’s race was run across 12 days through Saudi Arabia, pushing drivers to their absolute limits, as they gunned through canyons and cliffs, traversing sand dunes and boulders to successfully clear sprawling stages numbering many hundreds of kilometres. Beyond the punishing physicality of handling a vehicle through highly challenging terrain, racers also have to navigate through the remote wilderness, hitting a series of waypoints to successfully clear the stage. Miss just one, and the ensuing 20-minute time penalty can easily mean the difference between success and