If you haven’t already heard, Fagan and Boothy will be heading to Saudi Arabia in 2022 for the Dakar Rally. And they’re not just going to watch, oh no. They’ve got their entries in to compete at one of the toughest motorsport events on the calendar.
That’s right, we’re going to the Dakar Rally, and the journey’s already begun. And what a journey it’s going to be! We’ve both got a huge amount of work to do to prepare for the event; from sourcing and building a pair of rally bikes, to sharpening up our off-road skills, getting our fitness up to scratch and learning how to navigate through the desert using a rally roadbook – that’s written in French.
To help us hone the skills and learn the knowledge we need to get to the end of a Dakar Rally, we’ve joined the newly set up Mick Extance Dakar Academy. After eight Dakars, there isn’t much about the rally that Mick doesn’t know. He’ll be with us every step of the way; from the qualifying rally in Andalucía, to the Dakar Rally itself.
Nobody has ever finished an Isle of Man TT race and a Dakar Rally so if we get to the end of the rally in 2022, we’ll both be making history.
What’s it all about?
The Dakar Rally lasts two weeks and isn’t just for bikes, but for cars, buggies, quads and even lorries. In the bike class, competitors use 450cc rally (motocross style) bikes, with huge fuel tanks and tall ‘navigation towers’. It’s run over twelve stages, each one can be up to 500 miles, across rocks, river beds and sand dunes.
To keep the costs down, we’ll compete in the ‘Originals by Motul’ class (formerly called the Malle Moto class). This is a class for riders competing with no outside assistance, meaning we have to do all maintenance ourselves. And/or repairs. The organisers will transport a small toolbox of spares and a tent from one ‘bivouac’ to the next; other than that, we’ll be on our own.
Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Team 44Teeth
And we might be ‘on our own’ in one respect, but if we make it there, we’ll be taking you with us every step of the way. Because without you, the 44Teeth family, we can’t make it happen.
That’s because, despite us doing it on a budget it’s still going to cost the thick end of £100,000. We’ve already found a chunk of that thanks to some loyal sponsors, but we’ve got a long way to go; and we need your help.
We’ve been told time and time again that you want to see more content from us, and that a lot of you are happy to chip in to help cover the costs. That’s why we’ve set up a GoFundMe page to help us get the budget together to get to the Dakar Rally. And because we want to give as much back to the people that help us get there as possible, if we reach our target, anyone who’s donated will be put into a draw to win the bikes funded by this campaign.
Will you help us tell the story of Dakar ’22? Join Team 44Teeth by donating here today.
Love F4G4N and Boothy xx
