The organisers have announced that they will be postponing the start times for today’s special stage (11.00am, instead of 7.15am) and will shorten the route in order to avoid stragglers arriving too late at the bivouac in La Serena. However, this is nothing for the competitors to rejoice about, because as a result the 9th special will be a 100% sandy route, since it will wind its way through the ranges of dunes above Copiapo. Another original aspect of this 9th special stage, the last to be contested in the Atacama Desert, is a side-by-side start for the bikers, in groups of 20…we’ll keep you posted

Stage 8 complete! Philip had two full nights sleep on Friday and Saturday night in the local Holiday Inn in Antofagasta. He’s averaging 4 hours sleep a night in a bivouac so the rest day was never more welcome. In his own words “the body is in bits but the spirit is still fighting”. He managed to make it to Stage 10 last year so in some ways it’s a psychological barrier for him to get to Stage 10 and beyond to the finish line. His speed was quick today and he was happy to leave the fog and get into glorious visibility across some of the most breathtaking dunes in the world. The day wasn’t without its challenges as usual with lots of tricky rocky terrain and then back into sand as he closed back in on Copiapo……a road travelled by Philip twice before!  Tomorrow brings another long special test and the last day in the Atacama desert so no doubt Philip will make the most of the dunes before he hits the mountains, river beds and rock again. The machine is holding up well. Brian and Barry have been looking after him “just like his mammy” and the mechanical team are providing sterling support. Fingers crossed for some long days ahead with eyes focused on Sunday, the final day of this gruelling rally race.

Philip has made it half way to the rest day! It was the longest special test of the rally yesterday at a whopping 600kms so lots of tenacity and biking skill were required to get him through. This was made even tougher by the fact that he took a fall on Thursday over the handlebars due to another rider driving into his front wheel(we’ll save the expletives!). As a result Philip’s roadbook got smashed up so he had no navigation for the rest of the stage and it took him all day and into the evening to finish in a cloud of dust generated by the other vehicles. Not a pretty sight! But, as an eternal optimist he faced Friday with gusto as we all expected. In addition to huge sand dunes he had to face huge blocks of dry salt that he hasn’t experienced before which meant he had to lower his speed in some sections to just 10km/hour – tedious or what?! We heard from him at 3am Irish time(midnight in Chile) last night and he was in and finished and happy to be looking forward to a day of relaxing today. He was planning a trip to the medical centre to get the blisters and welts seen to(par for the course in Dakar) and get massaged, but his physical strength and aerobic fitness have really stood to him in the past week. His mechanical support team have been excellent to date also and the bike is also holding up well. Brian and Barry have been providing  untold moral support and met him at every CP point on Thursday with water and petrol for him. He said that it was just great to see them every time he got through another part of the stage and it really helped him along to continue to try to navigate(minus his roadbook) with just common sense  mostly! We are so excited for him to get this far, we’ll keep you posted again on Sunday when the next 7 days of endurance begin!

And the hits just keep on coming! It was a very tough day today with so much dust and lots of navigation problems as a result. Philip has finished now with a very sandy last section full of dust which was an arduous end to a very long and tough day. Philip’s game plan was to take it easy today and tomorrow to get to rest day on Saturday so let’s hope things work according to plan. The scenery along the way today has been breathtaking so no doubt the guys got to appreciate at least some of that. Tomorrow is the longest special test of the rally at a whopping 600kms – no joke. Keep up the support, he will need it to get to Saturday.

It was a long special test for Philip today towards Antofagasta in Chile. Rumour has it that 40 bike riders are already out of the competition as things heat up and endurance and mental stamina are tested. Although Philip is holding 69th position he is unfazed and says he is holding things steady as it knows this is a long game and lots of things can happen.  The track was very rocky in parts today but apart from the expected welts on his knuckles, blisters on his feet and rock hard shoulders and arms he’s just fine!! Nightly massages are helping as well as lots of vaseline of course! Although he has two more tough days of riding to go his eyes are very much focused on getting to Saturday, his well deserved rest day. He reckons they are trying to get rid of those who are just not up to the challenge by the time rest day comes up and he is steadfastly determined as ever. The shocks on the bike have just been replaced and the machine seems to be in order for tomorrow. Let’s hope the next couple of days run reasonably smoothly and that the bike performs well and he can relax for a full 24 hours before doing it all again for the last 7 days of the race. Anything can happen at Dakar but we are all rooting for him.

A long liaison of 394km was followed by a special test of 203kms over the Andes and into Chile. Despite some altitude dizziness(heights of over 4,000m!)  it was a good day and a fast stage for Philip today with some interesting navigation required to get through.   The descent into Chile included a fantastic desert special so Philip enjoyed this despite some minor illness along the way. Stage 5 to Antofagasta promises to be tougher however so it’s all to play for but so far so good and Philip is bearing up really well as is his machine.

After a liaison of 259km a tough special test of 182kms followed – fondly known as the ‘white pit’ – and the real first test of the competition. Philip said he experienced “some of the toughest dunes and river beds I have ever seen” and a lot of riders were out as a result. Philip ran out of fuel TWICE because the dunes were so deep and he burned so much fuel along the way. He refuelled in a small village with the help of the locals for €5 and again 50kms before the end with the help of a friendly quad driver closeby. He stopped to help an overturned car along the way and re-routed himself around the accident which cost him two way points but he’s hoping they won’t penalise him for that this evening. Today was a switch from earth to sand with a large portion of white dunes to contend with. There was no better way for Philip to spend his birthday than wrangling through the dunes of Argentina!  His battery was low so the mechanics will work on this and the rest of the bike overnight while Philip sleeps. He’s very dehydrated but in great spirits. Tomorrow he hits the infamous Atacama desert and four serious days of tough riding before the rest day on Saturday which will be most welcome, both from a physical perspective as well as a psychological one! Onwards and upwards…………literally!

Again, Philip completed today’s race with relative ease. The liaison was just 56km with the special test lasting 294kms concluding in a liaison of another 276km. It rained for just over two hours while Philip was going over the mountains and visibility was terrible but he managed to pass out aboute 30 riders who had done the same to him yesterday. Then when he got over the mountains it was beautiful blue skies and 40 degrees of Argentinian heat – almost like an Irish Summer really…except the heat of course!! On the major part of the special, the bikes enjoyed lots of blind jumps and a series of fast bends and a lot of rocky terrain indeed. These long liaisons at the end of the special tests are Philip’s pet hates but Brian and Barry followed him over this one today and took some good video footage so they had plenty of fun doing that.  Tomorrow is reputed to be one of the toughest days so far but Philip will revel in the channel of it no doubt. So another day under his belt, look out for updates on tomorrow’s tough course!

Stages 1 and 2 are now complete. Philip started Dakar 2010 and can you believe it……his clutch failed just 5 minutes into the rally. Just shows you, anything can happen at Dakar! But he quickly fixed the problem and headed on finishing his 349km liaison with ease.  His second day today was longer with 652kms to clock  up but despite further clutch problems he finished very early indeed and was resting up in anticipation of the tougher days to come. In the first days of the rally, overtaking is sometimes tricky. To make things easier between the bikers and the car and truck crews, a doubled course has been designed with just a few kilometres less for the riders. While the course will be separated, the program remains similar with tracks that will seduce the sliding specialists. You can see highlights on Eurosport at 7pm and 10pm Irish time every nights - Philip got a mention last night and we expect his mechanical support team to be interviewed shortly. Some nice coverage in the Irish Independent newspaper also today courtesy of Donnchadh Boyle.  And the race has only just begun……..

Only one week to go to the start of the longest, greatest endurance race in the world. The next time you hear from us we will be on Argentinian soil heading for Cordoba on the 1st stage of the 32nd Dakar. This week has mostly involved double checking all the equipment before we board the plane for Buenos Aires next week.

There was some last minute licence collection to be done as the FIM licence to race in the Dakar arrived in Belfast this week. Thanks to Jim Cray of MCUI and Damien Tolan of MCUI S/C for sorting this out for us in advance of the race start next week.

We had coverage in the Sunday World this past week and thanks to Finn Gillespie for his entertaining article on our participation in the race. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank 4×4 hire Scotland Ltd. And Buchans for Towbars for their support as the newest sponsors for Team Dakar Ireland 2010. Also to wish everyone  a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year and we will update you once we get going on the ground in Buenos Aires for 10,000km of offroad heaven!