North Yorkshire off-road motorcycle racer Robbie Wallace is planning an adventure of a lifetime having had his entry accepted for next year’s world-famous Dakar Rally.
Originally known back in the 1980s and 1990s as the ‘Paris-Dakar Rally’, which featured cars, trucks and bikes competing in the Sahara Desert, the 2025 event is the sixth edition which will be held in Saudi Arabia from 3rd to 17th January 2025 on a course stretching from Bisha to Shubaytah.
27-year-old electrical engineer from Northallerton, Robbie has competed in various events both in the UK and abroad in recent years, including having recently returned from successfully competing at the RUTA 40 in Argentina as part of his preparations.
The five-day event based near Cordoba saw Wallace, aboard his TCC Plant-supported KTM as part of the Xraids Experience Team, finish in 15th overall and sixth in class which paved the way for an invite into the toughest off-road event in the world.
However, the cost of entering and competing at the event is over £40,000 so Robbie, his family as well as his sponsors are currently raising the budget and the team have some fund-raising events lined up later in the year, including a celebrity chat show and auction which will be taking place in Northallerton with stars of the racing world in attendance.
The 47th edition of the event will see around 140 motorcycle competitors, as well as hundreds of car, buggy and truck drivers from all over the world converge on Bisha in the south west of Saudi Arabia starting with technical checks and administration on January 1st/2nd and then the Prologue on January 3rd before the competition starts in earnest the following day. There then follows a mighty 950km stage over two days on varied terrain, with competitors required to camp out overnight in the desert in a bivouac.
At least five stages of the 2025 Dakar will take place on separate courses for safety purposes to reduce the danger of cars and trucks overtaking bikes, and another feature of the 2025 event is riders will have to service their own bikes for up to 800km on a couple of days. After 14 days incorporating 12 stages, Shubaytah, in the eastern part of the country and near the Abu Dhabi border, will welcome the weary finishers.
Keep up to speed with his adventures on www.facebook.com/robbiewallacerallying and if you’d like to be involved with Robbie’s adventure, please contact him on 07930 287965, via email at wallace.robbie@hotmail.co.uk and on Instagram @robbie.wallace_. Alternatively, call Team Manager Duncan Wallace on 07712 140477. All media enquiries to: Cartersport Motorsport Media & Communications, info@cartersport.com.
ENDS
