Don and the Rally Raid Canada Team will be at the 2010 Vancouver Motorcycle Show Saturday January 23 and Sunday January 24 at the Tradex – Trade and Exhibition Center – in Abbotsford. Look for them at the “Kimpex” booth #510.
Greetings Team Rally Raid Canada fans:
I am writing this from Buenes Aires where I am waiting the arrival of my team.
Thought I would let you know how I feel about no longer being in the Rally, I was very upset and was unable to comment earlier.
In short I am angry and very sad at the same time, the Dakar Rally is an event where everything has to go in your favor in order to finish, unfortunatley this year I was not so lucky.
It seems that nothing went my way, right from the beginning; with three months to the Dakar I broke my hand, my bike arrived 1 1/2 months late to Canada, I contracted the swine flu and had to deliver the bike for shipping while very very sick, my tire order not arriving at all.
I think the Dakar Gods were sending me a message and I was not receiving it.
At risk of sounding like I am feeling sorry for myself here is a summary of my 2010 Dakar Rally.
Following his Dakar experience, Don provided the following audio update:
Buenos Aires, Argentina – Tuesday January 5, 2010 – Don Hatton has been forced to retire from Stage 3 of the 2010 Dakar race upon advice of race medical staff.
For hours, Don had been struggling in axle deep in the white sand dunes east of La Rioja, Argentina in 45 degree Celsius temperatures. The combination of poor engine performance brought on by bad fuel, fatigue from the heat and the lingering affects of the food poisoning meant that riding the steep dunes was almost impossible. Riding with fellow Dakar racer Duncan Tweedy, they were both overcome with heat issues. They were provided water from passing participants in cars and trucks to help them cope with their situation.
Passing race medical officials advised them both not to proceed; “You will die in the dunes”, they urged, adding that there were no helicopters available as they were all busy trying to evacuate other competitors from the dunes. Not encouraging news considering their location and physical condition.
Still suffering from the dehydration due to food poisoning that he endured on stage two of the rally, Don took the advice of race officials and withdrew from the rally. He was one of 20 motorcyclists, nearly 15% of the entrants, to retire from the race Monday.
We know at this time Don was safe at the Bivouac Tuesday night and will make his way back to Buenos Aires Wednesday to meet up with his wife and support team.
We will advise further once we have been able to interview Don.
On behalf of Don, Natalie and the whole Rally Raid Canada – Destination Dakar team we would like to give our utmost thanks to our fans, sponsors and especially our media supporters!
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At the moment Don is listed as one of 14 riders that have withdrawn from the rally in stage 3! We expect that number to climb. UPDATE: As of 10:20PM PST, that number has grown to 20.
For those of you who have been trying to track Don on-line it has been a frustrating day, from all reports it has been far worse for Don.
Don had another bad night and day with his stomach problems but made it to the start of the special stage this morning.
However shortly into the stage Don fell victim to bad gasoline in his tank. This same problem afflicted many riders including favorite Marc Coma. Don persevered for a long time, but this stage has been described by many as one of the toughest they have ever encountered in any rally! The sand was really tough and it was incredibly hot. Don and many other riders were forced to ride in first or second gear as that was the best their engines could do on the foul gasoline.
Don is back at the Bivouac, after another difficult day.
In the first sector of the Rally, Don began having engine problems. I have seen numerous mentions of fuel problems today, and Don was unfortunately one rider who was affected. Riding in the dunes requires speed and momentum to carry the bike and rider to the top of each dune, and even a hiccup out of the motor can sap that momentum and leave the rider stuck and turning the bike around to retreat down the dune and far enough back to take another run at it.
Dave will likely be bringing us another update later this evening, and I will post an update here as soon as more information becomes available.
Official video of todays stage.
Don called in to Natalie from the Bivouac hospital hooked up to an IV for dehydration and anti nausea medication. He got food poisoning last night from the bivouac food – Don says a whole bunch of guys got sick. The food is absolutely disgusting! Don has had nothing to eat all day, he has been trying to get water down, but faster than he was drinking it, he was losing it one way or another!.
Doctors who remembered Don from last years Dakar were coming up to him and asking him how he was doing, and how was his wife. Natalie told Don he should have said “EL LOCO (crazy!!!) to let me do the Dakar again”.
