Team Rally Raid Canada > Rally Racer Don Hatton

After different exchanges with the French government – in particular the Ministry for Foreign Affairs – , and based on their firm recommendations, the organisers of the Dakar have taken the decision to cancel the 2008 edition of the rally, scheduled from the 5th to the 20th of January between Lisbon and Senegal’s capital.

Based on the current international political tension and the murder of four French tourists last 24th of December linked to a branch of Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, but also and mainly the direct threats launched directly against the race by terrorist organisations, no other decision but the cancellation of the sporting event could be taken by A.S.O.

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Cowichan man’s dreams of racing in famed Dakar Rally become reality… Just a handful of Canadians have participated in one of the world’s most gruelling competitions.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

The road from Duncan to Dakar is a lot longer than Don Hatton first anticipated.

The Cowichan Valley-raised Hatton, a 49-year-old insurance broker, always had big dreams of one day riding alongside the greats of motorsport in the Dakar Rally, a marathon nearly 6,000 kilometres long from Lisbon to Dakar, Senegal.

Lots of tire-kickers in the world have had similar dreams. That’s why Hatton has been laughed out of more local motorcycle shops than he cares to admit.

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