Team Rally Raid Canada > Rally Racer Don Hatton

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.

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Stage 3 – La Rioja > Fiambala Monday, January 4

• Liaison : 259 km
• Spéciale : 182 km
• Liaison : 0 km
• Total : 441 km

The white pit

It’ll be on the third real day of racing that the competitors will have to deal with a first test. The change of context will be radical: with a switch from earth to sand and especially a dune portion of close to 30 kilometres. Other than their dimension that suits perfectly a first part of rally, these dunes are noticeable thanks to their white colour. In this new landscape, the crews will enjoy off-piste. They will also have to adapt to a change of climate and especially sand storms that are frequent in the area.

Team web guy Dave O’Sullivan, who has been writing most of these updates and posting them on the legacy site (www.destinationdakar.ca), supplies us with more details on Don’s day.

Early this morning, Don left the start area without his time card, which he didn’t realize until he was flagged down by another competitor after about 80km. He had to race back to the start to get his card, but it wasn’t that simple.

When organizers indicated they were not going to give him the start card, much back and forth discussion ensued. Don asked “what does this mean” and the organizer told him that he was out; the rally was finished for him. Don refused to give up, so more discussion, then they phoned the head of the FIM and after a lengthy phone conversation he ruled that Don could start.

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Stage 2 – Cordoba > La Rioja Sunday, January 3

Bikes / Quads

• Liaison : 56 km
• Spéciale : 294 km
• Liaison : 276 km
• Total : 626 km

Cars / Trucks

• Liaison : 56 km
• Spéciale : 355 km
• Liaison : 276 km
• Total : 687 km

Double sensation

Again to avoid tricky manoeuvres, bikes and quads will have, like on the previous day their own course. On the major part of the special, the motocross and enduro specialists will enjoy the blind jumps and series of fast bends. They will then have to take on a wilder environment: less sinuous but rockier. The drivers in cars and trucks will have to take good care of their brakes on a long descent at the middle of the special.

Well, nothing is ever easy at the Dakar, especially for competitor #73 Javier Pizzolito. A short time before he was to depart the Parc Ferme his bike suddenly caught fire. Of course this added a bit of excitement to Don’s day as he was parked very close to Pizzolito and had to push his bike away before the flames spread. The fire department arrived fairly quickly and doused the flames before any other equipment was damaged. According to on-line sources the damage was fairly significant and Pizzolito will not be able to continue in this years Dakar.

Today’s stage is only a 317 km liaison to Colon, so no real racing, it just gets them out of the city and ready for tomorrow.

Don made it into Colon by about 8PM. It was hot out there and hard to get around because the crowds were plugging up many of the roads. Don’s not to impressed with the food at the Bivouac, nor the swarms of mosquitoes that have shown up thanks to the recent rains.

Don is doing his road book now (around 9PM local time) and will then head to bed as he needs to be up at 4AM for a 5AM start.

As we reported yesterday, Don and the bike both made it through scrutineering. There were a couple minor issues, such as whether his Olympia Jacket met the regulations or not. But by the end of the day he had gotten through and was a happy camper.

The next challenge was to source engine oil and tires and mousse. Elf came through with enough oil for the race, a big thumbs up to Elf. Don managed to find some tires and mousse. However he will need to find more in order to finish the race.

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