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.

Read the rest of this entry →

Following his Dakar experience, Don provided the following audio update:

Don’s post-Dakar report, courtesy of RallyRadio

As you are all likely aware, the rally begins on January 1st.

The ASO’s online tracking system is greatly improved this year. You can track Don’s progress on the following page:

http://www.destinationdakar.com/rally-coverage/dakar-2010/rally-tracking/. You can also find it in the RALLY COVERAGE menu at the top of the page. Note that Don is #74. If you click on “Follow the stage” in the bike section, you can select a participant. Entering “74″ or “Hatton” in the search box should do the trick.

During the Rally, this site will be updated on a daily basis, with descriptions of the next days stage and (hopefully) updates from Don or Natalie if they have time and an internet connection.

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.

Read the rest of this entry →