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.

Scrutineering: every little thing that could go wrong went wrong, they actually had to replace my GPS before I could pass scrutineering.

Day 1: official start in Buenes Aeries, bike number 73 parked directly beside mine in Park Ferme is so close that it is against my leg while I am installing my road book.

Suddenly the crowd starts screaming, (for a photo of me I thought)

I turn and realize the bike beside me is a ball of flame, I run with my bike and hide behind a race car.

Day 2 Stage 1: I am up at 3:00 am for my very early start, The Bivouac is very large I cannot find the exit, I ask two ASO officials how do I get out, they point to an exit and say you go that way, I leave and the thought crosses my mind that I should be getting a time card, I think to myself I guess they are going to give them to us at the start of the special.

The Liasson that morning was very dangerous, the fog was extremley thick and I could not see anything,I am praying I don’t run off the road.

As I hit KM 89.7 another rider riders up screaming something to me, turns out he is telling me ASO has told him to send me back to get my time card, I am now 1 1/2 hours away from the bivouac.

I head back and ride 89.7 km back to retreive my time card.

When I arrive I am told I can not start as it is to late, they tell me my Dakar is over I must go home. I fight like a wild man they are convinced that if they don’t telephone the head of FIM that I might kill somebody, they call FIM head guy and I am granted permission to start, I ride like a man posessed to get to the special to make my start time so I am not kicked out for failing to start the special on time.

Unfortunatley they fail to tell me that the route has changed and we are actually starting on KM 50 and not KM0. I ride the first part of the day with nothing matching my road book, finally able to correct it at the first CP.

Day 3 Stage 2: I wake up at 2:00 am with violent cramps Diarrhea and vomiting this continues all night, I have taken 3 Immodium tablets and nothing has changed, at 6:00 am I am concerned that I am not going to be able to take the start.

I head to the infirmary and the doctors give me medicine, this helps slow the vomitting down and ease the cramping, does nothing for the diareaha.

I can not eat or drink with out vomitting, all I can hope is that I can finish the day and hopfully feel better in the morning

GPS quits working at the start of special and can not be repaired, I am parenoid I tell every official at every CP its not working (the penalty for no GPS is automatic expulsion, unless it is mechanical issues).

Having no compass makes the off track sections almost impossible because they are 100% cap headings and I don’t haqve a working compass, I have to rely on spectators to point the way.

I make it through the stage, through Rain, Fog, Dust, and sickness, but not before having two very big crashes.

In bivouac, doctors insist that I am hooked up to drip to rehydrate as I can not eat or drink and it has been a very long hot day.

Bed early.

Day 4 Stage 3: Up early for start, feeling very s***ty, still can not eat or drink.by now I am two days with out food or water.

On Doctors instructions I am attempting to drink flattend coke, cramps not as bad and am not vomitting still have very bad diareha, not feeling great, but feeling I might be finally starting to ovecome this illness.

Long Liasson to sart day about 280 KMs, mandatory fuel stop at start of special, bike is running good at this point.

Fuel up as required and head to start, immediatley into the start bike not running quite right, this is really deep sand and the way the bike is running the sand is very difficult to ride.

At KM 9, I must climb about a 25 foot sand hill that is stepped, bike won’t go up, it just dies when I open the throttle, I get stuck and spectators help. I ride another 600 meters bike quits again. Acting like it is running out of fuel, check to make sure I have fuel, keep on going,.

KM 16 enter a Rio that is all fesh fesh about three feet deep, this is not a normal Rio it is more like a a very narrow canyon with 50 foot shear walls. Temperatures are close to 50 C .

I am a good sand rider , the way the bike is running I am unable to ride this sand, can’t keep the bike running at a high enough speed to control it in the sand, it is very frustrating takes me 5 hours to go 26 KMs I drop the bike at least five times, because of the way the bike is running I can not get any flow happening, every 100 meters front end washes out I am exhausted. I hit KM 30 bike quits and will not start. there are two other riders here one with the identical fuel problem to me and one near passing out from heat exhaustion.

ASO doctor and assistant are here waiting to assist riders, they had been sent out by ASO due to the extreme heat to provide racers with water and medical assistance if required.

Doctor tells me all hell has broken out, many riders have quit at checkpoint one and are unable to continue, so many riders are in trouble before checkpoint two that they have pulled the press helicopters into action as rescue helicopters every available helicopter is being used for rescues.

He says he can not stop me but he would recomend that I do not attempt to go further it is very dangerous, and I could die out there and the heat is extreme, there will be no helicopters available to rescue me if I get in trouble.

I decide to press on despite his advise, at KM 39 my bike gives up for the last time it does not have the power to get me up the hill to exit the RIO.

I am stuck and also realize I can not go any further with the bike in this condition. Soldiers come by and show me a route back to the bivouac, I ride very slowly back.

Arrive at Bivouac, I am provided the next days road book ,they do not take my navigation equipment away from me, nor am I listed as a non starter (a good sign that I am starting) .

I find out from my team that over 100 riders did not finish the stage, ASO can not send them all home or the Rally would be over, there are rumors that the stage is going to be nuetralized.

As I have not officially been told I am out, I prepare to start the next days stage, I am again sent for a rehydration drip.

Day 5 Stage 4: I am up at 4:30 AM road book done and installed, all dressed and ready to go.

I arrive at starting area, I am told that I can not start, I put up a fight, my argument is that I actually finished more way points then many of the riders who are starting, I say that I am aware that more then 100 riders did not finish the stage and they are allowed to start.

I argue the only reason I was unable to proceed was nothing in my control, It was all on ASO, I had been given food poisoning by ASO food and now they had also poisoned my bike.

Well you know by now how effective my argument was.

I fully plan to send an official protest to both ASO and FIM at the conclusion of the Rally, there were over 100 riders who either did not finish the course that day or cut the route.

My theory is that ASO realized they could not kick over 100 riders out that early in the Rally and still have a race. The reason I was chosen was that ASO believed I had already been given a reprieve on stage 1 with the time card issue and they needed to eliminate some of the riders who cut the course, I along with 15 others were eliminated.

I have no problem with the FIM rule if you cut the course you are out, my problem is that you can not say only selected riders are out, we should either be all out or all in.

Another example of the double sided rules Annie Seel (whom I like very much, and I am happy to see her still in the Rally), Annie fell into a very big hole during a special section, she called a helicopter and Etienne Levigne himself pulled her bike out and sent her on her way. ASO rules clearly say that if you call a helicopter for any reason it is automatic expulsion however they let Annie continue. Great for Annie not so great for others who were kicked out for the same thing.

I am sounding bitter, sorry gang.

The frustrating part, I was very sick and my bike was not running this was not anything I did or did not do. I was provided bad food and bad fuel by an organization whom I had paid a significant amount of money to make sure this sort of thing did not happen.

The terrain in this stage was very difficult, but at no point did I feel I could not ride it. The events that caused me to be eliminated were beyond my control and that is very frustrating. Mix in the ASO FIM politics and it makes me crazy.

I have been asked if I will be back for 2011, and I can honestly not answer at this time.

I have raced Rallys all over the world many on terrain much more dificult then the Dakar, to know I could have ridden the terrain and to be out this way is very hard to for me to deal with at this time.

My initial gut response is to give it a rest for 2011 and just focus on the other World Rallies. Once I am home and had some time to absorb what happened I may have a different mind set.

Thank you all for your support this year, I look forward to seeing everyone when I am home, to share my tales with you over some fine Kickstart Coffee.

Take Care and thank you again for all your support and encouragement.

Regards

Don

Don’s post-Dakar report, courtesy of RallyRadio

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.

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”.

Don was up all night with bad stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhea. “He said you cannot imagine what it is like to have to vomit in the bivouac toilets!” I say TMI Don!

Even so Don left this morning but his Iritrack (tracking system) was not working. He told the organizers who said not to worry it would work. It was clear that it wasn’t working, it would turn on but then kept turning itself off. Don wanted to make it clear that it wasn’t working so at EVERY check point he told the organizers it wasn’t working. He is concerned that not having Iritrack could result in a disqualification from the race so he needed to make sure they understood it wasn’t working.

Don had 2 big crashes today and says his 690 is well worn in. At around kilometer 20 he had a huge crash and was down for about 1/2 hours (he thinks). Ripped his pants wide open. He didn’t realize how heavy the 690 was to pick up. Then just before the end of the special his front end went out from under him as he was crossing water. Apparently there was a lot of algae in the water and his bike literally slipped out from his hands. This picture, from Reuters, was among many of bikes going down in the same spot.

Don has also been at the organization tent fighting his time penalties that have already added up to more than 1 1/2 hours.

Don’s final comment was “Just remember I am riding this for a finish not a win”

Don, this was undoubtedly an eventful day, and your flair for the dramatic is certainly garnering lots of fans (and bandwidth!) over at ADVRider.

In the picture at right, Don runs to retrieve his KTM, with Mark Miller bearing down on him in his Team Red Bull Volkswagen. This spot was a shallow water crossing over a weir, where many riders were caught out by the extremely slippery surface.

As for the specific results, Don finished the stage ranked 141, and was assessed 1:34 of penalities. Today was a bit of a nail biter for Hatton fans; according to the tracking on the dakar.com website, Don didn’t appear to pass the second checkpoint.

Obviously, something went awry today. Perhaps the situation with the second checkpoint had something to do with the penalities, or they may have been assessed due to Don’s time card incident. Stay tuned for more details.

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.

The Dakar organizers’ argument was that it was too dangerous, as the cars were now leaving and Don would not make his start time at the special stage. Don told them that it was their member of the organization that had directed him to start, and that he was a fast rider and could make it to the special section for his start time.

So, off he went, arriving at the special just in time to start. At this time the officials give him two papers. Only moments from his start, Don only has time to read the first one. Unfortunately, the notice don didn’t have time to read indicated that due to the heavy rains, they had to reroute the course. They verbally told everyone else, but as he was just in time to start they didn’t actually tell him. Don knew something wasn’t right, but soldiered on. It turned out that he was supposed to change his road book by 50kms! At about 100kms into the special, he did finally get himself straight and he finished the stage. However, not before he had to ride through water on his bike, causing it to quit! He arrived at the finish and along with the Desert Rose team, waited in dirty, sweaty gear for the support truck to show up.

Later in the afternoon, they are all sitting around doing their road road books and in strides the head of the FIM (apparently he was in Buenos Aires and came out to speak with Don). Seeing the FIM boss walk in, the Desert Rose guys were very worried because they thought he had come to tell Don he was out of the rally. Thankfully, he was only bringing a warning; Speaking very strongly to Don about starting without his time card, he explained that this must not happen again, and doing so would result in an immediate disqualification.

Don actually rode the course very well today but we think that he was assessed some pretty hefty time penalties over the time card fiasco as he is currently listed in 133rd place but earlier reports had him finishing in the middle of the pack. Hopefully tomorrow is a better race day for Don. However Don is actually quite happy with the penalties, compared with being kicked out of the rally, its not so bad.

Don continues to be unimpressed with the food in the Bivouacs. There was no breakfast today, so he had to resort to his emergency instant porridge rations that he carries to every rally. For dinner they had lovely Argentinean Pepperoni Sausage, which Don simply described as disgusting.

Unfortunately Don’s troubles were minor compared with an unfortunate accident involving one of the cars running off the course and plowing into a group of spectators. One spectator was killed and 4 injured. Our thoughts and sympathies go out to the families of the victims.

After a very early start, Don realized after riding 89km that he’d forgotten to pick up a time card. He rode back to retrieve it, where he was told he wasn’t going to be able to continue. Arguing he could still get to the special for his alloted start time, he plead his case, eventually getting the officials to make a call to their superiors. Eventually, Don was allowed to continue and head back out on the liaison.

Arriving just in time to start the special, Don didn’t have a chance to get the instructions on setting his road book 50km ahead. Obviously, this lead to some confusion, essentially having to ride without the road book, but at the first checkpoint, he was able to get it sorted and continue on the rest of the stage.

As with today’s special, tomorrow’s run will put the bikes and cars on a separate, parallel course, allowing bikes to race without the ever-looming threat of overtaking cars. This removes a huge source of stress to the riders. From the stage description, the beginning of the rally is going to have some blind jumps early in the stage, and more open, but rocky sections in the latter half.

Good luck Don!

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.

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.

Natalie reports that yesterday was a long day through scrutineering … but exhilarating at the end! The best feeling really for all of us. All the organizers we dealt with yesterday were very pleasant. The Argentines are warm people, the food has been great and the weather is picking up (raining and thunder storms for the first few days), but hot yesterday and today (Dec 31). When Don rode his bike from the Docks to downtown (about 1 1/2 hours) it was pouring.

The locals came out in full force Wednesday afternoon. Max and Natalie were left at the Dakar site and it took them ages to thread their way back to the Hotel on the street.

Natalie also reports that they have run into many familiar faces as well. Javier and Sandra who own DakarMotos in Buenos Aires and have been very helpful to Don and the team over the last two years and lots of other people from different teams that they recognize from last year or other rallies – “it’s truly wonderful”.

Don had a chat with Marc Coma as well yesterday and told him (joking of course) that now that Don had a factory bike, and Marc does not, he plans on passing Marc this year. Of course Marc found that quite funny for some reason.

Don will be in good hands again this year, as his favorite Rally doctor, Alain, is once again in attendance. Alain has attended 15 Dakars as a medic and he loves it. He told Don that he thinks the Argentina/Chile course is far more dangerous than any of the African courses have been.

Hopefully Don will not need to talk to Alain or any other medical staff before the end of the Rally. However he still has a nagging cough left over from his bout of the flu earlier this year and that will not help as the rally wears on.

The weather around Buenos Aires has been unseasonably wet so far this year, with wide ranging floods causing heavy damage. The organizers are reporting that some sections of the course will be quite muddy. At least that will give the riders a break from all the dust they encountered last year. Not that they won’t get their fair share of dust in the dessert and dunes.

Don and the team will be hosting a small New Years Party for some of the other teams and then the real fun begins.

Don is going to focus on his navigation and road book work, just like in Morocco. He says that previous rally’s have really driven home the point that you have to finish to do well, and the best way to finish is to stay on course, not get lost, and be very aware of the hazards on the course. Hopefully the results for Dakar 2010 will be just as good as in Morocco 2009.