Team Rally Raid Canada > Rally Racer Don Hatton

Don finished the rally in a very respectable 4th place in the Motorcycle Enduro Cup. Just to finish is a remarkable feat and Don and his team would like to congratulate everyone who took place in this years rally.

Don’s position throughout the stages of this years rally was very consistent. 

In Stage 1, Don placed 2nd among the motorcycles in the Enduro Cup. In stage two, Don slipped back to 4th, after suffering from heat stroke and having to stop and cool down midway through the stage. In stage three, Don again placed 4th, but was just eight minutes behind 2nd place finisher Lambert Wery. In stage four, Don managed a third place finish and moved him up to 3rd place overall. Don finished stage five in 5th place after being assessed a two-hour penalty, moving him down to 4th overall. In the sixth and final stage, Don once again placed 4th, just seven minutes behind Wery’s 3rd place finish. Overall at the end of the Rally, Don finished 4th overall.

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Once again Don finished 5th in the days stage and is sitting 5th in the overall standings of the Enduro Cup.

Don felt really good on stage 4, yesterdays set back was definitely heat stroke but he had fully recovered before the start of today’s stage.

The KTM 690 Enduro performed well on today’s stage, while riding a totally stock bike is not ideal for the kind of terrain in Morocco, Don is coming to terms with it and feeling more comfortable as the rally progresses.

The terrain today was a fast track but with lots of rocks and treacherous sections. The organizers were warning riders at the start that the route was very dangerous with lots of holes that were not marked on the road book.

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You have to make your own shade in the middle of a desert

Don finished 5th in Stage 3 today and is sitting 5th overall in the Enduro class.

He reports Stage 3 had heavy dunes and was very hot. Don had a little problem with overheating (himself, not the bike) and had to pull over at one stage to hide in the shade of the bike while he stripped down, had a drink, and ate something.

Several other riders were forced to drop out of the rally today due to the heat and several had trouble with navigation and got lost for a while.

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Well Don did make it to the start line today. However his issues were not restricted to just navigation equipment electrical problems!

Don described the course as “rocks, rocks, and more rocks and we’re not talking pebbles.” The Bike had a problem with the suspension on the first stage, it didn’t have any. Bernie was able to make it a bit better at the neutralization break which allowed Don to ride the second stage. Apparently after the race Bernie was still working on the suspension at 2AM Monday, local time.

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After a grueling day in the hot sun it looks like Don has all the stamps from scrutineering to participate in the Rally tomorrow.

Bernie and the bikes finally arrived late Saturday morning after Don had his administrative scrutineering. This really put him behind with scrutineering. On top of that Don’s bike had some serious wiring problems that took over 5 hours to repair. They are hoping that they don’t have any problems tomorrow… apparently it is all related to power to the navigation equipment.

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Don and Natalie made it to Zagora on October 23 after a 4 hour car ride with a manic Moroccan driver. The journey was along an extremely high, narrow winding road with no guardrails.

However, Don’s bike has not arrived yet. Apparently the ferry that the bike and mechanic Bernie were traveling on was delayed by bad weather off the coast of spain. Bernie and the bike arrived in Tangiers around noon on Friday. Read the rest of this entry →