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”

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.

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.

Today’s stage was very tough due to the heat and dunes. Natalie provided the following update.

It was a very long stage, there are still guys out there in the dunes. We usually have a very full house for the dinner and briefing, but tonight there were a lot of empty spaces. Teams were straggling in looking pretty tired.

The stage started with a long off piece section with small dunes called dunettes (they are small but not easy to ride and difficult to navigate in). The big challenge of the day was the 20kms of absolute off piece dunes meaning there was no route through it – Don had to navigate through using cap headings. He made it through but he swears he climbed every dune in the 20kms. He said it was really quite a sensation to be in a dune field so large that you couldn’t see any end to them. Navigation was difficult but he got through. Don is still finding the bike a challenge to ride but is adapting his riding to the bike as best he can. At the last part of the stage there was 25 km’s of fech fech (fine silty sand with a thin crust) so Don was really glad to see the end of it.

As an observer at the stages and dinner table talk you cannot believe what happens to these guys in a day and they just continue forward. There are some amazing stories.

We have a little controversy going on at this time. It appears that Cyril, who is in the lead, did not hand his time card in at the end of the special. Apparently for good reason, he had gone back to assist another rider and in all the excitement forgot to hand in his time card. He rode really well today and would be a shame to see him lose the rally for a technicality like that (but then again that’s the rules)!.

Tomorrow is last day. We are all looking forward to it. Being part of the rally is such an exciting and amazing experience.

Good luck in stage 6 Don!

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. They have a 14-hour trip to Zagora and then need to do final setup of the bike before Don’s scrutineering time at 07:30 Saturday. Not a lot of time!!!

They are hearing from most of the seasoned drivers and riders that the food, accommodation and wine is much better than last year.

“I’m glad to be racing again” Don says.

He was severely injured on stage 5 of the 2009 Dakar race held in Argentina in January 2009.

“I just recently got my medical clearance from the FIM – the governing body for motorcycle rally racing including the Dakar – and I am ready to get back racing”.

Don competed in the 2008 Morocco Rally successfully completing the seven day endurance event in 127th place.”

Don will be racing for England’s Patsy Quick race team aboard a KTM690. Patsy Quick is famous for being the first English woman rider to complete the grueling 14 day Paris Dakar Rally and by being featured in the TV series Race to Dakar.

Don is planning to compete in this years Dakar race starting on January 1, 2010. He will be riding a specially prepared KTM motorcycle which will be built in the show room of Duncan Motorsports, a local motorcycle dealership which Don and his wife Natalie purchased earlier this year.

“We are inviting the public to come and see Bernie my mechanic build the bike to race specifications right in the show room. For anyone interested in motorsports, not just motorcycle racing, it should be very interesting and informative”.