Pavey does the Dakar

by Andy Dukes

BMW Off-Road Skills chief instructor Simon Pavey will be competing in the 2009 Dakar Rally on a G 650 Xchallenge. The 41-year-old Australian, who runs BMW Motorrad UK's off-road school in the UK, will be joining this legendary rally event that is being held in South America for the first time.

During the last 30 years, the Dakar Rally forged itself an unrivalled reputation on the African territory that helped it grow and become one of the major events of the international racing calendar. Next year's rally will take place in Argentina and Chile from 3-18 January and the organisers are promising an amazing, but extremely difficult course - a 9,000-kilometre loop including 6,000 kilometres of special stages between Buenos Aires, Valparaiso and back to Buenos Aires. Interest in the new South American rally has been huge - especially since the 2008 Dakar was cancelled due to terrorist threats - and the 2009 event sold out quickly to participants from all over the world, driven by the same crazy quest for adventure and discovery. As a veteran of several Dakar Rallies, Pavey is under no illusions about how tough he expects this South American adventure to be. "I think it's really going to be a difficult rally," he said. "The organisers are out there right now doing a final recce and they want to prove a point. There was a lot of uncertainty about the Dakar moving all the way to South America, and even a fair amount of criticism, so there's no way that they will allow it to be anything other than the toughest race in the world. Personally, I'm really excited about the opportunity to go and race in South America. I've never been there before but having looked at the preliminary pictures from the Dakar website, it looks absolutely fantastic."

Pavey is lucky enough to have already competed in a major international rally this year - the 11,000 kilometre Transorientale Rally from St Petersburg to Beijing. On a virtually standard BMW G 650 Xchallenge, Pavey eventually finished in 18th place, picking up five, top ten stage finishes along the way. The bike he used is currently in bits in the workshop but Pavey and Evan Davies - who works at the school with Simon - are rebuilding it in preparation for the Dakar. "We wanted to use the same G 650 Xchallenge as we used in the Transorientale. It was provided by BMW Motorrad UK and prepared for that rally by Bernie Wright. Our goal is a finish, not a win, so the bike is being prepped for reliability rather than outright speed. The engine is completely standard, as is the swing-arm and air box. We're using a Touratech rally kit with different cockpit and a big fuel tank that will give us around 25 litres of fuel capacity in total. We're changing the air-shock for an Öhlins item, which is easier to work on, or replace if necessary. We're using Michelin Desert tyres and mousses, adding a big bash plate for protection, a water tank, Xenon headlight and Talon wheels.

All in all, Pavey estimates that there is about 150 hours of work involved in order to prepare the G 650 Xchallenge to rally standards. This can be painstakingly tedious at times - such as putting Tippex on all bolts, so that any loosening can be detected and rectified after each stage - but can make all the difference. After all, who wants to go out of the rally because of a part that has been shaken off due to excessive vibrations? Also, there are many spares that need to be strapped or secured on the bike, for those `on the spot' repairs. These will include spindle nuts, spare ignition, fuel pump, clutch plate, water pump and brake, clutch and throttle cables, which are strapped to the originals. With all these `extras', the bike will weigh in the region of 200 kg when fully fuelled, but this will be lighter than the F 650 GS rally-prepared machines that Pavey has used for previous Dakar rallies. For now Simon's main goals are to be as fit as possible in preparation for the start of the rally, and to remain absolutely injury free.

"Time is always at a premium, so the training has suffered a bit, although I'm always out riding motorcycles, so at least I'm `bike fit'! I'm going out to the United Arab Emirates next week to compete in the Dubai Rally, and that should give me an indication of my true fitness levels. It's a six-day race out in the desert and having done it in 2006, I know what to expect. Looking forward to the Dakar though, it looks as if I will be the only BMW rider competing, so I'm hoping that the BMW community will support and follow my progress with interest. I've teamed up with a Scottish guy called Stuart Walker, who will be helping me with some assistance on the rally. He used to come to our BMW pre-Dakar parties in the early days, and has since gone out and bought a race truck, so he'll be helping me out. Other than that, I'll be out there on my own, just like the old days!"

Fortunately for Simon, he won't be totally alone in the desert, because GS legend Kevin Sanders (Double Guinness World Record holder for two of the greatest global endurance motorcycle rides in the world) is planning to take a group of BMW riders out to South America to not only follow the rally, but also take in the sights and sounds of the amazing South American continent. Watch this space for more information on how to join this amazing tour.

This feature originally appeared in October 2008 - Updated: 03/13/10

Updated on: 03/13/10 at 19:07 CST