Paris Dakar Entry, anyone done it? A few Q's
Discussion
I was wondering if anyone had any experience of entering a truck into the P-D ?
My BiL has got a nice low mileage Bedford ex Army four wheel drive monster, which we plan to enter into the PD.
Its a frigging monster, and going to be paited bright orange. I don't know which charity we are going to pick, but there will be one involved.
So, a coupler of questions.
Have you done it, what was it like?
What licenses do we need?
Will we be ready for 2021 if we start full prep now?
Any other info or stories would be great.
Paul
My BiL has got a nice low mileage Bedford ex Army four wheel drive monster, which we plan to enter into the PD.
Its a frigging monster, and going to be paited bright orange. I don't know which charity we are going to pick, but there will be one involved.
So, a coupler of questions.
Have you done it, what was it like?
What licenses do we need?
Will we be ready for 2021 if we start full prep now?
Any other info or stories would be great.
Paul
What's the truck MJ,TM 4x4 ? It would be bloddy hard work in a MJ as not much is power assisted, although fairly robust. the TM has a lot more electronics and assistance to go wrong be a fairly tough ould truck..
Speak to someone like bowler they run trucks as support for the wildcats..
Speak to someone like bowler they run trucks as support for the wildcats..
Contact this email for regs and requirements. concurrents@dakar.com
You'll be running in the T4 truck class? You need some serious power as you'll be carrying a lot of weight. Assuming you won't have a support truck, you'll need all the kit to rebuild/maintain engine, shocks and tyres, jacks etc, plus your life and accomodation in their too. All this squeezed around the cage. The front runners push 1000bhp, twin engine (unless they've changed the rules)
It's hard, you will break down, get lost, fight and have great fun. If you're rich enough get a support truck and I'll come and help you. Though my experience lies with Mitsubishis.
The 2012 dakar is in South America, you did say 2021, but that seems a long time away to start now.
You'll be running in the T4 truck class? You need some serious power as you'll be carrying a lot of weight. Assuming you won't have a support truck, you'll need all the kit to rebuild/maintain engine, shocks and tyres, jacks etc, plus your life and accomodation in their too. All this squeezed around the cage. The front runners push 1000bhp, twin engine (unless they've changed the rules)
It's hard, you will break down, get lost, fight and have great fun. If you're rich enough get a support truck and I'll come and help you. Though my experience lies with Mitsubishis.
The 2012 dakar is in South America, you did say 2021, but that seems a long time away to start now.
We considered entering a few years back (got to the stage of nearly posting off the deposit and forms!), but decided against it. The chap still wants us to come and play in South America with them - you have no idea how tempted I am!! 
With a very modest budget, we were looking at the thick end of £200,000...just to compete - not to actually win.
I'm sure it can (and has been) be done for less but there is a lot of money involved.
They are always very keen to get English people involved for one reason or another.
If you go and do it, serious good luck - you're probably already too late for 2011 (unless you've got a big budget).
If it is as it was, they will arrange the shipping of your car to South America and back again.
Anyway - good luck whatever you end up doing!
Cheers
The Moose
With a very modest budget, we were looking at the thick end of £200,000...just to compete - not to actually win.
I'm sure it can (and has been) be done for less but there is a lot of money involved.
They are always very keen to get English people involved for one reason or another.
If you go and do it, serious good luck - you're probably already too late for 2011 (unless you've got a big budget).
If it is as it was, they will arrange the shipping of your car to South America and back again.
Anyway - good luck whatever you end up doing!
Cheers
The Moose
I know a few people who have done it in various capacities. Consensus seems to be it costs about the same as a small house plus the vehicle. Scrutineering is done at Le Havre at the end of November so you would need to be ready by then.
I'm sure once you start to look into it you'll be advised that a Bedford is not the place to start. You will need significantly uprated suspension which costs big money as well as the items mentioned above. As, to the best of my knowledge, no one else would be in a Bedford you would be unable to source any spares whilst on the rally. Much better to use a common vehicle so that you can buy/borrow spares from other entrants. Finally I doubt you would be able to complete the stages on a regular basis in the time available unless the Bedford had had some serious time and money invested.
Perhaps one of the African or European long distance rallies might be a better starting point if committed to the Bedford?
I'm sure once you start to look into it you'll be advised that a Bedford is not the place to start. You will need significantly uprated suspension which costs big money as well as the items mentioned above. As, to the best of my knowledge, no one else would be in a Bedford you would be unable to source any spares whilst on the rally. Much better to use a common vehicle so that you can buy/borrow spares from other entrants. Finally I doubt you would be able to complete the stages on a regular basis in the time available unless the Bedford had had some serious time and money invested.
Perhaps one of the African or European long distance rallies might be a better starting point if committed to the Bedford?
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