Crashing out of stage one, a broken nose, under the weather, gruelling stages, unpredictable conditions, James Hillier’s second Dakar Rally odyssey had no minor number of obstacles to overcome.
Eventually, post the conclusion of stage number twelve, ‘Dynamite’ astride the WTF (We’re The Future) Racing Kove steed had done it, a second successful Dakar Rally completion.
His final finishing position was 87th, 77th in terms of Rally 2 category exponents.
Finishing seven places ahead of Hillier (race time, 166 hours, 38 minutes, 43 seconds!) was proficient Horice circuit ace, Jiri Broz.
In total 89 riders finished this year’s rally-raid spectacular in Saudi Arabia, with victory going to KTM’s Toby Sanders.
Honda HRC’s Tosha Schareina, Adrien Van Beveren claimed second, third, Luciano Benavides, 2024 winner Ricky Brabec, Skyler Howes were fourth, fifth, sixth whilst the lead UK rider was Robbie Wallace, 84th overall.
Words by Stevie Rial #dontletfearcontrolyou