Universally acknowledged as the most punishing rally-raid [a long-distance off-road race], the 2014 event spanned a fortnight, from Argentina to Chile, with temperatures close to 50C at times, an especially brutal 911km stage, and, by the finish line, a 50 per cent withdrawal rate.
Shane Diener installs solar water pumps in regional parts of South Australia. He made his Dakar debut, on the back of a YZ450 Yamaha, in January and placed 38th overall.
When I was 12 I used my Christmas money to buy this plastic model of a BMW bike that [two-time winner, in 1984 and 1985] Gaston Rahier rode to win the race. That was in the mid-’80s, before the Internet, and all I knew about the Rally was from word of mouth. People from South Australia had ridden it before me and it was something I’d always wanted to do.
It’s the ultimate when it comes to rally-style events; until you’re in the bivouac, you can’t comprehend the size of the event. The Mini Team are sponsored by Monster Energy Drink and had seven vehicles in the race. Each one had its own semi [trailer] and there’s a massive bus that follows them. On the flip side, I had a couple of really keen friends who came over with me to help out.
PRE-RACE
I’ve been riding similar events over here for a while. We’ve got the Australiasian Safari, which goes for one week instead of two and is quite a few less kilometres, but it’s the same style of event: you leave in the morning and follow your map until you reach the overnight bivouac.
They have this event at the Safari called the Dakar Challenge and anyone’s eligible to enter, as long as you haven’t ridden the Dakar Rally. The winner gains free entry – the entry fee is €15,000 [$23,000] – and I won that at the end of last September, which gave me a big stepping stone to get things happening.
I’ve been riding since I was five – I learnt on a farm and started competing when I was 13 – so I knew I had the experience. You can try some of the other rallies around the world but I wanted to do the ultimate one. It’s such a big and testing event, so you’re always going to learn things over there and never feel fully prepared.
THE READINESS IS ALL
I’m diabetic, which added an extra challenge to the event. That aside, I’d say I’m fairly fit. We do solar water pumping systems for farming areas throughout SA and also in certain parts of NSW and Victoria, so I get around and do a lot of physical work. I had to pass some physical tests before heading over and I got through those with flying colours.
Ideally, I would’ve done a bit more cycling and gotten my cardio level up a bit more. I should’ve probably done some altitude training as well but that’s hard in South Australia because we don’t really have any hills, let alone the mountains you’d find in South America.
Mentally, just knowing I was capable of doing the event and having the confidence in myself to get through it, was important. We do a 24-hour event in South Australia – you have a few rest breaks but there’s no sleep – and that’s a fairly demanding exercise. I’ve done 20-odd of them, so I was aware I could work through things when I was fatigued, which gave me belief in myself.
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