Rider on a desert storm

On New Year's Day, as the rest of us recover from the excesses of the night before, Irishman Vinnie Fitzsimon will rev his bike on the start line of the Granada-Dakar desert rally.

His punishing 18-day journey will take him over 6,000 miles through the barren African landscape, where the 29-year-old builder will face challenges that to most would seem insurmountable.

This will be Vinnie's third year to compete in the rally. Last year he finished 10th in his class and he hopes that, with the extra experience and backing, he will do better this year. "People have been really good with help and sponsorship," says Vinnie from his home in the Dublin hills.

His girlfriend Anne, as well as all the patrons of the local pub The Blue Light, are very active in their support and fund-raising. It costs nearly £30,000 to compete in the rally. The bike, spare parts, a mechanic and travel expenses make up most of this, so Vinnie has to cover a lot of the costs. This year marks the 21st birthday of the rally in which bikes, trucks, and cars battle against each other and nature, racing through obstacles that have made it the longest and most dangerous motorsport in the world. "There are an awful lot of sand dunes, they just seem to go on for days," explains Vinnie. "They are the most difficult obstacles. The sand is so soft and the dunes so high that you have to get a run at them. And when you get to the top you don't know if there's going to be a drop on the other side."

Because the area covered by the race is so vast, each competitor has to use maps and satellite navigation to find their way. In the desert there are no landmarks to help you - getting lost can put you seriously off course. Even using the satellite navigation properly does not guarantee safety. "Last year the organisers didn't correct a mistake on the maps. There was a 30ft vertical drop from a high-speed flat plateau. The first two to start that morning just drove straight over it," Vinnie says with concern. "If you're in the lead you're the first person to hit hazards."

The Granada-Dakar rally also has one hazard that all other sporting events seem to lack; trigger happy desert bandits. "Last year one of the trucks was hijacked at gunpoint, and a jeep was shot at," says Vinnie. The expression on Anne's face shows that she worries more about this particular danger than Vinnie does.

This year he will once again ride a machine put together by bike specialists CCM. The Irish-designed bike, which can carry 45 litres of fuel, is built around a 600 cc Austrian Rotax engine which has been specially prepared by Irish engineer Leo O'Reilly. Previous engine failures were attributed to lubrication problems, so the oilways around the piston were bored out, and a synthetic oil is used to ensure the engine can withstand the high stresses of the gruelling rally.

One unique feature about the CCM bike is the front sub-frame that now holds the satellite navigation system, the oil cooler, the road maps, and the lights. "Previously these heavy components were mounted on the handlebars, so the steering was very heavy, but now the bike turns as easily as a standard motocrosser," explains Vinnie.

Vinnie is not sure what made him decide to compete in the rally, but seeing it on television made him realise it must be the ultimate race for a dirt bike rider. Prior to the Dakar, Vinnie's biking experience was mainly in motocross and enduro events. His only experience on sand had been an afternoon on the beach at Brittas Bay. "I probably should have done some shorter desert races such as the four-day Dubai rally. My first desert race was the Dakar, the longest in the world, so I threw myself in at the deep end which made it all a lot more exciting." His girlfriend worries a lot about him during the rally. "He's so far away, the only way I can keep track of him is on the Internet. It's grand when you've been told he went through the previous stage, but if I haven't heard at two in the morning I'm wondering is he alive. It's just then that the danger hits you," she explains.

Being a builder Vinnie has no problems keeping fit for the event. Stamina is more important than strength in an event like this. After work Vinnie trains on a mountain bike, although over the last few weeks he has been resting in preparation for the immense physical task of pulling a motorcycle through sand dunes.

Pushing open the door to The Blue Light, Vinnie receives a barrage of friendly slagging from his neighbours and supporters. This pub is turned into headquarters during the rally, with everyone glued to the Eurosport coverage. One biker, clad in waterproofs, is particularly vocal in his slagging. "I wouldn't mind," says Anne. "But if anything happened to Vinnie during the race that fella would be the first to break down."