Postcard from the Dakar Rally

Ugh hem, ting ting, please remove your pen lids as it’s time to tick off the Bucket List item. Well, at least for me it is.

I, Tatiana Reed, owner of two rusty and crusty Land Rovers, maker of unextraordinary videos on the internet, and pretty shabby user of spanners, have attended the actual Dakar Rally, and it is the absolute coolest thing there has ever been on land, sea or in the air. So, dear reader, continue at your own risk of considerable envy, because this is the Dakar, and there is nothing, anywhere, quite like it.

I don’t think I’m alone in carrying this dream. Many say F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, and of course it is in so many ways: the sheer speeds those rocketships are clocking is enough to blow the most firmly adhered wigs off half the spectators there. It pushes the limits of R&D far beyond the automotive sector, aided by wallets to make Mary Poppins’ handbag look thoroughly inadequate.