Euromilhoes Lisbon Dakar Rallye - January 2006
Stage 15
Dakar
15th January 2006

The 2006 Euromilhoes Dakar Rallye has finished. After a short day of only 110km this years finishers have been through the podium and are now on their way back home.

The final day started early for most of the competitors as they had to travel from various hotels to the start for the first bike to leave at 7:30am.

“It wasn’t pleasant putting on all my dirty bike kit,” said Nick “I felt clean for the first time in two weeks, but it wouldn’t be for long.”

“I rode the liaison to the final special stage with Simon Pavey. The stage started with a 10km straight on a beach and then went into the dunes and then around a big lake. The liaison section was mad! When we got near the end, to the point where we had to ride onto the beach, there was cars and bikes stuck all over the place. The sand was so deep!”

After a wait of 2 hours the riders lined up for the start of the special stage. Nick found himself in the second row behind Simon Pavey in the first.




“The bike coped so well on the sand,” explained Nick “The first row went off and then about 5 minutes later they let us go. The BMW just dug in and I got some great acceleration from the line. There was just me and a KTM rider but I soon blasted past him. After a few kilometres I looked behind me and everyone else was way behind, it was a great feeling. The best bit was seeing the helicopter follow me down the beach! After 10km we entered the dunes but because the speed was a lot slower through there a couple of riders overtook me.”

“I’d made a bit of a pact with Simon Pavey, Patsy Quick, Clive Town and Patricia Watson-Miller to meet up after the dunes so that we could all finish together. They had all set off on the first row so they were waiting for me when I came out of the dunes. We completed the final part of the special, around a big lake, and all finished together. It was such a great feeling finishing with these other riders from the UK.”

“Seeing Patsy and Clive on the stage getting their medals was great. They got a huge cheer and started waving Union Jacks. Then it was my turn. It’s amazing when you get up there; you get such a good reception from all the spectators. I dragged Bernie up there for some photos and to thank him. It’s been good having someone like Bernie as a mechanic, I could just leave my bike with him and it would be ready the next day.”

After a few hours spent around the podium/stage area, which saw the guys having a well deserved meal and getting even more photo's with the other rider and Ewan McGregor (who had come to see the Race to Dakar team), Nick and Simon set off for the final Parc Ferme.



“We stopped at a fuel station on the way,” said Nick “We bought some cleaning stuff, oil and grease. It’s important at the end of the Dakar to just give the bike a once over and lube it all up. It takes ages for the bikes to come back and if you haven’t done anything with them since the end of the rally they arrive back in the UK as a pile of rust.”

“I just want to get home now it’s all finished. Outside the hotel is pretty horrible so you can’t really go out anywhere. I’ve spoken to a friend, Chris Emerson, who has also sponsored me this year, and he has sorted me and Bernie out with a flight. We fly back on Monday morning, I can’t wait to get home!”

Nick Plumb would like to personally thank all the people who have helped during this years Dakar Rallye. He would especially like to thank his sponsors,

Touratech UK – www.touratech.co.uk
Welsh Motorsport Initiative (Welsh Development Agency) – www.wda.co.uk
Clarks Motorcycles – www.clarksbmwbikes.co.uk
Rainbow Motorcycles - www.rainbowbmw.co.uk
RG engineering – www.rgengineering.co.uk
Robinsons Limited – www.robinsons-limited.com
Chris Emerson