“The Dakar is the most extreme adventure you can have”

The story that links Mohammed Balooshi to bikes is a rather special one. He had always dreamt of riding a motorbike in the wide open spaces of his Dubai, well before towers and skyscrapers were being built, but it wasn’t until he was 18 shortly after his father passed that he finally bought a bike, and that changed his life. He began his racing career at 20 and quickly tasted success, winning the Arabic motocross championship in five consecutive years between 2009 and 2013. He also slowly moved to longer events, bajas and rally-raids, where he competed alongside his brother Sultan. And that naturally took him to the Dakar, the pinnacle. Back in 2012 Balooshi made history by becoming the first Emirati rider to take part in the world’s biggest rally, but failed to reach the finish line in Lima after breaking his hand and shoulder. Six years later, he returned to complete the rally in 32nd place, and continued a superb 2018 by lifting the FIM Baja World Cup crown, thus becoming the first Arabic rider to win an FIM title in off-road rallies. Sadly the 2020 edition in his “second home”, Saudi Arabia, was a bitter one when this father of three crashed out early. The 44-year-old has since then consistently finished the rally and shows up for his seventh Dakar with that will to enjoy the greatest rally in the world and better his previous position.

MB: “My love for Motorcycles goes all the way back to my childhood. When I grew up, Dubai wasn’t the concrete jungle it is today. I grew up in a place surrounded by the desert and my grandmother lived near the coast. A couple times per week we travelled through the desert and we’d pass this motorbike dealership that sold motocross bikes for kids. I fell totally in love with the bikes, but initially, my father was against the idea of riding. I kept on asking for that bike every day. One morning my father took me to the bike shop and to my surprise the salesman didn’t want to sell it to me… He simply thought I was too small for the bike; it was so weird. It was like a dream was taken away from me. Shortly after this event, my father passed away. And this trip to the bike dealership is somehow my last memory of him. I had to wait until I was eighteen to purchase my first bike. Since then, riding dirt bikes has a very melancholic effect on me because I always link it to my father. When I was a kid, I always tried to follow the Dakar on whatever media platform available back in those days. I remember following my heroes such as Nani Roma and Alfie Cox. It was like a dream. I started competing as soon as I got my first bike. I was racing in the Arabian Motocross championship and I felt I was ready to compete in a proper rally. I wasn’t ready at all. I rode my first Dakar in 2012 and much like my first rally, I wasn’t ready. I crashed on the 10th day, broke my hand and shoulder and after that the game was over. The Dakar is without a doubt the most extreme adventure you can have on a machine. It is very demanding, on both mental and physical level. In 2018 I finally found myself ready to tackle another Dakar, but it took me a long time.”