“Very excited to be back in Original by Motul”
RIDER FACTS…
- Well before the Dakar changed his life, Mishal Al Ghuneim travelled around the world in 2005 and 2006, spending time on oil and gas rigs in South America, and then the rally decided to move to Saudi Arabia, his home.
- When he registered for the event in 2020, he had one goal in mind: to become the first Saudi biker to finish the race. On home-soil and despite struggling with the weight of an entire nation on his shoulders, he reached the finish in 71st position.
- This man of challenges who also owns a dirt bike center and organises rides in the desert, decided that he needed something new for his second attempt at the Dakar. His first appearance in the Original by Motul class with absolutely no assistance finished in style at a great 42nd spot. Sadly a year later still in the same category it ended painfully when he crashed out on day 4.
- After a two-year absence due to his long recovery and sinus issues, the 41-year-old father of three from Al Khobar has decided to return to the rally, still among the Original by Motul riders.
- This third Dakar is an opportunity to enjoy the pleasure of competing on the World’s toughest rally but also a way to promote an application that he has been working on this last year. Al Ghuneim has indeed developed the CloudRacing app that helps in the organisation of race courses and prepares competitors for desert rides.
AMBITION 2025
M.A.G.: “Finishing the Dakar in 2020 was one of the most important accomplishments of my life. I was so proud. Proud as well for my whole country. When I started the Dakar, I thought I was going to enjoy it but I rapidly realized the huge weight I had on my shoulders. It was a lot more difficult, a lot more stressful than I imagined and that made it a lot more rewarding to finish.
For 2025, I’m very keen to start and very excited to be in the Original by Motul class again. I’m feeling fit this year, much better than last year when I had some sinus issues that had been haunting me for almost two years. I’m feeling much better. I keen to again share my passion for racing and I’ve been working on developing this app called Cloud Racing. My campaign is to help other participants find the use of this app and I’m going to be sharing and promoting it as much as possible among the racers. So this Dakar is for pure pleasure and business reasons. I’ll be riding the bike that I used in 2022, a KTM Rally Replica. The other two bikes I have both finished the rally (one in 2020, one in 2021). This one didn’t finish the Dakar. Hopefully I’ll manage to get this bike over the finish line. I then hope to carry on sharing my passion during the World Rally-Raid Championship. Dakar is obviously the big challenge up ahead so I’m first focusing on that.”
