An eyeful

Dakar 2025 | Stage 4 | AL HENAKIYAH > ALULA
January 9 ^th 2025 - 09:43 [GMT + 3]

When rookie number 87 Ehab Al Hakeem arrived at the final time check on the marathon stage in Al’Ula, night had already fallen, but the Lebanese biker was not starry-eyed. Instead, his tired eyelids were covered in dust…

Ehab, who won the national Bajas championship in 2023 and is supported by the Saudi Automobile et Motorcycle Federation, lives in Saudi Arabia. At the final time check, he handed over his phone and asked for a photo to be taken of his dust-covered face. However, he did not want to post it on the social networks, rather his eyes were stinging so much he wanted a close-up view of them. After such reassurance, he took his Fantic bike to the secure enclosure and was wondering where he could find the compressed air and lubricants he had been told about. Quite visibly, the Lebanese rider did not have a clear vision of what awaited him at the marathon bivouac! In reality, the riders in the Rally 2 category had a maximum of one hour to work on their bikes with the tools and parts they had available in the zone. “Had I known, I would have brought some with me”.

 As for the other competitors, there were none in the secure enclosure. There were roughly 100 motorbikes parked with another twenty or so still out on the tracks, though not all of them would make it up to that point. The Lebanese rider, banging his dust-filled air filter against the fence to try and unclog it, was among the last bikers to finish: “I didn’t have time to look through the rules. Yesterday, I had a tough day. I broke my exhaust and tried to repair it using clamps, but it didn’t work. I stopped to work on it again, before setting off again to reach the finishing line at sunset. I still had to get to the bivouac 300 km away and it was really cold. I arrived at around 10 PM and then I had to prepare my bike for the marathon stage. I changed the tyres, the filter, the oil and finished at midnight, before having to wake up at 5 AM. I’m tired, even exhausted. I underestimated the marathon stage. I thought that over 400 km it would be quick and set off with tinted goggles. I rode for about 28 km in the dark but then I had to remove them”.

 In his backpack collected from the organisation team truck that transported it, there was a t-shirt and a sleeping bag. “I didn’t expect to find myself in this situation”. Ehab hurried to unpack his backpack and reserve one of the remaining places at the entrance to one of the large communal tents, in a draught and on the rug. He was the only competitor sleeping on the ground, because all the others had inflatable mattresses. He dreamed of taking a shower and asked if there were any. There indeed were, but unfortunately, he did not have a towel… However, his reflexes were still working correctly and he headed to the medical tent to have his eyes cleaned. As he lay down, he called his friends, who provide assistance to him, “but I deal with the mechanical side of things,” he explained quite naturally. Desert Storm Racing is the team’s name that Ehab has chosen and he has experienced a whirlwind of emotions since the start in Bisha. The experience of an improvised Dakar does not seem to worry him. Indeed, he said he is, “totally fulfilled”. With such a mindset, do not talk to him about ‘rehab’, he has no need for treatment!