A balancing act on four wheels

Dakar 2020 | Stage 4 | Neom > ALULA
January 8 th 2020 - 08:02 [GMT + 3]

Just one of the 23 quads in the Dakar has a Saudi rider. Abdulmajed Aakhulaifi has been living his dream for three stages, keeping a close eye on his speedometer and drawing on his experience as a mechanic.

Abdulmajed Aakhulaifi has been riding motorbikes for 20 years after being introduced to the joys of off-road racing by his older brother, but the machines of his dreams have long been quads, which he chose to specialise in. However, up until last year, he had not even dared to dream about the rally he followed as a hardcore fan in January every year. The first rumours of the Dakar moving to Saudi Arabia rocked his world. "When I first heard about it, I think I wasn't able to sleep", remembers the brainy and vivacious rider. "I started calling everyone I knew and thinking of how to participate. In fact, I hopped on the hype train right there and then and stayed on it until the podium in Jeddah last Saturday". Fortunately, once it was time to spring into action on the tracks of his home country, Abdulmajed managed to stay as focused as he is in the national and continental races in which he usually shines. A mechanic by training who now owns a garage, he is well aware that his expertise will be his main asset when it comes to fighting for a podium spot in Qiddiya: "My vehicle had an electrical problem today. I know I asked the right questions to take stock of the situation and fix it quickly in under 15ؘ minutes. Furthermore, during the opening stage I heard a barely noticeable sound, but I immediately found out where it came from and adjusted my riding style to stay out of trouble. Someone without this knowledge might have found himself out of the rally on day one". However, the man from Riyadh is also aware that he needs to keep his impulsive tendencies in check, especially now that he is sitting in eight place overall: "I spend time talking to myself on the quad, and there are always two voices. If I go too hard on a bump, one of them says 'watch out, you're pushing it', while the other one says 'go for it, you just saw it's worth it'". Rally-raid coaches would urge Abdulmajed to heed the angel, not the devil!

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