4,000km down, Oran O'Kelly eyes Dakar Rally finish line

Oran O'Kelly says it's a privilege to represent Ireland at the Dakar Rally, and has his sights set on completing the mammoth 9,000km race on Friday.

The Dubliner has become the first Irish competitor since Stan Watt in 2013 to compete in one of the world’s most gruelling races, but with seven days and 4,000km under his belt, the finish line is sharpening his focus.

Created in 1978, the Paris-Dakar Rally, as it was called then, tested drivers from the French capital to Sengalese capital.

It has changed many times since then - security threats across Africa led to the rally being staged in different parts of the globe – and is now held in Saudi Arabia.

There are five categories within the event - motorcycles, quads, cars, UTVs and trucks - with Malahide native O’Kelly competing on his bike.

Last year, O’Kelly was volunteering for the Audi team, driving a campervan and cleaning toilets, but is back in 2024 in a very different capacity

His performances last March in Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, where he consistently finished between eighth and eleventh across the five stages, also placed him third among Road to Dakar participants, a programme in which the best riders with no Dakar experience an invitation to the following year's Dakar Rally.

"It’s something I have been preparing for, for the last four years now, doing qualification races and raced a couple of rounds of the World Championships," he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

"It’s an absolute privilege to be representing Ireland at such a prestigious event. There was a strong wave in the late 90s, and all the way through to last decade, of Irish participants. There has been a bit of a gap since then, but I’m really proud to be representing Ireland here now."

The stage distances range