Conquering The Dakar: Irish biker Oran O'Kelly on tackling the Everest of motorsport

Of all the attributes it takes to be successful in motorsport, being able to scrub a toilet wouldn’t exactly top the list.

However, for Oran O’Kelly, a stint of volunteering for the Audi team last year saw him doing just that, rolling up his sleeves and doing the unglamorous work that needs to be done, all so he could catch a glimpse of how one of the best teams in the business operate.

His commitment paid off last week when he joined a very elite group of Irish athletes to complete the famed Dakar Rally, placing 57th.

Set in the unrelenting desert terrain of Saudi Arabia, the latest instalment of the 46-year-old rally raid stretched 7,891km, across 12 stages, beginning in Alula on January 5th and ending in Yanbu on January 19th.

Dakar is a multi-vehicle race, with car, bike, quad, truck, and light-weight vehicle (SSV) categories, and of the 340 vehicles that started the race, just 182 completed the entire route this year.

Describing it as the “absolute pinnacle of off-road motorsport”, O’Kelly says it is the “ultimate test of athlete and machine”.

According to the official Dakar website, around 15 Irish athletes have participated in the event, a sure sign it’s not for the faint of heart.

The enormity of the challenge is part of its appeal for the 30-year-old, whose dreams of The Dakar have been life-long.

Following in the footsteps of his father, who also took part in long-distance rallying, and aided by a competitive instinct honed growing up with four brothers, O’Kelly says his dream became much more realistic when the race moved east four years ago.

The Dakar began as a race from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, however, the route has changed on various occasions through its history, crossing the Atlantic to South