Otherwordly Dakar Rally odyssey has Oran O'Kelly wanting to return

You would think that after running the gauntlet of a two-week 9,000km trek over sometimes inhospitable terrain, that it would be almost impossible to muster the energy needed to get the corners of your mouth to curl upwards.

But motorcylist Oran O'Kelly is all smiles when he chats to RTÉ Sport, barely a week after crossing the finish line at the prestigious but physically and psychologically punishing Dakar Rally, which was originally founded as the Paris-Dakar Rally back in 1978.

By taking part in this year's edition which was held in Saudi Arabia, the 30-year-old became the first Irishman to participate in the race since 2013.

Just getting there was difficult. To raise the funds, along with support from his main sponsor, he sold his car valeting business back home in Ireland before heading back to the Arabian gulf to begin his journey.

Riding for the Vendetta Racing UAE team, the last three years were all about tackling other World Rally-Raid Championship races including the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge to build himself up.

Then last year, he got a first taste of what of a Dakar Rally looked like as a volunteer for the Audi team, where he served in a role driving a campervan and cleaning toilets.

But this January is when he fulfilled a childhood dream of completing the Dakar Rally's motorcycle category for Vendetta.

Coincidentally he crossed the finish line on 19 January at the same time as Carlos Sainz Sr - two-time former World Rally champion and father of the Formula One star - who won the car category for the Audi team that O'Kelly had been cleaning toilets for 12 months earlier.

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