RABY Bay resident Trevor Hanks is a long way from home, having set up camp in Lima, Peru in preparation for one of the world’s most famous car rallies.
Covering 5000 kilometres, the Dakar Rally starts and ends in Peru’s capital Lima, travelling along the country’s coastline.
More than 70 per cent of the route consists of dunes and sand, which drivers will navigate in ten stages from January 6 to 17.
Mr Hanks said many stages of the rally were at extreme altitude, and conditions for drivers made the race one of the world’s most challenging.
The finish rate has sat at just over 50 per cent in most years since the event moved to South America in 2009.
“Our ambition since we were teenagers riding dirt bikes on our parents farms is to finish this event,” Mr Hanks said.
“Only half the starters finish and if all our ducks all line up we will be up there with the best.
“This is the Mount Everest of the sport we love, the ultimate challenge.”
Mr Hanks will compete in the rally alongside friend and co-driver Steve Riley, a three-time winner of the Australian Safari Rally and two-time Dakar Rally finisher.
Together, they will make history as the first drivers of a Holden ute in the Dakar Rally.
Their vehicle was designed and built by Mr Riley on his dairy farm in Gippsland, Victoria, with the goal of creating something recognisably Australian.
Testing was then carried out at Bremer Bay on the Great Australian Bight, which Mr Hanks said had terrain similar to that expected along the rally route in Peru.
“It was rough and tough testing but essential to familiarise ourselves with the car and hone driving skills for what will be a steady diet of sand dunes,” Mr Hanks said.
“Learning how to read the sand and the dunes in the Peru deserts is paramount.”
The race will take place in a single country for the first time in its 41-year history, with Peru being the only host nation for the 2019 event.
