Dakar Diary: Wild sandstorm hits as 2025 Dakar Rally gears up

Andrew Houlihan recounts how a wild sandstorm hit the event before it even started in his first diary entry for Speedcafe from the 2025 Dakar Rally.

Andrew Houlihan recounts how a wild sandstorm hit the event before it has started in his first diary entry for Speedcafe. Image: Supplied

Bisha, Saudi Arabia – Jan 2, 2025

I’m ready!

It’s been a long journey to get here and there’s been the usual minor glitches along the way, but tomorrow I start the 2025 Dakar Rally.

Since arriving in Bisha late on the 30th December I’ve settled into the bivouac, and it’s been great to catch up with a lot of friends I haven’t seen for a while.

The bivouac is huge and busy with all the factory teams and their massive set ups. The Original by Motul camp area is very basic but we have the essentials.

Once I had access to my bike I could start preparing it and fitting the navigation equipment before the admin and technical checks. I had to fix an electrical issue with the new navigation tablet which was flattening the battery very quickly.

Admin was very quick and easy compared to previous Dakars, but they picked up a problem with the night lights and wiring for the Iritrack tracking system. I was able to sort it just to get it cleared by technical and then fixed it properly the next morning.

I was then able to get geared up and ride to the testing track. The test track had a lot of tricky navigation and was very rough and dangerous as it has been in use for the past 3 days, but it was good to get 200km done and make sure everything on the bike was working.

The weather here has been a mixed bag. It’s been very hot but the nights are cold. On Thursday night a massive sand and windstorm came through, and at 10pm we received a warning that the storm would continue through the night and into the next day. The Dakar organisers moved some of the operations for the start of the rally to covered areas. I ended up with a tent and all of my gear bags full of sand despite everything being sealed up as good as it can be!

Tomorrow is the start podium and prologue. Prologue consists of a 50km liaison and 29km special stage. My start time is set for 8:59am Saudi time, which is 4:59pm in Melbourne. Saudi Arabia is 8 hours behind Melbourne.

I can’t thank all the people and companies that have helped me get here enough. My major sponsors – Velcro, Channings Bottle Yard and of course Speedcafe – have been amazing with their support as have all the many others who have their logos and names on the race bike.

Here we go!