Congratulations to Philip Noone who completed the Dakar Rally on Saturday.  What an achievement.  The last stage covered 707 kms from Santa Rosa to Beunos Aires.  A new engine before Stage 13 on Friday meant he could continue to the end.  Emotions high when he came in as he achieved his lifelong dream to finish the Dakar. A victory too for Austrian brand KTM motorcycles as not only was Philip riding a KTM but the first four winners of the Dakar used KTM’s too.  Read more about the last few days for our motorcycling hero in the Team Ireland Blog.

Dakar Rally is now in the last few stages.  Stage 11 yesterday – Santiago to San Juan, 434 kms passing through Paso Libertadores and across the hilltops of the Andes.  If the altitude sickness doesn’t get to you, the cold will. However, Philip coped well using a plastic bag for extra insulation!  Its pretty scary just how close some of the cars get to the bikes moving through all the dust thats been thrown up into the air while they drive.  Its an achievement in itself to even complete one stage never mind the whole Rally!  A bad start to the stage for eight other riders when a policeman blocked the wrong road sending 8 of them completely off course. I’m sure they were mad, mad, mad.  Read about Philip’s day on the Team Ireland Blog

Dakar 2010 is well underway.  The boys are currently driving from Copiapo to La Serena.  This will be a 100% sandy route which we hope will not cause too much difficulty for our boys!

You can read more about their journey so far on the Team Ireland Blog.

After the success of this years Karma Enduro, we have decided to be one of the official sponsors of Philip Noone, the only Irish entrant in the 2010 Dakar Rally.  Team Ireland will set off on their rally across South America in the New Year.

During their journey you will be able to track them through a live link from the Team Ireland  Website.  We will give you a link to this when the team set off.

Keep an eye on the DoneDeal blog for all the Dakar 2010 updates.  Good luck Team Ireland!