Thixton waves magic wand at Dakar Rally

ASHLEY Thixton has said finishing week one of the 2024 Dakar Rally in the top 40 of the motorbike section was beyond his expectations.

The 30-year-old Zimbabwean motorbike rider, who survived an early fall during yesterday’s Stage 7, is making his debut appearance at the world’s biggest and toughest motor rallying event in Saudi Arabia.

Arriving in Saudi Arabia as a green horn, Thixton said his main mission was to complete the full distance of the two-week Dakar which runs until this coming Friday.

And he turned himself into a magician, pulling the rabbit out of the hat by making his way into week two of this gruelling event.

And after a punishing opening six stages, which included the tough 48-hour Chrono Stage, Thixton found himself lying in 34th place overall in the bikes section going into yesterday’s Stage 7.

He enjoyed a rest day on Saturday. The final six days of the 2024 Dakar Rally got underway yesterday with a 483km special Stage 7 and our own Zimbabwean hero Thixton was among the competitors, having survived the tough 48-hour Chrono Stage on Thursday and Friday in the Saudi dunes.

And yesterday he had a big scare when he fell during Stage 7. He actually thought his 2024 Dakar campaign was prematurely over. “A long Stage 7, one of the toughest! “After an early fall, I dropped to around 78th in the pack. A lot of scrapes and bruises but managed to climb back up into the 30’s

“A lot of lessons learnt but glad to put Stage 7 and the 900km behind me,” Thixton said soon after yesterday’s race.

He is now not short of motivation at this epic adventure. His main aim now is to make it to the podium on Friday and write his own piece of history as he will become the second Zimbabwean motorbike rider to complete the full distance at Dakar after Graeme Sharp who managed this feat in 2020 when the event moved to Saudi Arabia.

And Thixton is slowly realising that dream after he surprised all and sundry by pulling through into week two of the Rally unscathed on Friday.

Taking Zimpapers Sports through his opening week journey of the 2024 Dakar Rally yesterday just before he got engaged in Stage 7, Thixton said it has so far been an amazing journey for him so far and reaching week two was beyond his expectations.

He also said he was feeling good after Saturday’s rest day and was going to stick to the same game-plan throughout this coming week.

“The journey started off pretty rough as I actually started off in 105th place and then in Stage Two I had quite a big crash I didn’t eat so early in the Rally.

“But it changed my mindset a lot and I told myself that I’ve got a long way to go and I should relax and take it easy.

“And then from there, Day 3, 4, 5 and 6 were fantastic and were the days that I needed. I made my way up from 41st place up to 33rd and then up to 31st.

“So far it has been amazing. It’s super tough on the body. It’s really hard mentally as well but the 48-hour Chrono Stage really changed the whole dynamics I got.

“It was 625km of solid dunes, so it was extremely hard on the body . . . It took a hard toll on the body but I came out in one piece and in good spirits.

“I think the training and the preparations I had at back home helped me a lot as I spent a lot of time in the gym.

“It really paid off and by the end of the first week of the Dakar (on Friday) I was sitting in 34th place,” Thixton said.

And that’s what Arabian dreams are made of!

This week will see Thixton going step by step and enjoying the process which started with a 483km Stage 7 yesterday.

Following a well-deserved rest day for the competitors still in the race, this mishmash stage threw competitors right back into the thick of it.

The first part was a canyon maze with constant changes of direction.

Meanwhile, the 48-hour chrono will go down in the annals of the Dakar as the toughest stage not only of this edition, but at least of the last decade.

For the veterans, it reminded them of times when the legendary Paris-Dakar was competing in Africa, featuring end-less days in the Sahara with only the sun deciding when to stop. Climbing the dunes in the dark is suicidal. Riders would gather all together in a very spartan bivouac under the stars and wait for morning. For the young guys, this “old-school” stage is the one to post on social media and to tell family and friends about back home.

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