Dakar 2007 - Team Rally Pan America.

[Jenna]

The entry for 2007 is now well and truly closed, however if anybody would like to participate on this event then a unique opportunity is up for grabs!

Charlie Rauseo, Team Manager for Team Rally Pan America has let me know that the team this year has ONE spare seat available in the Ford F-350 chase truck (7.3 litre turbo monster!!). The cost is your entry fee as a mechanic and then a contribution of the vehicles running cost on event.. a deal that you don’t find very often!

The team are now the premier American Dakar bike team with team riders Jonah Street, Casey McCoy and Pedro de Uriarte, backed up by Mike Krynock, Dell Balfour and Tim Hall on chase/support bikes. As in 2006 the team is running its fleet of KTM 525 XC's which it has prepared purely for the Dakar.

Anyone interested in this unique chance to spend 16-18 days in the heart of a premier Dakar team should email me and I will put you in contact with Charlie.

Jenna

[barftone]

Come on Jenna, Give us a ball park figure? Do I need to take redundancy!! Probably cost me more in travel sick pills.

[Jenna]

lol sorry in the habit of posting this sort of info to forums that would already know the costs...

2007 mech's seat is fixed at 8,300euro so thats £5,675

cant be 100% sure about the running costs as thats a bit of an open book, but a similar vehicle in last years event cost £15,000 for a 4 man crew.

So i would expect you would need £9,500 to cover the seat and ALL your bills. (visa's, insurences, blah blah)

[barftone]

Not too bad for a once in a lifetime opportunity....But not in my lifetime according to my good lady. So eleven grand and a divorce should cover it! Don't fancy changing their bloody tyres every night though!! Always fancied the freelance photographer angle myself.

[Jenna]

it is an exceptional deal, one i havent seen so cheap for a long time.

The seat is listed as a mechanics place as technicaly only mechanics and accredited press are allowed to have seat space in competitive vehicles... this aside who ever takes up the offer will not be working on any vehicles, the team has its own very qualified guys to do that! think the toughest job you will be asked to do is not get in the way if you want to take pictures! as its very much a 'hospitality' seat.

[RD03 Barbie]

As it has just taken me the best part of 3 weeks to clear my oil pump strainer I suppose mechanic is too strong a moniker to use. I am not sure what a Pan American looks like but I would definately be interested to see a team take Pan Europeans and do 'The Rally'


I've already got my coat on!