"Finishing Dakar 2022 was just unbelievable"

David Mabbs has been racing cars and bikes for well over 20 years, but successfully completing the Dakar in 2022 was undoubtedly one of the biggest moments in his motorsport career. Born in Portsmouth in the UK, he moved to the UAE in the 1990s to work as a ship inspector. After meeting fellow compatriot David McBride and working on his pit crew in 1999, he decided he fancied racing himself. The following year he took out a loan, bought a Land Rover Defender, and entered the prestigious Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Over the following decade he was a regular on the FIA cross-country circuit, doing the ADDC nine times in a car, before financial considerations encouraged him to switch to bikes. From 2013 he began participating in FIM cross-country events all over the world, completing the Africa Eco Race in 2019 and eventually working his way up to a first Dakar appearance in 2020. Unfortunately, that debut was short-lived as David broke his leg on the third day. Undeterred, he returned in 2022 and managed to battle his way to the finish line in 94th place, despite testing positive for Covid-19 in the build-up and crashing heavily midway through the rally. Following that momentous achievement, David skipped Dakar 2023, partly so he could celebrate his 50th birthday with family and friends. He now returns in 2024 as part of the Vendetta Racing UAE team. He and McBride have both been racing for the Vendetta 'family' for many years and will be joined at this year's edition by Oran Kelly, a member of the upcoming generation that includes McBride's son William. David says the goal is once again to finish, preferably with as few crashes as possible!

"Finishing Dakar 2022 was, and still is, just unbelievable. After the disappointment of breaking my leg on day 3 of 2020, not knowing that the stage had been neutralised. The training, the personal pressures, the financial commitment and everything else that Dakar requires. It was a real personal achievement. There were so many obstacles that had to be overcome. Testing positive for Covid in Jeddah, not being cleared to race until just before the prologue. Rocks, rocks and more rocks! Crashing heavily after the rest day and needing help every day just to get dressed and to climb on the bike. The mental challenges and desire just to finish were crazy, I'd never put myself through such a challenge before. This year Oran will join us at Dakar, he is so keen and motivated. We want to show that this sport is open to everyone who has enthusiasm and is maybe a little crazy! Getting to the end without crashing would be nice. We like the look of the route, hopefully more time in the Empty Quarter and big dunes. Cars and bikes on different routes. We are also all getting older, so time to get the young guns trained up to take Vendetta Racing forward! The team is just great. It's a family community which is all about supporting each other, helping new riders get into the sport and basically having fun. This year has been quiet due to preparation for Dakar. Maybe we can look at more opportunities next year, once the dust and bruises have settled!"