The Irish man preparing for the Dakar Rally in January

 The Irish man preparing for the Dakar Rally in January

Meet Oran O’Kelly.

He is about to take on the Dakar Rally in January

Kerry Motorsport News will be following progress every step of the way.

He needs to build support and  awareness ahead of this big challenge in January.  

In his own words:

I left Ireland back at the start of Covid and moved out to the U.A.E to chase my dream of competing at the Dakar Rally, which I have now qualified for.

As you know, it is considered to be the world’s toughest motorsport event, racing 14 days over 9000km across Saudi Arabia. The same distance from Dublin to South Africa. I will have to navigate and race at speeds of up to 180kmph and through some of the most challenging terrain and environments possible.

I have spent the last 3 years preparing for the event leaving no stone unturned, covering rally training, navigation, mechanics, fitness, and mental performance. I also went and worked with the Audi team for 3 weeks at Dakar this year to get as much exposure and experience as possible. 

I believe I will be the only Irishman to compete at the event in the last two decades and the first to compete at the Dakar in Saudi Arabia. I most recently finished 15th overall at both of the last rounds of the World Rally-Raid Championship and Baja World Series.

Oran O’Kelly

If you can help drop him a line on oranokelly@gmail.com

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