I took the Dakar to a “pay and play” day at Speen, near High Wycombe yesterday. A great day out was had by one and all.
I was pleased at the Dakar’s ability (and I think I can flatter myself that a little driving skill helped, too). I pretty much drove everything I attempted, though it took a couple of attempts to judge the right amount of power to climb out of some of the holes.
Emerging from the water hole
I did decide discretion was the better part of valour on some of the obstacles, and declined to attempt two of the “bomb holes” – one that I hadn’t seen anyone drive out of, and the other that seemed to be a little tight unless you had one of the little Suzukis.
In the undergrowth
I did get to try my recovery skills a bit, too. It was interesting rescuing a trials buggy from one of the holes. You’d expect to notice a bit of drag when pulling a dead weight up a 45 degree incline. No way, the engine just pulled it out (and back across the site) with so little effort I looked around to check they were still behind me at one point.
Great to meet you guys – see you at the next one, I hope.
More pics on Flickr.