From the Times

This is my last dakar post for a while but here is the text from an interview with Tamsin in the Times. I also found some more photos today. Here

As you munch your cornflakes this morning, spare a thought for Tamsin Jones. Last night, Britain’s only female biker to take part in this year’s Dakar rally was set to cross the finish line of the world’s toughest race.

At the time of going to press, the 37-year-old from Oxford — one of just five female bikers in a field of 160 — was on target to complete the gruelling, 5,600-mile course. Almost half the entrants had already pulled out, leaving just the hardcore competitors racing through the least hospitable bits of Argentina and Chile.

“Its been torture, its been terrifying, its been amazing,” said Tamsin as she refuelled with a plate of pasta at the end of a day’s ride. “I’ve probably experienced all the terrain that they’re going to chuck at us, so now it’s just about making sure I don’t take any risks.”

This year’s Dakar rally started in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the early hours of January 1. In total, 380 competitors, including the bikers, quad riders, more than 130 cars and 52 lorries lined up for the start of the 14-stage adventure that lasts more than two weeks. The race — which initially ran from Paris to Senegal — relocated to South America last year because of security concerns in Africa. It now weaves its way over the Andes into Chile and through the Atacama desert to the Pacific coast before winding its way back to Buenos Aires.