February 17, 2010

The 2010 Dakar ended one month ago to the day. Being in South America was an incredible experience for myself and our team, we learned volumes, saw another part of the World, met some great people and re-kindled old friendships . Since returning home I have spoken with many people who are supporters of our effort. Many convey their regrets at our seemingly disappointing result. Indeed I would have liked to driven a few days more in the rally however I am not disappointed in what we accomplished. There are a couple of reasons why we did not get further than we did: first, we couldn’t realistically expect much more. We did not have enough testing on the truck. in fact, we were still working on it the day we went through technical control. Secondly, we were underfinanced from the beginning.

Even thought he cards were stacked against us we did do what we said we were going to do - attempt to finish the Dakar on 4 wheels. This is something that, in the past, only 2 Canadians have tried over 20 years ago. So far, no Canadian has finished on 4 wheels, we are trying to become the first.

The Dakar requires many different elements to be successful but it boils down to one main ingredient - commitment. There is no substitute for dedication in a project such as the Dakar. Preparation is everything, I spent some one and a half years working on the truck with the help of many people and companies, something I appreciate more than anything else. We assembled a team of talented individuals who now have much more experience in the domain of off-road rallying and we learned more about what it takes to finish the World’s toughest motor sports race. Now we have time to further develop the truck and drum up more financial support before next year’s Dakar.

For all of our supporters, I want to say thank you very much. To the media who followed and documented our story also I offer heartfelt thanks. For 2011 we will take on the task of another run at the Dakar, our goal is to finish, if we have the good fortune to do so it will be another defining moment in our lives. It is a long road ahead between now and the start line in 2011 but we are well ahead of the game at this point. I would like to thank my wife, Francoise for making this possible, without her support, indeed, the Dakar would remain only a dream.

Sincerely Lawrence