A few years ago I drove 10,000km across the mountains and deserts of Argentina and Chile, following and filming the world’s most dangerous motor race – The Dakar Rally. The result of this journey and thousands of hours of writing and editing was an award winning feature documentary film - Dream Racer.
Now, as we build up to the 2014 AdNews Challenge, the good folk at AdNews have asked me to pen a few words about the similarities between the ultimate test of man and machine and the Australian ad industry’s very own Everest of Everests.
Here goes:
Similarity no 1: Early starts
Waking at 4.30 am in a tent in the desert every day for 16 days, often after just a few hours sleep, then setting off to ride up to 500km across some of the harshest terrain on earth can be tough for Dakar competitors. But waking in a stranger’s bed in Newtown with a hangover and trying to figure out where the heck Clifton Gardens is, let alone how to get there, is much much tougher.
Similarity no 2: Sand
Sand - the Atacama desert is full of it, so is the AdNews Challenge beach. Gets in places you didn’t know you had.
Similarity no 3: Coffee
Brewed a million miles from anywhere, and left to stew in metal vats, the coffee at a Dakar Rally bivouac is decidedly average. The drivers and mechanics grin and bear it. But we’re not mechanics and drivers, we’re ad-people for crying out loud! When something went wrong with the coffee cart at last year’s Challenge, I thought there was going to be a murder. If they’d run out of soy milk, I’m sure there would have been.
Similarity no 4: Nothing else quite like it
Belting up and down sand dunes the size of mountains on the Dakar is a rush that no other motor race can match. But this pales in comparison to the unique exhilaration of a post race team hug with your portly, sluggo wearing MD. Get involved, have fun, you won’t regret it.
By Simon Lee, executive creative director & joint owner, The Hallway
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Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.