James Hillier has credited the Dakar Rally organisers with incre🎐asing the difficulty on the 2025 edition of the rally.

The Dakar moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020 and since 🧸then has been criticised on occasion for lacking in difficulty compared to the original Paris-Dakar routes or the South American editions that rꦯan until 2019.

However, with a 485km stage ahead of him at the beginning of the second week, TT regular Hillier – who previously contested the Dakar in 2023 in the solo Malle Moto cl🐎ass – took note of the challenge presented by the route of this year’s rally, after having been forced to sit out the s💞econd two days of the rally following an opening stage crash in which he broke his nose.

“It’s cold, windy; the sun is shini🐈ng but it’s fresh this morning,” Hillier said ahead of Monday’ཧs eighth stage of this year’s Dakar.

“We’ve just done liaison, I’m at the start of Stage 8 – it’s a 458km st♏age; it just seems to get tougher, but we fight on.

“Then,🍸 after the stage, it’s a 180km road ride 🎃back to the bivouac, so a long day.

“I can honestly say this💃 is tough this year, they’ve [the organisers] really upped their game this year – it’s brutal.”

Hillier added a message to his wife, asking her to d🎶issuade him from doing what he called “silly ideas🔯” in the future.

“A quick message to my wife, who I haven’t spoken to probably enough in the last two weeks because I’ve been quite buꦺsy and [with] not a lot of internet, but I know you have somewhat given up trꦐying to talk me out of these silly ideas,” he said.

“But I’m turning 40 this year and I’m asking you to please make a bit more effort into making me consider my choices and tꦦhese silly ideas.”

Hillier was classified in 88th a꧒f♉ter the most recent Stage 10, won by South Africa’s Michael Docherty who currently leads the Rally 2 class.

The premier Rally GP class, and the rally overall, remains led by Australian Dan🍌iel Sanders with Spain’s Tosha Schareina 16 minutes adrift for Honda, and his French teammate Adrien van Beveren a further six minutes🔯 behind with two stages remaining.