FORD

NH 

• When going down the slopes of Canada or the United States as an FIS skier, little did Nathan Hayashi know that he would one day be on the start line of the Dakar. Of course, growing up in Calgary, he had a passion for motorsports watching all sorts of races on TV with his dad but it was all about alpine skiing and specifically Slalom and Giant Slalom on the slopes of resorts like Beaver Creek, Whistler Mountain or Lake Louise.
• One of the links from skiing to Dakar came through Luc Alphand, a former World Cup winner that he would look up to back in the day and that crossed over to offroad racing, winning the Dakar in 2006. Inspiring. Funnily enough both men got to meet on the bivouac of the Morocco Rally back in October.
• His move to cross-country rallying came gradually and rather unexpectedly. First and foremost, when he founded the Gear Shop, a workshop that makes 4X4 vehicles into works of art. That’s where he really got into the cross-country world.
• And then came the idea of doing the Dakar. Studying the question very carefully and surrounding himself with experienced people, he went to see what it was the event was like last January to have a real idea of what he was up for. He then first competed in the Sonora Rally on his side of the Atlantic before taking on the Rallye du Maroc a few months ago.
• The other issue was the car. The idea was to come with his custombuilt Ford Bronco but regulations had to be met and it wasn’t before final checks during the Morocco Rally, that Nathan got the go to be registered in a specific SCORE class.
• So, after a lot of hard work, concerns, discussions, meetings and technical updates, Nathan Hayashi will finally be living his dream on Saudi soil. At his side he’ll be counting on the help of his navigator Shane Hairsine.