The Dakar Rally is the longest and most arduous off-road motorsport race on the planet but because of its remote nature and length of some 10,000km over 15 days, following the race closely, especially amongst the ‘grass roots’ racers is almost impossible, or is it? I want to bring you great quality footage from every aspect of the race, edited and released daily like never experienced before. This Kick Starter is solely focussed on that, delivering amazing media, to you daily...
On 6th January 2018, for the second year in a row, I will roll up at the start line of the Dakar Rally and try to win the Malle Moto class of the race (I finished 2nd in 2017). Malle Moto is ‘The Forgotten Dakar’, it is a motorcycle class which is allowed no outside assistance, no support team, no support vehicles and everything has to be done by the pilot themselves, 15 long days of intense off-road motorcycle racing and maintenance with limited chance for rest. Typically just 20 riders start this class each year and less than half of those are expected to finish.
I came away from this January’s race knowing I could have delivered much more for my followers, not in terms of race performance, but with regards to media releases. After spending years watching the rally on TV, social media and various forums, I never quite grasped how much viewers did NOT see and how difficult extensive press coverage was until I attempted to do it for myself! So, to achieve it, we have to get serious.
In 2017 I participated in ‘Dakar Heroes’ program for the organisation and this, combined with small updates through Facebook and a full length film due for imminent release (yes, it’s in the final stages!), still left me feeling frustrated that you couldn’t experience it all in real time with me. Ten months is long time to wait for a film of the full story!
With the experience of two Dakar Rally finishes and my ongoing free to view ‘Races to Places’ media project (see YouTube series ‘Races to Places’) I now believe that I have the unique skills, ability and desire to bring followers of the rally an even closer, more intimate and instantaneous view of the event from the comfort of their own homes/offices. I have a vision of creating and publishing daily videos, sharing experiences as intimate as getting up in the morning, riding the liaison, racing the stage, interaction with the locals, arriving at the bivouac (camp), preparing the bike and myself for the next day and general bivouac life; an instant video experience like followers have never experienced before, from any racer or team. I won’t hide anything, I want to share it all.
I have spent a few months now discussing and negotiating with the organisation and various media partners and have secured the opportunity for us to go along on the journey together. I plan to prepare and manage a media crew that will have no interaction with myself other than to capture the moments and create the media to share hot off the press each day. With the footage captured off-stage and on-stage, we will edit and share the experience as live and real time as feasibly possible. BUT, and here is the big ask, to do this requires budget, but I must be clear, this is NOT to fund my entry or bike (that is already taken care of and covered from sponsors and my personal pocket), this Kick Starter is solely to enable these media plans and due to the costs associated with this, I have no other option but to try and crowd fund this element to bring it to life. So, here is where the budget will go:
1) The hire of a Dakar prepared media vehicle and the equipment required to capture footage and edit on the move each day
2) A crew, experienced in expeditions and documentary based filming and editing.
3) The media licence agreements to use footage filmed from all aspects of the race.
4) Broadcast spec satellite data transmission capability to transfer the footage for distribution and release.
5) Any costs associated with managing and releasing the footage post transmission.
In return for your support I aim to bring outstanding media, direct from the race like nothing you have seen before. This is for you! And we can do it with each other’s help. With a little help from you I strongly believe we can create something that followers of the Dakar have wanted and deserved for a long time. It’s thanks to you that I'm doing this, but will you be there with me?
If we hit the target, it’s game on. If we smash the target we can do even more than planned. We’ve got until 23rd November to pull this off, so please share far and wide. THANK YOU for your support.
For more information please go to
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/62691083/races-to-places-live-dakar-rally-2018-ft-lyndon-po
Or follow:
Www.instagram.com/Lyndonposkitt Www.facebook.com/Lyndonposkittracing Www.twitter.com/lyndonposkitt
Kind regards,
Lyndon