Dakar calling once again

By Rob Miech

Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005 | 9:15 a.m.

Lost for three days in Mauritania in one of the worst sandstorms in the history of the Dakar Rally, with only a sack lunch and seven liters of water, Ronn Bailey did not panic.

He did not hit his emergency SOS beacon, which sends coordinates to rescuers but also results in immediate retirement from the world's most demanding auto race.

Then the six bandits showed up. They camped out 10 yards from Bailey and navigator Steve Myers. Menacing glances told Bailey, who traveled with $30,000, that they were enemies.

So Bailey sauntered over with a smile and stood in the middle of their circle, trying to communicate in a friendly way.

They might not shoot, he reasoned.

"I felt fear, and I don't mind admitting that," Bailey said.

Relief washed over him and Myers when a United Nations vehicle appeared moments later, and Bailey refueled his custom race car and sped away to rejoin the race.

His failure to catch up with the rear of the pack caused him to be "retired," or disqualified, halfway through the 13-day adventure. Bailey officially had checked in at Stage 6 in 98th place among 180 cars.

But he pressed on, following his own route to the finish line in Dakar, Senegal. He said he felt even more proud of finishing the race his way.

"I went through half the race the way everybody else did, in that little French-European bubble and the safety of it," he said. "Halfway through, I'm kicked out, and I say 'Screw it, I'm goin' on.' That's the real American spirit."

He will take that spirit, the experience and respect he gained from his first Dakar back to the rally in January, when it will begin in Lisbon, Portugal.

Next time, everything will be different for Bailey, the 55-year-old founder and chief executive of Las Vegas-based Vanguard Integrity Professionals, a globally known Internet security technology firm that counts IBM as one of its clients.

Not only will he have Dakar on his resume, but he entered -- and finished -- the Morocco rally five months ago. And he has been undergoing feverish training on the Dumont Dunes in California.

"I really believed I had done a very, very good job," Bailey said of preparing for Dakar during all of 2004. "When I got there, it was like I was totally unprepared ... I was in Vietnam, and that was pretty demanding.

"Dakar was that extreme."

Bailey will have a Dakar-tested navigator from veteran French racer Philippe Gache's camp to help him traverse the challenging terrain.

Gache, whose vehicle and mechanics Bailey used in Morocco, is one of the key people Bailey has befriended this year with the hope of making a stronger challenge.

Others include Hubert Auriol, Thierry Sabine Organization's director general; Etienne Lavigne, Dakar event director; and Jean-Louis Schlesser, who won the race in 1999 and 2000.

Moreover, Bailey is upgrading his rig. Ten months ago his vehicle featured a fiberglass body and cost about $300,000. This time, a lightweight and superdurable carbon-fiber body will boost his car's value closer to $500,000.

The design will combine the best aspects of European off-road machines with the strength of an American vehicle accustomed to the bump and grind of a Baja run.

It is being assembled in France, behind closed doors.

"I want to be a little elusive about what I'm doing," Bailey said. "I don't want to give it away. There will be subtleties right down to the brake lines. That's one clue -- right down to the brake lines."

He again will travel with at least $30,000 in cash.

"You can't use a credit card or check," Bailey said.

"The only thing that works out in the Sahara is cash. If your car breaks down and you have to get towed somewhere, they'll charge you $3,000, hook a camel to your car and pull you in."

Consider Ronn Bailey officially pulled in -- to the Dakar Rally.

Rob Miech can be reached at 259-4087 or [email protected].