Oran O’Kelly OC’12

Oran O’Kelly is the first Irish competitor in over a decade on the Dakar Rally making his debut in the bikes category.The 30-year-old was born to Irish parents in Dubai and grew up racing motocross in the UAE with his four brothers. But when he was 12, the family moved back to Ireland and he stopped riding for the best part of 15 years.

It was only in 2020 that Oran decided to get back into the sport and really sink his teeth into rally-raid. He sold a small car cleaning business back home and returned to Dubai, going “all-in” to pursue his Dakar dream. The original plan was to go within five years, but with help from the Vendetta Racing UAE team, Oran has needed only three to prepare himself.

He likens his first experience on a rally bike to being “on a boat in the ocean”, but he’s had the opportunity to sharpen up his skills at events like the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which his father John also rode several times in the 1990s.

Oran is set to join a very select group of only around 15 Irish athletes to have done the Dakar; the most recent participant was Stan Watt in 2013, and the last finisher was Philip Noonevin 2010.

He left CWC in 2012