British Dakar history makers reveal what’s needed to reach the pinnacle of rally

Craig and Carl Searles became the first pair of British brothers to compete in the Dakar Rally in the same year in 2026. In this first part of an exclusive interview with Visordown, the brothers reveal their route into rally and the importance of preparation.

The brothers began riding as kids after they were bought a minibike to share, going on to compete in motocross races. 

By the time adulthood rolled around, though, other priorities emerged: family life began and became the focus.

Then came an introduction to adventure bikes with BMW, which in turn led to a move towards enduro.

“My dad kind of got us into the BMW scene, so riding bigger adventure bikes,” Carl Searles told Visordown.

“We did that a little bit, we’ve travelled down through Spain and ridden together on that, and done a few of the BMW competitions; I won it one year, Craig [Searles] won it another year.

“Then we ended up becoming instructors for BMW at the Offroad Skills school. Then, through riding with those guys, that kind of sparked up the interest for starting to ride enduro then.

“So, as well as the BMWs we also got some enduro bikes and started riding enduro, which then kind of rolled into the Dakar entry then.”

BMW Off Road Skills is led by 10-time Dakar starter Simon Pavey, so it was from there that the brothers began to understand how they could put together a programme to get them on the start line for the world’s most famous rally raid.

“We actually thought about doing the Dakar when we were racing motocross; at the time there were a few stories knocking around the Dakar at the time,” said Craig Searles.

“So, we thought ‘What’s the actual cost of Dakar?’ 

“Then it was about €15,000, and we were at a point of our lives, [...] trying to buy houses and stuff, so we opened the laptop up, had a look at the entry, and a split-second later we closed it down again. 

“€15,000 each back then was a not-even-imaginable sum of money to try and get. 

“After doing the enduro and stuff, and obviously with the guys down at BMW they’ve done it a few times. Simon Pavey, the boss there, he’s done it 10 times and he gave us some great advice about it and just said ‘If you go about it the right way you’ll find that money’.”

In the end, the support came from motorcycle insurance company Bennetts, and in a remarkably organic way.

“It’s funny, the Bennetts story,” said Carl. “When we actually set out on doing Dakar, our dad actually invested in a [Husqvarna] FR450, which is the rally replica version of the bike.

“He tried to insure it, rang Bennetts, and the lady that he was speaking to at Bennetts was like ‘Oh, that’s a bit of an interesting bike, we don’t have it on the system’. 

“Then, he told them the story of me and Craig trying to get to Dakar and this is what we were planning on doing, and the lady on the phone said ‘I think we might be interested in getting involved in this’. 

“It kind of developed from there, really, so that’s how Bennetts became a sponsor, which was great.”

Journey to the Dakar: Preparation events and arriving ready

To be eligible to take part in the Dakar, riders must prove a level of experience in motorcycle rally. To do that, they must take part in rally events scattered around the world. The Searles brothers ended up taking part in three rallies before the Dakar, spread over three years. The first was the Rallye du Maroc in 2023, then the Baja Qatar in 2024, before the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in 2025.

“Morocco is probably the closest you’re going to get to Dakar, in terms of terrain and the limits of where it pushes you and pushes the bike,” said Craig.

“Qatar was a bit of a freebie, really: the Qatar government were paying for foreign people to come over and race there so, as we were doing Dakar, we just thought that would be a great one to do because it’s paper roadbook rather than digital. So that, to try and test your navigation skills, that was the one to do. 

“Then, Abu Dhabi was just pure sand dunes, very intense with the heat and the intensity of the dunes themselves; riding in the sand pushes you as well. We had to do that one to complete our sort of qualification for Dakar. 

“So, they all offer different types of terrain, tracks, and navigation. It was like, as a complete package, all three, I would say doing all three of those– combine those together and that’s Dakar.”

Completing those kind of preparation events meant that the brothers felt prepared going to Dakar.

“Yes, strangely we did [feel prepared],” said Craig. 

“When we were going into it me and Carl had a conversation and I said ‘Do you feel excited or do you feel nervous?’ And we both kind of were a bit numb towards it. 

“I actually Googled it, and it’s a good thing if you get in that state. It’s quite often that people, when they’ve prepared for so long and they’ve pushed toward their goal that when the goal comes about you’re in a mentally stable point for it, you’re ready, you want to get it done.”

There were still surprises, though, mostly the sheer size of the Dakar.

“With Dakar, even though we’d done the qualification rallies and we’d experienced everything through those rallies, the scale of Dakar still took us by surprise,” said Carl.

“Everything from the size of the bivouac, the size of the canteen, the length of the days. I think in Morocco we did a 740km day, that was like an average day at Dakar. So, what we thought was a long day at Rallye du Maroque was like an average day, every day at Dakar.

“We did that long day in Morocco and followed it by four other days, whereas that average day in Dakar is followed by 14 days of it. There’s no let-up. 

“On distances, I think the longest day was nearly 940km, so you think it’s a big long day and then you look at the stage for the following day which is, say, the special stage is only 380km, so you think ‘They’ve given us an easy day, it’s a shorter distance,’ but actually it’s a shorter distance because the terrain is harder. 

“So, although the longer stage is long, it’s actually faster so you’re covering the ground quicker; but on the shorter stage it was harder, tougher navigation through the sand dunes.

“So, you think one day that they’re going to give you a bit of breathing space through the stage but they don’t, it does not let up. I don’t think it caught us off-guard, but it surprised us how long the days are even though it’s a shorter stage.”

One of the Dakar’s most formidable aspects is its Marathon Stages, which see riders stop in a remote bivouac overnight that allows only limited bike work between stages.

“We actually really enjoyed the Marathon Stages, purely because of the simplicity of it,” Craig said.

“There was nothing to do: you get to the end of the day, you look at your bike, you change your air filter, you didn’t have the option of changing tyres. You could work on your motorcycle as long as you wanted, it was a parc ferme but it wasn’t a time-in or time-out. 

“But it was just like a quick spoke check, oil check, air filter, done. Usually, after a day’s riding, we’d get back, give the bikes to the mechanic, and would be working all night on them swapping tyres, changing oil filters, checking the bikes over completely. 

“Whereas, for us, it was quite simple: we just [did] a quick little check over the bike, go and put your tent up and go to bed. I think one day I went to sleep at like 18:30 and I was up at 06:00 the next day. 

“So, the Marathon Stage, we were quite looking forward to them! And just the views as well, in the evenings watching the sun go down – it was just unreal.”

In the second part of this interview, the brothers discuss the Dakar’s terrain variety, whether rally is actually enjoyable from a riding perspective, and whether they’d go back in the future.

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