A FORMER Thornton-le-Dale resident, who grew up watching rallying in Ryedale, is taking part in the sport's ultimate challenge in the new year.

Richard Thompson is the technical director for the Nissan Rally Raid team which is entering five cars in the Telefonica-Dakar rally.

More commonly known as the Paris-Dakar rally, the race starts on January 1 from the Grande Halle d'Auvergne, near Clermont-Ferrand, in France. Covering over 11,000km, over half of which feature timed stages, the race passes through seven countries, finishing in Dakar, Sengal, 18 days later. Over 550 entries have been received for the event, which includes bike and truck categories as well as cars.

The gruelling spectacle is regarded as the stiffest test in motor sport, consisting of 17 stages over a variety of difficult terrains, including rock, sand dunes and camel grass.

But it is one that Richard, a former pupil at the Pickering-based Lady Lumley's School, is relishing.

He has been in professional motorsport for 13 years, including a decade spent servicing for Nissan in the world rally championship. But he admits this is his biggest challenge yet. In terms of distance, one day on the Dakar rally equates to a full three-day world rally championship event.

Richard said: "Five or ten years ago, the world rally championship was like a big adventure. But it has become sterilised. Dakar now provides the adventure and is the ultimate challenge, physically and mentally.

"I have been inspired by travel to places such as Australia, New Zealand and Kenya in the world rally championship. But there's even a McDonald's in Nairobi now and it's all a bit too nice. I'm looking forward to visiting new countries on what is a journey into the unknown."

That journey will take him through Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Burkina Faso. On the way, potential difficulties range from the tricky - negotiating hidden potholes and depressions - to the down-right scary - avoiding bandits and land mines.

But there will also be some breathtaking sights to see - the mythical emblems of the Dakar, such as Pierced Rock, the snowy peaks of the High Atlas mountains, in Morocco, and the red earth of Burkina Faso.

As technical director, Richard has overall responsibility for around 50 of the 70-strong Nissan team. While the spotlight will be on the team's drivers, which include high-profile names Colin McCrae and Ari Vatanen, the service crew is equally under pressure to get to the service points on time.

In what is a massive logistical back-up operation, ten patrol cars and eight trucks, loaded with everything from spare parts to sleeping bags, will follow behind the drivers. On a nightly basis, the service crew will work on the cars - four Navarra Pick-ups and a Nissan Patrol - before sleeping in tents for no more than four hours on average.

The Nissan team has very much a multinational flavour, with 12 different nationalities represented, but Richard is not the only one from North Yorkshire included.

Ian Richardson, from Selby, Simon Redhead, from York, and Northallerton's Dave Prattley and Kevin Franks will be working as technicians on the cars.

Some of the key decisions Richard will have to make include tyre choice (depending on the terrain), what the set-up of the cars should be (concerning things such as shock absorbers, dampers, wing angle), when to replace parts and how much fuel will be needed for each stage.

Richard, aged 34, said he had become 'hooked' on rallying from an early age.

"Growing up in Thornton-le-Dale, just south of Dalby Forest, you couldn't avoid it. I still remember Roger Clark roaring past in his Mk II Ford Escort at one o'clock in the morning."

He began his involvement in the sport by servicing for leading Malton Motor Club drivers Steve Bannister and John Mennell and still keeps in touch with members at the club.

Though now based in north Oxford, he still visits Ryedale, where his mother, Jane, still lives in Thornton-le-Dale.

She used to own riding stables in the village but, from an early age, Richard showed signs that he would choose rallying over riding.

When Richard was aged just four, his father, Joe, used to say to Frank Hardcastle, who owned Brook Motors in the village, that he knew his son would choose cars instead of horses. Richard later worked at the garage for a spell.

Having moved to Milton Keynes in 1991 to work for Nissan, more recently he was in charge of the test team engineers at Subaru, testing for Tommy Makinen and new world rally champion Petter Solberg.

He moved back to Nissan to work for the Rally Raid team at the start of this year.

The team's preparations for the Dakar rally have been taking place throughout the year. Richard has been testing in Morocco and Dubai - a process which often saw him flying behind the cars in a helicopter to assess them.

The team's goal is to finish in the top three this year and win the event in 2005. Richard said he may then look to get involved in motorcycle racing, either in Moto GP or on the world superbikes circuit. Clearly, he is a man who is not afraid of a challenge.

- Coverage of the Telefonica-Dakar is being shown on Eurosport.

Updated: 12:57 Monday, December 29, 2003