Thanks for all your support, here is the article from the Scotsman on his retiral.
Sandstorm ends Allan's Dakar quest
JIM MCGILL
SCOTS pensioner Robbie Allan will fly back home to the UK later this week after a combination of a severe sandstorm and asthma prematurely ended his bid to conquer the 5000-mile Dakar Rally.
The 65-year-old from Lesmahagow, who spent the weekend resting in the Mauritanian city of Atar, was forced to retire on Saturday morning after spending the night in the desert.
Having completed the opening six stages, Allan - making his debut on the event on his 450cc Honda motorcycle - was finally undone by the worst sandstorm to hit the event for years.
The storm forced the organisers to cut short Friday's 333-mile section between Zouerat and Atar. Speaking on a satellite phone, Allan explained briefly: "Physically I was strong enough to continue. The problem was I suffer from asthma and the sandstorm seriously aggravated it. I literally couldn't breathe, no matter how often I took my inhaler."
The Scot's performance, meanwhile, was praised by Honda competition manager Roger Harvey.
"Robbie is one of the fittest and strongest pensioners I have ever met," Harvey explained, "but constantly having to haul his 400lb bike out of the soft sand after it had become bogged down on Friday will have taken its toll.
"I know that even former winner and current leader Marc Coma admitted the conditions in the sandstorm were the toughest he had ever experienced, so for them to halt Robbie's progress is no disgrace. What he has achieved is unbelievable. There were many people who thought he wouldn't even get through the first stage, let alone the first week. I firmly believe that if the extreme conditions hadn't caused the problems they did on Friday then I'm confident he would have got to the end."
Allan's wife, Margaret, was also pleased to hear from her husband after he returned to Atar. "I'm perfectly satisfied that he's ok, and I must admit it was nice to hear his voice," she said.
"I'm incredibly proud of what he has achieved, but knowing Robbie I know that he will be incredibly disappointed not to have finished. He, wrongly, will feel he's let a lot of people down."
Such is the impact Allan has had on this year's Dakar Rally that he is in the running to be named 'Hero of the 2007 Dakar' in a poll being run on eurosport.com. With six days to go, the Scot lies third behind Portuguese ace Carlos Sousa and American driver Robbie Gordon, but ahead of Finnish rally legend Ari Vatanen.
PLEASE GO AN VOTE FOR HIM SO THAT EVEN IF WE DID NOT HAVE A SCOT / BRIT WIN THE RALLY AT LEAST WE MIGHT HAVE ONE WIN THE "HERO OF THE RALLY COMP" AND UNCLE BOAB CERTAINLY DESERVES THAT !!!
VOTE HERE :
http://www.eurosport.com/rallyraid/dakar/2007/standing_gnd375_dsc801.shtml