AN Alton man is to do the gruelling Dakar Rally as a civilian member of the Race2Recovery team.

Ben Gott, 35, will join a team of predominantly injured soldiers, who are aiming to become the first disabled team to complete the Dakar Rally, in January.

Referred to by some as "the toughest race on the planet", Dakar 2013 will follow a course that stretches across 9000km of the world's toughest terrain, beginning in Lima on January 5, and winding down through Peru, into Argentina and then into Chile where it finishes in Santiago on January 20.

For full story, see this week's Alton Herald.