The UAE Desert Challenge
The gruelling annual UAE Desert Challenge is a FIA World Cross
Country Rally for cars, bikes, quads and trucks. It attracts
entrants from the top works teams as well as some of the aspiring
local drivers and riders. It is held over a five day period in the
sands of the Empty Quarter close to Liwa.
This year’s event was won by Stéphane Peterhansel in a Pajero
and also saw Carlos Sainz win the world championship. The bike
section was won by Marc Coma from Spain on a KTM.
We were also very pleased to see four Land Rover Defenders
taking part, although these were a bit more powerful than our very
own.
We were part of the marshalling team helping out with the
running of the event. It was great fun and a bit scary wondering
whether or not the giant Kamaz trucks would be able to stop safely
for you to stamp their passage cards. We had enough spare time to
be able to place a cache on each of the five stages that we were
helping out on. If you are wondering why there is no Special Stage
5 it’s because we did not help out on that one!
Special Stage Three
The picture shows world champion Carlos Sainz digging his car
out of the sand just in front of our defender.
This one is by Arada village and a gatch track will get you most
of the way there. It looks like this will soon be replaced by a
tarmac road. We’ve hidden the cache under a small rock on the east
side of a bush some 200 metres into the sand. You may be able to
get close to this without deflating if you find the track under the
pylons. Otherwise let your tyres down or walk to it from the
road.