Victory for Yazeed as he managed to beat his competitors with the all new Overdrive Hilux on the first and fastest stage of the Pharaons Rally 2015. With two minutes lead over Nasser Al-Attiyah he has made his statement. But does a stage win today give you the best chances for the navigational challenges that await the competitors?
Along the oilfields of Egypt went the first fast stage of the Pharaons Rally, crossing pipelines and service roads in between beautiful small dunes. As this is also the fastest of this years’ edition it is tempting to win, but with the tough navigation tomorrow it might not be the best option. ‘It is good not to start as first tomorrow,’ says Nasser Al-Attiyah, referring to last years’ edition when on the first day he drove into the wrong canyon, losing enough time to loose the race.
‘This is what we need to keep alive,’ says Stephane Henrard, with the words coming directly from the heart. He is the racing director of the Pharaons Rally and well known for his love for Africa. ‘When you look at the development of the cross country competition, it is going into a direction that is distant from the spirit of Thierry Sabine. For me cross country is navigation and speed, finding your way off road with the roadbook. This you find in Africa and in the Pharaons Rally!’
Today it was clear: the teams navigating by roadbook crossed the dunes several times and those with good preparation and understanding of the terrain were able to find the fastest routes based on the roadbook and the maps of the area. ‘People who want to win will always try something new,’ says Stephane. ‘It has a long history. Remember the factory teams in Dakar who in the early days of the GPS were able to simply follow the arrow. Of course we will do our best to make sure the navigation stays as close to the roadbook as possible.’
Mohamed Abu Issa announced he’d hunt Rafael Sonik down and today he managed to secure a four minute lead over his competitor. With the battle at the front of the quad ranking being as sharp as a knife this year we also see two Venezuelan competitors on Can Am Renegade 800 quads, enjoying the event. ‘As fast as Sonik, no of course not!’ grins Covadonga Suarez Fernandez, racing together with her husband Eduardo. ‘We don’t go fast but are very stable. Since we do not push the machine too much, we are able to finish most of the time and this brought me on the podium in Morocco last year. Our goal is to ride in South America in the Dakar with the Pedrega Team. Every race we improve the quads and hopefully our dream will come true this year!’
Erik van Loon and Wouter Rosegaar managed a seventh place in the car ranking today. ‘We had to cross a bridge today with the new car, it took some time to get used to it. Even though we were not unhappy with the stage and the navigation, a seventh place is not what we expected. After analysing the data we noticed the tyre pressure was much higher than usual and this might have costed some time.’ They are competing in a class filled with determined and fast competitors: the T1 car ranking this year is incredible and we see faster and faster results every race. With Stephane Henrards’ goal in mind it will be interesting to see how these topteams cope with the navigational challenges in the next days of the Pharaons Rally.
‘After several years in the team of KAMAZ Master I have started the project with the Tatra,’ Artur Azrdavicius has a long history in motorsports, including a stage win in the Optic 2000 on the bike and several years in the car. ‘This truck is such a special machine!’ says Artur, who is coping with the special independent suspension. ‘Tomas Tomecek is very fast with a Tatra, but I have to get used to the balance of the truck at high speeds. Sometimes the suspension is an advantage, but I have yet to gain confidence in the truck.’ The participation in the Pharaohs Rally is a test as he is building a new Tatra for South America. ‘I find De Rooy very interesting, when I was with Kamaz we always kept an eye on their team!’
After a long day the teams are preparing for tomorrows’ challenge in the Pharaons Rally, with a 343 km long stage through the mountains and the incredible dunes around El Baharija. ‘I have great respect for the Sitra dunes,’ says Tarek El Erian. ‘They are rather small, so you need to think very fast. Big dunes are easy, but these small dunes can be very challenging!’
Tatra Bonver Project
Kazachstan driver; Artur Azrdavicius “ik heb in het team van Kamaz Master gereden en ben nu aan het project met de tatra begonnen. het is een goede truck, die we komend jaar naar de Dakar willen brengen. Niet deze truck, maar we bouwen een nieuwe met veel van de ontwikkeling uit deze. ik rij een stuk voorzichtiger met de vrachtwagen, want ik moet erg wennen aan het gedrag bij de sprongen. De vrachtwagen rijdt op een heel andere manier door de bochten, omdat de wielen naar binnen vallen bij het springen. ‘De Tsjechen kunnen er heel hard mee, maar ik nog niet. En om vooraan mee te komen moeten we heel hard rijden.’ De truck start in de open klasse, het is een test voor de komende Dakar in Zuid Amerika waar de Driver wil gaan rijden.
‘In 2006 heb ik op de motor in de Optic 2000 gereden, daar heb ik een etappe gewonnen. Maar uiteindelijk hield ik het niet vol op de motor en moest ik overstappen in de auto. Nu ben ik met de vrachtwagen aan het rijden. Het team van De Rooy is een van mijn grote voorbeelden, daar hebben we bij Kamaz altijd goed naar gekeken.
‘Nu heb ik een navigator die goed in z’n roadbook zit en niet bang is. Dat is perfect. Het doel is om de truck stabiel te krijgen en er goed snelheid in te brengen, als dat lukt ben ik tevreden.’