The first official trailer of the Tuareg Rally 2011 was released by the rally organization a couple of days ago. It brings back a lot of good moments watching this even though its only been two weeks since I got home. Most of the trailer is made up of photos from the finish and winners ceremony. Enjoy!
Showing posts with label tuareg 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tuareg 2011. Show all posts
Monday, April 18, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Day 8, Spain
(April 4)
I woke up this morning on the ferry and for the first time since I left Spain I didn't feel the cold anymore. Talk about bad luck. We got off the ferry and unloaded all the bikes and got dressed to get on the bikes for the last day of the rally. People was looking a bit tired after one week of racing but the spirit was high knowing that the finish was near.
The finish of the race is in Mojacar and the roadbook took us from the port in Almeria up through a very narrow and twisting road over some hill tops and then down to a dried out riverbed a couple of kilometers from Mojacar. The very last special was in the riverbed that led down to a beach at the ocean. This special is more for fun since it's not more than 2-3 minutes long, and the beach is also a very nice place to hang out at while we are waiting for everyone to gather up. I figure there's about 200 vehicles who needs to get to the finish at the same time so there is a need to stop and wait for everyone.
Me and Carl pretty much just enjoyed the whole day, knowing that we just landed a place on the podium. We started at the same time on the last special and we drove over the finish line together. When all riders had done the last special we all drove to the finish in Mojacar in one long line. Once there the celebrations started and the winners in respective class was announced. It's really been a great rally for us. The feeling of standing on the podium together with Thorsten Kaiser, on 1st place, and Martin Fontyn, 3rd, was indescribable. Just pure joy mixed with pride I guess.
After a sip of champagne we burned some rubber (to the spectators delight). I thought that since we were able to get on second place we kind of owe it to put on a show. After that I went up to the hotel room and got a well deserved war shower before I went back to the service truck to get everything loaded for the trip back to Sweden.
Now, its time for some rest before the "Winners party" tonight where everyone can get a well deserved brew or two.
I woke up this morning on the ferry and for the first time since I left Spain I didn't feel the cold anymore. Talk about bad luck. We got off the ferry and unloaded all the bikes and got dressed to get on the bikes for the last day of the rally. People was looking a bit tired after one week of racing but the spirit was high knowing that the finish was near.
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| At the beach after the last special |
Me and Carl pretty much just enjoyed the whole day, knowing that we just landed a place on the podium. We started at the same time on the last special and we drove over the finish line together. When all riders had done the last special we all drove to the finish in Mojacar in one long line. Once there the celebrations started and the winners in respective class was announced. It's really been a great rally for us. The feeling of standing on the podium together with Thorsten Kaiser, on 1st place, and Martin Fontyn, 3rd, was indescribable. Just pure joy mixed with pride I guess.
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| The podium. Photo: Mikael Nilsson |
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| Celebrating my 2nd place in the rally. Photo: Mikael Nilsson |
Friday, April 1, 2011
Day 5, Dune race
Today was the shortest day of the rally. This day is different from the other days since it is more like an 80km MX race on sand dunes. There are 4 laps in total an you only need to pay attention to the navigation the first lap and then you can concentrate on doing the other laps as fast as possible. Again, it was really hot today and the sand was dry and soft but me and Carl found a very good tempo and made no mistakes. I do not know the results yet but I think we have advanced up to second place in the totals by now. I will have to confirm that in the evening.
Since the day is fairly short this day also work as a rest day for the drivers and I have just changed oil and filter on the motor and on the gearbox. Air filters and skins are changed everyday. I have also changed back to the Desert rear tire from the MX tire I have been using during the two dune days. The front tire is also a Michelin Desert and I am using the same front tire the whole rally. The rear Desert tire is changed once during the rally.
The rest of the guys, and gal, in Team Rally Raid Sweden are at good spirit and people are less tired now than yesterday and the day before. The mood is usually directly related to how tired people are and how the results are so when people are talking and laughing it usually means they have had a good day.
My cold is making me feel lousy and really hope it would end but it would not surprise me if it does not go away until I get back to Sweden.
Tomorrow will be another long day with some demanding specials that will take us back up north to Missour. All we need to do now is to focus on keeping our position. There will not be much room for big time differences among the top riders for the rest of the rally unless someone makes a mistake and gets penalties.
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| Early morning at prestart. View of erg Chebi. |
The rest of the guys, and gal, in Team Rally Raid Sweden are at good spirit and people are less tired now than yesterday and the day before. The mood is usually directly related to how tired people are and how the results are so when people are talking and laughing it usually means they have had a good day.
My cold is making me feel lousy and really hope it would end but it would not surprise me if it does not go away until I get back to Sweden.
Tomorrow will be another long day with some demanding specials that will take us back up north to Missour. All we need to do now is to focus on keeping our position. There will not be much room for big time differences among the top riders for the rest of the rally unless someone makes a mistake and gets penalties.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Day 2, Missour - Merzouga
Today's stage brought us more beautiful views of the high Atlas. The day started with a special with a lot of riding in riverbeds and several fast high speed sections. I don't know the results yet but it felt pretty good. After that there was some liasons and navigation stages and lastly a second special that took us down to Merzouga in southern Morocco. We also took the time to stop at a gas station during one of the liasons and had a quick cup of coffee and a chat with some English blokes that we usually meet at the rally.
Yesterday me and Carl, the guy I'm team-riding with, ended up on 5th place and we are very pleased with the result. That meant we started in the second line this morning and we caught up with all the previous riders except Tomkinson, an English bloke who won the rally last year, so hopefully we closed the gap to the riders ahead of us in the results list.
The day was good and we only had some minor problems at the end with dust from the cars at the high speed sections. But with a wide open throttle we managed to get by them eventually...
My rear tire was a lot more worn this year compared to last year so I decided to change it today (one day earlier than planned). And I had some minor fixes to do on the bike so I was not done until nine at the evening. I'll see if there is something eatable from the dinner and then I'll call it a night. The entire day of tomorrow will be a special so we have a demanding day ahead of us.
Yesterday me and Carl, the guy I'm team-riding with, ended up on 5th place and we are very pleased with the result. That meant we started in the second line this morning and we caught up with all the previous riders except Tomkinson, an English bloke who won the rally last year, so hopefully we closed the gap to the riders ahead of us in the results list.
The day was good and we only had some minor problems at the end with dust from the cars at the high speed sections. But with a wide open throttle we managed to get by them eventually...
My rear tire was a lot more worn this year compared to last year so I decided to change it today (one day earlier than planned). And I had some minor fixes to do on the bike so I was not done until nine at the evening. I'll see if there is something eatable from the dinner and then I'll call it a night. The entire day of tomorrow will be a special so we have a demanding day ahead of us.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Day 1, Nador - Missour
Today was the first day of the rally and it started with a 400km stage that took us from Nador at the coast up into the Atlas mountains to the city of Missour. The enduro path through a steep canyon (that I described a bit in the previous post) went well for me and my riding partner Carl Hagenblad. We got off early from the start at the port in Nador so we were among the first up the canyon so we didn't have any problems with other riders standing in the way. After the enduro path there were some technical navigation stages followed by a special that took just about under an hour.
The special was a mixture of somewhat tricky navigation and technical riding in a long riverbed. We made no mistakes and had a good flow through the special. The only problem was that there was a lot of cars that we caught up with and the dust makes it extremely difficult to try to pass them.
We were the first ones of the Swedes to reach the finish and the Berglund brothers showed up a short while after us so I don't know how it went for the others yet. The results of today will probably be posted later this evening. All in all it was a good first day and I'm happy with how the day went. The cold I felt yesterday doesn't seem to get any worse so hopefully that will not become a problem.
The upside of being among the first to reach the base camp is that the showers are hot and the toilets are working. :) Plus, you have a lot of time to get everything sorted for the next day. Right now its about 1830 and I'm all done for today so now I just have to focus on eating and talking to new and well known faces.
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| The mechanics at work in Missour |
We were the first ones of the Swedes to reach the finish and the Berglund brothers showed up a short while after us so I don't know how it went for the others yet. The results of today will probably be posted later this evening. All in all it was a good first day and I'm happy with how the day went. The cold I felt yesterday doesn't seem to get any worse so hopefully that will not become a problem.
The upside of being among the first to reach the base camp is that the showers are hot and the toilets are working. :) Plus, you have a lot of time to get everything sorted for the next day. Right now its about 1830 and I'm all done for today so now I just have to focus on eating and talking to new and well known faces.
Day 0, scrutineering
This was the first day of the Tuareg rally and pretty much the whole day was spent at the port of almeria, in Spain. The day consisted of getting my paperwork done and getting the bike and myself through inspection. The paperwork mostly consist of stuff needed for customs as the routines for entering with a vehicle into Africa is not the fastest. The bike is checked for function; brakes, wheel bearings, brake lights, etc, and you have to show your complete safety kit before you are cleared and can load your bike back on the service truck.
Everything passed quite smoothly for me and most of the other Swedes so I was all done by lunch and could spend the rest of the day taping my roadbooks so by now I have taped all the roadbooks for all nine days. This is good since it means I will have more time to do other things during the rally.
A bad thing is that I got a sore throat and it feels like I am getting a cold and that precisely what I don't need right now. Doing a rally is hard enough without being sick. We will see how it feels tomorrow.
The stage tomorrow is quite a long one and the day starts with an enduro track in the mountains that can be somewhat challenging for some of the riders. The main purpose of the enduro track is to make the riders think again about wether they should stay in the Profi group or switch to the Amateur group.
I'm sitting in the wait room at the port right now and there is no WIFI here so we will see when I will be able to post this. Maybe tomorrow night in Missour but chances are small they will have internet there so it might not be until we are in Merzouga.
[Note] They had WIFI in Missour so I'm posting this on Day 1 of the race.
Everything passed quite smoothly for me and most of the other Swedes so I was all done by lunch and could spend the rest of the day taping my roadbooks so by now I have taped all the roadbooks for all nine days. This is good since it means I will have more time to do other things during the rally.
A bad thing is that I got a sore throat and it feels like I am getting a cold and that precisely what I don't need right now. Doing a rally is hard enough without being sick. We will see how it feels tomorrow.
The stage tomorrow is quite a long one and the day starts with an enduro track in the mountains that can be somewhat challenging for some of the riders. The main purpose of the enduro track is to make the riders think again about wether they should stay in the Profi group or switch to the Amateur group.
I'm sitting in the wait room at the port right now and there is no WIFI here so we will see when I will be able to post this. Maybe tomorrow night in Missour but chances are small they will have internet there so it might not be until we are in Merzouga.
[Note] They had WIFI in Missour so I'm posting this on Day 1 of the race.
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