Insanity 17/09/21

David
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I had been looking forward to this drive all week, being back with the interms after the summer break ... Very nice to meet everyone before the drive, a few interms missing but attendance in great numbers, drivers hungry for sand. thumbsup

Since we had plenty of support and Marshalls Singh decided to have 2 convoys, first one of them lead by Presa with Mabubaker and Giorgio alongside him.

I was assigned to the 2nd convoy, lead by Singh with Scorpio as "guardian angel" and the ever-present Optimus for additional support.

All good news as to top it up I was given the chance to be 2nd lead followed by Germain, Rathica, Sorin, Christiaan and Jasper that was closing the convoy.

The drive was fantastic, the 2nd part was awesome, once he warmed up Singh managed to put some amazing combinations of sidecrests and bowls, big arches, crest riding (and a lot of sand flying), from the 2nd lead position you can really see when a Marshall gets "in that mood", all of the sudden speed increases and you start crossing crest after crest ... you could tell he was there, a couple of times Scorpio was on the radio to ask to "hold the convoy we have a 2nd try" and Singh response was "not now, I can't ..." pacman pacman

Personally I struggled a bit, 1st time on the sand with the new tires and they behave completely different from the old ones so I was having to make modifications to the way I normally drive ... yes, I know, 2nd lead to Singh interm in Nahil probably not the best time to try new shoes ... anyway, sometimes good to be dropped to the deep end, climbs seemed easier, crest riding not, I had to be softer on the throttle than usual or a bit of fishtailing ... very positive news that now I have a perfect valid reason to drive again tomorrow, "need to continue with the adaptation to the new tires!" killzonesmiley

Did have to switch the AC off and open windows for a bit, it was at that time when the drive was at its best, lower gears refused to engage, yes, call for a break and rest a minute but it was too good to stop so better the "traditional way", since we were riding crests I got plenty of sand inside, well worth it!!!! Psmiley

I always feel Intermediate drives finish too soon and they leave me craving for more, luckily we have a full day one coming up soon with Presa and Mabubaker, already counting the days to it!!!

Finally to thank everyone that made this drive possible, interm drivers, support team and Marshalls, very special thanks to Singh not only for organizing if not for also allowing me to be 2nd lead.

See you on the sand soon!!!
Last edited by David on Sat Sep 18, 2021 9:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
optimus
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Hi All

Drive : Insanity
Area : Nahil
Organizer : @SINGH
Convoys : 2
Lead 1 : @SINGH
Lead 2 : @presa

It was after a long time we visited the area. Singh assigned me the floating duties & @Scorpio his wingman redbullsmiley . The area in the beginning was somewhat technical, we had to encounter humps and ditches :pissed_off: zomg side cresting to the other side even though the leader managed to throw a nice show. Around half time a jeep had to be to be towed to tarmac due to some technical glitches it couldn’t continue. The second part of the drive was nice in love . Singh found a beautiful chain of dunes and went non stop cruising over them thumbsup :in_love:
As usual we had our usual stuck and popout scenarios too. As a floater I had the opportunity to watch everyones driving style, the lines they make on their own, their approach angles to side crest. I am happy to say that there are some very good drivers in making thumbsup thumbsup The drive was a perfect intermediate recipe!

At last I would like to thank my bud @SINGH for organizing the drive.
Our guardian Angel, my brother @Scorpio
& everyone else for joining in!

Until next time!
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presa
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Hi Almosters!

We had a great drive organized by @SINGH this Friday morning.

Nahil is a less used area, since many offroaders prefer to go to Sweihan. We drive everywhere :)

The convoy was full of experienced intermediate drivers so the level was good, with a good pace and few stucks, although many many 2nd tries mostly on sidecrests.

@Abubakar started leading the convoy for the first 30min, giving them some very nice lines.
@giorgio led the convoy after @Abubakar and found some nice bowls and climbs!
Both were doing challenging tracks without pushing too hard and we could see the convoy on the zone multiple times, were the flow is good, climbing and sidecresting on an unstop base dune after dune!
The flow was so nice that our convoy didnt cross the powerline to play on the second area, we spend the whole morning on the first area.

After about 2.5h of drive with @Abubakar and @giorgio leading the convoy twice, we decided to head to the exit. At this moment I had the chance to lead the convoy for a few minutes, but the drivers was somewhat tired so there were a few 2nd tries until we reach the exit with about 52km on a small area :)

We met the first convoy, lead by @SINGH and inflate near the tarmac.

I am looking forward to see the reports and videos from this drive.
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Scorpio
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Hello Everyone,

Enjoy the video:



Cheers,
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Sorin
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Hello guys & gals,

First time driving in a convoy led by @SINGH and it was just the way I like it, fast & fun! thumbsup

It was great to see so many Intermediates after the summer break even though we drovein two separate convoys.

Our convoy drove very well and we flattened as many dunes as we could and look good doing it grin

With recent news of lifting restrictions on Abu Dhabi, I’m looking forward to more drives in the area.

Thanks @SINGH for the great drive and also thank you to @Scorpio and @optimus for your support.

Below is a short video I made from as many angles as I could shoot (even upside down):


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mpodroid
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Great drive in Nahil area.
Many marshals supported us in this intermediate drive. I was in the second convoy, supervised by @presa and lead by @giorgio and @Mabubaker .

We has some second tries, but with the overtake rule we kept a good pace and had a lot of fun.

Thanks to everybody
Marco


Last edited by mpodroid on Mon Sep 20, 2021 9:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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giorgio
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Insanity Intermediate drive

This drive found us in Nahil area. The morning was fairly cool.
@SINGH as the organizer chose this area since it has been long time that we did not drive there.

The Organizer chose to split the drivers in two convoys with him leading the first convoy and the second was to be led by @presa which with his turn passed the lead to me and @Mabubaker .

@Mabubaker took the first lead on a warm up pace and increased the level. The dunes were mid sizes with friendly creasts and in many cases long steep climbs.

Following @Mabubaker I took the lead and I tried to increase the speed to faster pace and more technical.

Over all the flow was good despite the many 2nd tries. Applying the last man standing technique gives the convoy the opportunity to have less distractions and delays.
What we could not avoid though was the missing track incidents which was a result of not keeping the proper distance in an area full of tracks.

One of the most difficult exercises in this level where the drives are faster and the terrain is more demanding , is to find the fine line of maintaining the right momentum, on a distance that allows you to have time to react but not that far that you loose sight of the convoy and loss of the track. This is not an easy tasks and it requires a lot of practice. So the more you drive the better you will become.

@samir as a second lead had to encounter 3 different lead cars which means 3 different driving styles (all FJ's)  and all this in one short drive. i am sure that this was a challenging tasks that kept him on his toes for the entire course of the drive. Congratulations on the technically  challenging self-recovery. Job well done. That proves that if you have your car equipped with magic buttons and you know how to use them you get to recover yourself most of the times.  

Overall the convoy did well with several second tries, few self recoveries and very few assisted ones.

One more important note. During the drive on flat ground and even ascending the driver can slightly deviate from the track, especially from the middle of the convoy and back where the drivers have to deal with a chewed up track. This is most of the time acceptable and in some cases even necessary.
What is most important to remember is that you should enter and exit  crest, bowl etc. from the exact place that the lead car entered and exited. This is extremely important as you have no visibility when you reach the top of the climb. We all know that the desert is unpredictable and 1 meter to the left or right can put you in trouble.
So remember to enter and exit from the same point this is the safe way.      

@orlantsev was floating along with @Issa (good to see you back my friend ).
@orlantsev keep working on fine tuning your rig you are almost there.

Closing my report I would like to thank you all for the beautiful morning and I am looking forward to seeing you all again soon.
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orlantsev
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Good morning all,

I set my alarm to 5 am on Friday as I hate morning rush, so I got to the meeting point as one of the firsts. Last weekend I got the same ARB gauge as I had before so the deflation was less stressful :) the convoys were divided and I was assigned to @presa convoy. I really like the idea of overtaking during second tries. I think we have hardly had any stop in the first hour despite multiple second tries. The first long stop was when convoy got split in half when we intercepted the convoy led @SINGH . It took a while to regroup. The kill switch has made a huge difference for me. I have also noticed that Patrol is a bit more sensitive to overheating than FJ. At one point when the 1st gear has been engaged for too long I noticed the temperature gauge running high, so I had to give it a break and use higher gears for a while where terrain permitted it and it quickly returned to acceptable levels. The suspension makes big difference especially with a lot of vegetation. Few times I saw cars in front of me jumping over them to which I said ...nah...it is not for me now and took a different route. Towards the end of the drive I really could not take one climb despite choosing different angles. I always had to abort the acceleration due to the humps. So reported on the radio that I was taking a detour. It was actually a nice bowl where a went and quite a challenge to get out of it, but once I crossed and due to the time I spent there I could not see the convoy, as tracks were going in all directions. Thanks to @giorgio for returning to show me the way. The suspension really made my back suffer, so had to go for a massage yesterday :) I guess I am few centimeters shorter now.
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osman
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Hi,

Maybe I should use the words like floor it, full throttle, pedal to the metal, full steam, flat-out, etc. etc... to describe this excellent drive without writing the full report. But here it goes:

We had enough marshals for the event hence we had two convoys. I was in a convoy with @presa as the marshal, @Mabubaker and @giorgio as marshals in the making, @Issa and @orlantsev as advanced support, @SameRaptoRed as the second lead, and followed by @Rooies, @KIMOz, @mpodroid, @Alexandre.

During the brief, @presa mentioned that this will be a "buddy style" drive, which means if a car get stuck or 2nd try, the cars behind pass over and keep the flow running and the car doing the try will join at the back of the convoy. Once you drive that way, you truly understand the reason as any hesitation or slightest slow down costs you to lose the momentum causing bigger interruption & will stop the whole convoy. But sometimes this comes with a cost of disconnections if the second try & rejoining takes longer time.

@Mabubaker and @giorgio took turns to lead while @presa was watching the action and then @presa led in the last half an hour to put the icing on the cake.

We started with @Mabubaker leading without any warm-up, just hit the accelerator and kept it glued to the floor. Within the first five minutes of the drive, I executed the briefing instructions and joined at the back of the convoy. Then did another one ten minutes later. Then I appreciated the logic and really enjoyed driving with that style.

We had lots of second tries, few stucks, self recoveries, pulls and some orientation exercises. We all enjoyed the whole drive. Within the last kilometer or two I even wanted to prove that I still have the energy so I made a very brief hands stand on a ditch. The sand was like a railway yard once I reached to top, too many tracks and I took the one meter to right, then bingo, I found my ditch! Thanks @giorgio for the pull after my show.

Thanks @SINGH for organizing the drive and our leads and supports to have yet another memorable day in the sand. I wish there would have been more Fridays in the week.
Warning: Sand is addictive... and also the sea salt.
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Jasper
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Hello everyone!

We had about 3.5 hours full intermediate drive in Nahil and covered 55kms. We had 2 convoys and I was assigned to the convoy of @SINGH. Our leader @SINGH gave us a nice combination of technical and most of the time high climbs and long crests. All the drivers are having a good time and our leader goes back around more than once to flatten the crests. I was assigned as the last car to sweep and with the super soft sand it is challenging to follow the same lines. Few instances I struggled but with the help of @optimus and @Scorpio I was able to connect to the convoy. There's this 1 climb that I can't make it and the FJ just isn't climbing. Checked the air filter box and no sand inside the box. Took the air filter element out and there's the culprit. Fine dust is blocking the air flow. Even though snorkel is installed still air filter maintenance is a must after every drive. After the quick clean the FJ runs better.

We had a double pop out and rescues in our convoy but those didn't deter our leader to challenge every crest he sees. We had to escort and pull 1 car out of the desert due to technical issues and after that we continued the fun. We finished on time as planned.

Thank you @SINGH for organizaing and for the amazing lead! This is the first time for me under your leadership and looking forward for more. Thanks to @optimus and @Scorpio for keeping an eye on the safety of the convoy and my fellow intermediates for having a good time together in the sand!

View of the drive track:
https://www.relive.cc/view/vQvx17rBK9O

Take care and See you guys all soon!
Jasper
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