Inter Exam - Deserves a trip report!

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Isfand
Intermediate
Intermediate
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Location: Mirdif, Dubai
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Some of us members had an Intermediate exam on the afternoon of 8th Feb and below is my experience of one of my best drives to date

It was one fine Wednesday evening and I saw @JockJKU ‘s message on the Club chatroom “PMs sent”. Naturally the first reaction was oh the PM for the Friday morning drive have been sent. So i quickly logged onto the forum to find a message which read “Inter Exam 8/2/19”. My heart started beating fast. Is it what I think it is?? It was still a week away and it was a mixed feeling of nervousness and excitement.

Fast forward to the afternoon of 8th Feb. A relatively hot day for Dubai Winters. I check my car for fluid levels, clean the air filter again and make sure everything is sealed properly. Inspect the under carriage of the car and everything is perfect. OK good start.

Arrived the meeting point at 1:30PM and all familar faces were present. Every single Marshal and Mr. Founder @alshamsi_m was present at the location. Deflated, put the flag on, removed my ABS fuse, inspected my tire pressure again and said Hi to everyone.

The briefing started at 2PM and @alshamsi_m briefed all of us. In all honesty - I have never seen him so serious. But hey Isfand calm down - just another drive. Drive as if you would drive in other drives. @Johanna had already mentioned in an earlier chat that the Intermediate exam would be like an Inter drive even if a mild one.

@alshamsi_m mentioned the points below:
- A popout will not disqualify you.
- 2nd tries will not disqualify you
BUT
- Fish tailing is not allowed
- Jumps are unacceptable
- Side slipping on slopes for fun is not allowed.

So you all get the idea from the above that Safety is the Number 1 priority of the club.

How basically the exam works is that there will be a leading marshal ( @Daggerfall in this case) and the invited members will be 2nd lead each for 10 minutes. Behind this would be another Marshal assesing skills ( @Rashidjass in our exam)

@alshamsi_m asked who wants to be 2nd lead and as I was getting ready to raise my hand. Somebody else did. I am not kidding. I really wanted to raise my hand omg As we all were getting ready to line up we were also told to be aware of our surroundings. The marshals will float around and cut into the convoy and Intermediate drivers need to show a good level attention and focus.

We all lined up and realised I was the last driver. Nooo!!! I dont want to be the last person to be tested. Adrealine would sober up by then. But anyways we started and........
It was a very very fast start. We would go sideways on the dune to the climb to the top and then some more sideways to go up some more and before you know it we were driving on top of crests. It was fun!! I can’t even explain the fun. It was a fast drive but within minutes we heard on the radio that somebody had a popout. Now what that did is that it calmed down all drivers. It was a good pause. I quickly got out of the car to assist the driver in fixing their pop out and we continued.

So when your 10 minutes are over, you are instructed to stop on the side so the person behind you can take the position of the 2nd lead while you make your way to the end of the convoy. 2nd leads kept changing and some drivers needed 2nd tries in some areas which meant my position in the convoy kept advancing. I was finally happy to be not the last driver to be tested melt
Remember even if you finished your 10 minutes - The exam will not be over. You will still be assesed until the end of the drive.

The dunes were big. You needed momentum and speed and power but just the right amount. Anything more than the required and you risk yourself and others as its easy to lose control.

@Solmaz told me earlier in the drive - Isfand dont follow my tracks and I am like but I am not slow
Apparently she was right I was for a short period. So that was another important thing. You had to stick to the original track. Attention & Focus :) i made sure after that i observe 2-3 cars ahead of me which I usually do but rememeber “it was a fast start... very fast” on fire

Marshals were floating around and everybody had their own style of assesing the drivers. For example I can tel that @JockJKU would go behind every driver for a couple of minutes to monitor the driver and then move to the next.

Finally it was my 10 minutes. I need a technical break or do I? Do I need to ask the marshals that I need to check my tire pressure again or would that be unfair? Ummm so how am I feeling? Endless thoughts in the head but remember you need to bring out your best self to the game. Drive like you drive! Again the exam itself is like a proper test of how you function under pressure.

I think we all did well. At least I thought. Remember the Marshals have eagle vision. They can see everything cool much more than you

Towards the end of the drive - i thought the same. Isfand you did well! Pass or no Pass - it was one of the best drives I have done.

The whole of friday, saturday and half of Sunday was painful. I had assesed every single post about the upgrades and marshals usually post upgrade announcements the evening of friday but nope. There was a Wagan camp. Ok the camp finished. No whattt, whenn.... but Patience is a virtue.
If the admin looks at my login record he will see that I was the most active these 3 days on the forum than I ever was whu

Well I did pass and writing this report as an Intermediate. Looking forward to join the Inter drives while supporting the Newbie/Club Member drives as many as I can.

If you reading this and think you have got it to become an intermediate. Be humble, be patient. The Marshals can see it all, they know it! you are being observed ninja

Thank You to all the Marshals for supporting this. @alshamsi_m (not marshal-only founder thumbsup )
@Daggerfall
@Rashidjass
@Solmaz
@JockJKU
@Booy
@Abu Jimmy
qaseemax
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Great post Isfand.
Congratulations.
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CARLOSS
Intermediate
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Location: Dubai
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Hello everyone!

By the time I was preparing my Interm Exam, mentally speaking, I searched on the trip reports, videos, making questions to Interm and trying to gather information for finding out the “secret ingredients” but, I was not able to make a clear picture on my mind about how the exam will look like so this time, I just decided to write a trip report with my findings and humble recommendations hoping that it will be useful for future challengers, instead of describing the drive itself as yours will be different...

And here it goes:

Chapter No.1: “The basics”

You will be told, “drive safe”, “this is just another drive”, “don’t try to impress the Marshals” etc.
Please pay attention to all these messages, they are not hollow. On the contrary, they will help you to build the foundations of a good exam’s preparation: If you drive safely without fighting gravity, flying, fish tailing etc. you will be in the right way. thumbsup

“This is just another drive”..yes, indeed it is, but on a different way as your adrenaline’s level will be higher (unless you are a robot or terminator) and the leading Marshal will push you to your limits to check how you behave while driving under pressure so, don’t be surprised if you make mistakes (more than usual), don’t get frustrated and keep on going…there will be (most likely) a few second tries, stucks and pop-outs which will help you to take a deep breath and relax. ORLY

Marshal will be everywhere assessing you from the top of a dune, beside you and even inside a ditch if necessary playingsmiley so my advice is not to pay too much attention to them and keep yourself focused on the drive, the car in front of you and very importantly, the tracks. Just make sure that you are not hitting a Marshal’s car whut and you will be fine.

Chapter No.2: “Improvisation”

In my humble opinion I don’t think that improvising it’s a good idea, so would recommend you to:

Keep good distance with the car in front of you: The pace will be fast, faster than ever before, so expect that front time to time the gap may be bigger than usual and you will need to catch up with the convoy but without driving too fast as you may make one of the above “deal breakers” mistakes. Conversely, don’t get too close to the leading car specially when you are in the second lead as the leading Marshal won’t be happy if he/she can see your face in his/her rear mirrors. patapon

Don’t change the tracks neither make shortcuts. Marshals will catch you on the spot (very evident maneuver) and you may put yourself in trouble and the cars following you if the new track takes you to a tricky situation. And if you lose the track getting disconnected from the convoy just report it on the radio and wait for instructions.

Chapter No.3: “Showing muscles & Reporting”

This is not a bodybuilding contest cool so there is no need to show how strong you are by overreacting as you will be invited because Marshals already believed that you are ok for the next level. As such, I would suggest not to push too much on the throttle nor breaks, just normal, and if not enough, make a second try and that’s it…no shame on that.

Do not hesitate too much to abort a maneuver if you feel that the car is not going to make it…the sooner the better for avoiding something worst. And don’t forget to report it right away.

Chapter No.4: “Having fun”

Don’t forget to have tons of fun as this is what it’s all about, having a great time and making friends. The worst ever drive in the desert it’s much better than the best day in the office. have a nice day

See you in the next level and all the best!

Carlos
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