Beginner Dirt Day
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CARLOSS
- Marshal
- Posts: 235
- Joined: Sun Sep 20, 2020 2:10 pm
- Location: Dubai
- Has thanked: 1066 times
- Been thanked: 1236 times
Hi everyone!
Last Saturday we were blessed with an amazing weather for this time of the year and an amazing company as well
. We conquered most of Nahil dunes and made a relatively long route covering most of the 2 chains with 53 km done. Quite good progress for our eager short-experienced newbies.
I led the 5+ with known faces so I knew what to expect and adjusted the level to make sure that everybody was having fun on a controlled and safe level. I gave the convoy something around 30 min warm up and progressively I started to increase the level till we achieved a good flow in the second part of the drive.
Unfortunately, I was late in my expected arrival to “safety” as we encountered an unexpected pop out just 10 minutes away from the exit which was perfected managed by David and Jamhi. Thanks for that.
Takeaways from the drive and feedback to our dear newbies:
- Radio communication is a must, and the more you report the best performance the convoy will have.
- Appropriate distance is to be observed at all times specially when driving in technical areas and in fast sections. Too close or too far might lead our members in having problems.
- Leading car drafts the lines, and second lead and remaining members should follow that without changing the tracks unless instructed by the Marshal. Very minor corrections are allowed for second leads (avoiding bushes or ditches, mainly) but without changing the lines...and that’s all. Yesterday’s pop out was a good example and hope that everybody understood the importance of it.
Last but not least, thanks @Ehab for organizing, @David & @alshamsi_m for supporting. Thanks to our brave inter and advance showing up and to all members for joining.
See you soon.
Carlos (CARLOSS)
Last Saturday we were blessed with an amazing weather for this time of the year and an amazing company as well
. We conquered most of Nahil dunes and made a relatively long route covering most of the 2 chains with 53 km done. Quite good progress for our eager short-experienced newbies.I led the 5+ with known faces so I knew what to expect and adjusted the level to make sure that everybody was having fun on a controlled and safe level. I gave the convoy something around 30 min warm up and progressively I started to increase the level till we achieved a good flow in the second part of the drive.
Unfortunately, I was late in my expected arrival to “safety” as we encountered an unexpected pop out just 10 minutes away from the exit which was perfected managed by David and Jamhi. Thanks for that.
Takeaways from the drive and feedback to our dear newbies:
- Radio communication is a must, and the more you report the best performance the convoy will have.
- Appropriate distance is to be observed at all times specially when driving in technical areas and in fast sections. Too close or too far might lead our members in having problems.
- Leading car drafts the lines, and second lead and remaining members should follow that without changing the tracks unless instructed by the Marshal. Very minor corrections are allowed for second leads (avoiding bushes or ditches, mainly) but without changing the lines...and that’s all. Yesterday’s pop out was a good example and hope that everybody understood the importance of it.
Last but not least, thanks @Ehab for organizing, @David & @alshamsi_m for supporting. Thanks to our brave inter and advance showing up and to all members for joining.
See you soon.
Carlos (CARLOSS)
Last edited by CARLOSS on Sun Apr 12, 2026 10:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Carlos06
- Newbie
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2026 8:02 pm
- Has thanked: 3 times
- Been thanked: 17 times
Firstly, thanks to @Ehab for organizing the drive, and to the rest of the support team. I was part of the second convoy led by @CARLOSS , with the support of David & Aljamhi.
It was a really nice drive. The first part had larger drops and arches, which gave me a good chance to practice and get back into it after more than a month off. The second part picked up the pace quite a bit, which I really enjoyed. The weather was amazing with even some light rain.
It’s always rewarding to feel more comfortable with the car and start anticipating how it will respond… well, most of the time at least!
As a bonus, we also got to watch a recovery after a tire pop-out, where Jamhi and David showed their skills.
Overall, a great morning in the sand. Looking forward to the next one—though sadly, it’s still a while away.
See you soon,
Carlos Amortegui
It was a really nice drive. The first part had larger drops and arches, which gave me a good chance to practice and get back into it after more than a month off. The second part picked up the pace quite a bit, which I really enjoyed. The weather was amazing with even some light rain.
It’s always rewarding to feel more comfortable with the car and start anticipating how it will respond… well, most of the time at least!
As a bonus, we also got to watch a recovery after a tire pop-out, where Jamhi and David showed their skills.
Overall, a great morning in the sand. Looking forward to the next one—though sadly, it’s still a while away.
See you soon,
Carlos Amortegui
Met the group right before 8 am and was provided the opportunity to be the second lead of the drive. Really appreciated it as it was the first time ever for me.
We started off with some perfectly executed gradual dunes starting from safari style and then into some smaller straight crests and side sweeps.
Watching Carlos and his approach to navigating each dune was a great learning opportunity as with each calculated approach, I could see that he is applying only the lines that the entire convoy can drive.
Towards the end of the drive, I made the mistake of going off Carlos' line which led to Layal's pop out as that was not a very well calculated move on my part. Massive thank you to the team once again for quickly repairing the pop out. This was an extremely valuable coaching opportunity where I learnt more about how to best tackle such scenarios and how to do a much better job of being a second lead.
Overall, this was the first drive where I got to truly learn what I means to not just follow the drive lead, but to always pay attention and be mindful of who's following behind as well.
Absolutely loved the drive and I look forward to the drives to come
We started off with some perfectly executed gradual dunes starting from safari style and then into some smaller straight crests and side sweeps.
Watching Carlos and his approach to navigating each dune was a great learning opportunity as with each calculated approach, I could see that he is applying only the lines that the entire convoy can drive.
Towards the end of the drive, I made the mistake of going off Carlos' line which led to Layal's pop out as that was not a very well calculated move on my part. Massive thank you to the team once again for quickly repairing the pop out. This was an extremely valuable coaching opportunity where I learnt more about how to best tackle such scenarios and how to do a much better job of being a second lead.
Overall, this was the first drive where I got to truly learn what I means to not just follow the drive lead, but to always pay attention and be mindful of who's following behind as well.
Absolutely loved the drive and I look forward to the drives to come
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David
- Marshal
- Posts: 239
- Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2020 12:15 pm
- Location: Dubai
- Has thanked: 981 times
- Been thanked: 1014 times
Very nice drive in Nahil with amazing weather organised by Ehab.
2 convoys, Ehab took care of the “fresher” newbies supported by Shamsi whereas Carlos lead the convoy with more experienced supported by me and Aljamhi.
Very nice flow that encouraged Carlos to move to the 2nd chain on the other side of the power line, easy and clean lines that were very enjoyable.
Key issues that were noticed:
• Radio communication, needs to improve both in messaging and timing.
• Distance between cars, you need to adapt depending on the terrain, gaps were very big in some cases which is not acceptable when moving up the levels, drives will also get faster when you progress and with speed you need to make sure all the basics (radio and distance) are completely under control
• Know your car, if it is not going to make it up a climb or in an arch you need to be able by now to get the car safe, a big part of learning is understanding your car, what it can and can not do.
See you on the sand soon
2 convoys, Ehab took care of the “fresher” newbies supported by Shamsi whereas Carlos lead the convoy with more experienced supported by me and Aljamhi.
Very nice flow that encouraged Carlos to move to the 2nd chain on the other side of the power line, easy and clean lines that were very enjoyable.
Key issues that were noticed:
• Radio communication, needs to improve both in messaging and timing.
• Distance between cars, you need to adapt depending on the terrain, gaps were very big in some cases which is not acceptable when moving up the levels, drives will also get faster when you progress and with speed you need to make sure all the basics (radio and distance) are completely under control
• Know your car, if it is not going to make it up a climb or in an arch you need to be able by now to get the car safe, a big part of learning is understanding your car, what it can and can not do.
See you on the sand soon
David - Black FJ (0505543626)
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Haidy79
- Newbie
- Posts: 32
- Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2024 11:16 pm
- Has thanked: 101 times
- Been thanked: 106 times
Amazing weather for this time of the year ...The trip was organised by @Ehab supported by @alshamsi_m @CARLOSS @David
We spilt into 2 convoys the fresh drivers and CM were with Mr Al shamsi and Ehab I was invthe other convoy led by @CARLOSS the track was smooth with ups and long downs...we spent 15 minutes warming then the real fun started every bodyvwas great ...almost at the end we had a popout ...that when it started raining 🌧 slightly..@CARLOSS explained to all of us how important to keep the exact track as the leading marshal ....
Thanks to all support @David who was floating watching for everyone's safety...
And our supporting intermediate @Aljamhi ...
See all on sand soon ...
, i learnt new things, i used my jack for the first time., thank you Aljamshi and David for helping. I always have fun. Thank you Ehab for this amazing opportunity.
