No way out

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Mghoneim
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Hello Almosters,

I signed up to this -5 Newbie drive and I was hoping the younger Newbies don’t pack it as I am 16+ and the marshals would have easily excluded me. Only one Newbie with 5 drives showed up and the rest were older Newbies and intermediates which took the drive somewhere else.

We started at the beautiful Al Faqaa with a safari style / Rally track lead by @alshamsi_m , @giorgio floating and @Tom sweeping. A few second tries and crested cars then we had a coffee break and headed out with multiple straight cresting.

We were again at the meeting point 1hr before the drive ends and I am like it's not ending now!! and then @alshamsi_m took us to the other side of the road... I have been to Al Faqaa many times day and night but not on that other side of the road... Oh my, Its gorgeous. I believe with the excitement we had we were driving nearly intermediate level with a 3/4 year old kid in the back of the convoy 😂🙈. As it got a little harsh on the little boy we had to call it off only a few minutes earlier and head back to the road.

I would like to thank @giorgio & @alshamsi_m for this superb experience as well as al intermediates who supported the drive and a big thank you for the younger Newbies who didn't show up 👹


I think my next drive will be either early August or Salalah..

Stay safe
Mghoneim
Cheers,
MGhoneim
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Tomvanhouten
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Hello everyone,

What a beautiful area to spend the afternoon!
This area has so much to offer and who else then @alshamsi_m to guide us around. We started on the familiar side of the road with a rally track, as this went pretty quick, the other side of the road was next to explore.
That side certainly gave some inspiration for me..... Psmiley

The level? Lovely!! Fast going sections varied by technical area's, this is the kind drives I truly like.

Thank you @giorgio and @alshamsi_m for the perfect organisation once more and hopefully see everyone soon again!

Tom
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giorgio
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No way out:

This 5- drive was set on the Al Faqaa dunes area.

As the weather is getting hotter the afternoon drives between the heat and the sun glare are getting less and less attractive to attend.Nonetheless a bad day on the sand is better than the best day home.

This drive ends up to be an amazing lead by @alshamsi_m who end up raising the level way beyond the designated level and that is because the convoy was responding safely every single time that the lead car was raising the bar.
The subject area is one of my favorites first for its proximity to Dubai and secondly for its diversity.

The convoy did exceptionally well with minor delays, very few recoveries and zero pop-outs.

We were lucky that our little passenger asked to aboard the drive because if it was not for him we will be still driving till now

Closing my report I would like to thank the Leader @alshamsi_m the second lead which did an amazing job and @Tom which was sweeping and keeping an eye on the end  of the convoy.

until next time be all safe and looking forward to see to see you all at the next drive
The Wolf is not concerned with the opinion of the sheep
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alshamsi_m
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Hello Everyone

As mentioned above the drive was 5- and I was not sure if I'm going to lead or not ?!! Our organizer got a new car " Congratulations " and he was not sure if the car is ready or not so it was safer not to take the lead and give it a try first, so I ended up leading you're kidding, right

If we had 5- members, the track length and timing would be perfect but when I looked at the faces of the members I could recognize that they are old bees so I have a space to play more :yarr: . I did my best considering not jumping the level but at the same time giving them the max. grin.

Nevertheless, they were good and we finished 1 HOUR early so I had to pull more trick under my sleeves and lead to another area which is the best for intermediates for two reasons, the side cresting and the soft sand :ninja: I was merciful and played the soft sand with safari-style only :yaeh_am_not_durnk:

The time passed so fast and we came to the end of the day. It was rewarding to see the happiness on the members' faces at the end of the drive thumbsup

Thanks to our organizer @giorgio and the support team grin

Looking forward to see you in the sand


Cheers
Shamsi
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CARLOSS
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Hello everyone!

What a fantastic day! It took me a while to stay a full day in the desert with a couple of drives so Saturday was superb, and I could not have asked for a better day. ORLY

As mentioned in previous reports, “No way out” drive was supposed to be a -5 drive so I was super relaxed at the beginning, driving all the time in 2nd or even 3 gear just watching the scenery in the first part of the drive doing safari style, doing some rescue…a piece of cake cool . However, our leading car decided to increase the pace and shifted to another area which was was completely different… melt

To me, it looked more like +10 level and the playground was suitable for an interm drive with wonderful dunes with sharp lines and asking for side cresting…I am sure that some of us were refraining ourselves to do so including our Marshals and dear interm members. TT TT

And due to my “relaxed” mode I was caught but a couple of soft sand climbs and needed to do a second tries due my to lack of momentum brains...! . And this was a good lesson learned for me, “never underestimate the playground and always stay focus” as otherwise dunes will catch you sooner or later.

All in all, the convoy did quite well considering the increased level and all members displayed big smiles when the drive finished. thumbsup

I would like to thank @giorgio for organizing (congrats for your new toy) and @alshamsi_m for taking the lead and make a very fun drive and to my fellas @Tomvanhouten and @osman for helping the convoy.

See you soon
Carlos
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No Way Out? I think I can safely speak for everyone in the convoy except the little kiddo. Don't think anything wanted out with the sorta track @Shamsi led. In the briefing, Shamsi explained to us that this is a rally ring and there are competitive rallies that take place on this particular track. He was relatively excited that the convoy barely had anyone that was -5 level so he upped it a couple notches. He asked us to warm up by 4pm cause after that he was gonna increase the pace. Oh boy, he didn't disappoint. it was so fun past 4:10 to be precise. The pace of the drive was relatively quicker than all the drives ive been on with the club, definitely not what everyone expected as it was supposed to be a -5 drive. Well I've gone on a 10+ drive that wasn't as much fun as this one was. I guess our leader was in a good mood. All in all, the convoy was responded really well so i think he kept increasing the level.

We didn't have any major issues throughout the drive expect for the usual second tries and what not. Towards the end, one of the little passengers was feeling giddy, cant really blame him since it turned out to be "not so kiddo" friendly drive. But what a trooper to stick around the whole time. Kudos to him.

Thank you @giorgio for organizing the trip. It was a beauty. Thank you @Shamsi for the awesome lead. Thank you to all the members for participating and intermediates @CARLOSS @Tomvanhouten for the support

See you all real soon!!
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osman
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Hi All,

This was the only drive that I had a chance before the Salalah trip to test my recent issues with the axle on the sand since I was & will be away from UAE. Firstly thanks to @giorgio for organizing the drive and accepting me, then of course @alshamsi_m for the excellent lead, making sure I had a real "field test".

I was on the plane 3 hours before the drive, due to delays and rearranged flights with about 2 hours of sleep from the last day and half. But I was quite comfortable as this was 5- drive, so my concern was not to fall asleep on the way back home. However, like everyone mentioned above, this was nowhere close to that level.

I am not sure how long but maybe the first 20 minutes or so I was thinking the car was behaving very strange, not controlling the turns properly, had some grip issues, excessive sliding, etc. All along I was thinking how come the axle impacts the drive such way, not possible! I was even thinking about asking one of the leaders to check the car for me. When I announced a second try, @giorgio said, check your 4WD, seems like you are on 2WD! Damn! how can one make such mistake and still does not realize! My shame did not end there, also had a bit rough straight cross at one point later on. One thing always I have to remind myself is that every single drive requires full attention, focus and fitness.

I truly enjoyed the drive, thanks again to the leaders to keep everyone smiling and happy. Until Salalah, enjoy the sand and hope to see you again in late August.
Warning: Sand is addictive... and also the sea salt.
jcarlosgarme
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Hello Almost family:

I admit one good thing about being late on the trip reports is that I enjoy a lot reading others... if I open the app I really want to take some time on it

Thanks @giorgio for organizing what ended up another level! I was ready for the 5- and the surprise was gratifying!

@alshamsi_m leading, @Enrique second lead, @CARLOSS , @osman @Tomvanhouten alternating every 2 newbies. Very safe drive having you all onboard!

@Enrique @Arjun_M @piotr @Mghoneim @stockton in the convoy. As everybody said already the flow was fantastic, we finished one hour ahead of time and @alshamsi_m took us to the other side of the road for an increase on speed and emotions. The drive was so exiting that we were reaching a very high level that we forgot we have honorary members in the 5- drive. I can't believe how strong is your kid @piotr, kudos, you have a Marshal sitting in the car-seat behind you, fantastic! redbullsmiley

Lessons in the drive:

Speed up
The flow was so nice that we got many times the reminder to close the gaps in the convoy. It is good to have safe distance but is not good to lose the convoy.

Check on the radio
I had the radio between me and the sit belt in a position that was touching the "unlock" button... for some time the convoy was quite but I never realized until a reached a point where I had to chose with 2 tracks... both of them fresh... as expected with Murphy's law I took the wrong one and stopped shortly after to check on the radio, nobody answered my "radio checks" wtfsmilie. I was in another frequency lost. Not an issue in Almost 4x4, in less than 40 seconds @giorgio and the yellow "shepherd" (no offence at all that dood is up to something) were there to take me back to the "herdflock".

Do not jump serious business
There was a very sharp front crest on the way. It was made clear by our lead Marshal... you better get crested than flying away. Again safety is first... off-roading has a risk but with proper training everything is way safer. Thank you!

See you soon!

Carlos (b)
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piotr
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What a wonderful drive it was... very unexpectedly! It was a wolf hidden in a 5- skin.
A lot has been written about the drive and I agree with all the above - the track, the beautiful desert, the flow, the challenge - it was all there. Sufficient to say out of 3.5h we were moving for 3h, with only 25mins stopped time (and that was including two 5min breaks). I think best result so far!

I thought the 5- would be a good opportunity to test the new car (yes yes, I gave my Prado some rest and switched to FJ!), also my 4-year old son Karol could not wait to go to the desert in the "new black car" - I though I would hit 2 birds with one stone :) And both of them performed really well (I can't think one helped the other!).

As for the FJ, it is a very different experience compared to Prado. The 200 or 300 less kgs (with the engine being the same) makes a massive difference on climbs; the bypass suspension works real miracles smoothing out both minor as well as major bumps - that was particularly helpful at driving at the end of the convoy :). Also the arrival and departure angles allow for much more pace at start of climbs an coming out of descents. That said, the car has its "style" that will take a bit getting used to: the visibility is quite a bit worse than Prado, and FJ seems to be willing to fishtail a little more than its rear-heavy cousin. Maneouvrability is phenomenal though, the car reacts to even small movements of the steering wheel (and in this drive I did oversteer quite a few times, used to turn-and-wait-2-seconds of Prado), it also does not roll as much giving more confidence to do sharp turns (I finally can make the U-turn without massively overshooting :) ) Overall a fantastic experience, can't wait for more.

As for Karol I was getting really worried at the beginning seeing the pace increase way beyond what I thought he can handle ;) - in previous 10+ drives the fun always ended after some 20 minutes. This time round it was different though, he survived (with a smile on his face for most of the time) full 3h of proper dune bashing, only calling it at the very end of the drive (sorry guys I spoiled the fun a little, I wanted to continue as much as everybody :) ) I think it was the suspension that helped (was set at midpoint between hard and soft) - the ride was considerably smoother despite the fast pace. The only disappointment on his side was we did not stay for the night :) Winter, winter, where are you!

Learnings:
- it's still the driver not the car making the drive - play it safe
- soft sand and munched tracks are treacherous, and you can loose momentum any time - pay attention. If you can't make it, don't push (even in an FJ! :P)

Thank you @alshamsi_m for the lead, and @giorgio for organizing, and @osman @Tomvanhouten @CARLOSS for your support.
We had a great time - and Karol says thank you @alshamsi_m for the cookies!
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