UAE Desert Challenge – November 2007

After a break from the Dakar Touratech UK Managing Director was missing the desert dunes so decided he to head to Dubai to take part in the UAE Desert Challenge. This year was Nick Plumbs second assault at the UAE Desert Challenge. Nick competed in the challenge 2 years ago as part of his training for the 2006 Dakar Rallye. “I had a cracking time this year” said Plumb “last time I raced on my Touratech BMW F650GS Rallye bike but wanted to do it on a much lighter bike this year. I chose an almost stock KTM 525 and it really made the rally much more enjoyable.” “The KTM was just as it came from the shop but with a 28ltr fuel tank fitted and our Touratech Roadbook and IMO bracket. I had a water bag on the rear of the bike and carried all my tools in a bum bag on my body.” “The UAE Desert Challenge is such a well organised rally that it is a pleasure to take part. It’s the final stage of the Cross Country World Championship and most of the riders will agree that it’s the best run stage. There’s loads of money put into the rally and you can tell when you get to the bivouac at the end of a stage.” Plumb, who was this year assigned as the UK Co-ordinator has been given the task to try to get more people from the UK to attend the event. “It’s a great rally,” said Nick “and to be given this role is great and not to hard either. The rally almost sells itself, it’s a relatively cheap rally and for people who would like a bit of a taster of the Dakar or even if your thinking of taking part in the Dakar, it’s a great introduction to the kind of sand riding your going to see. It’s also a lot less stressful and strenuous.

With the Dakar you might start at 4am or 5am and be riding till well gone 8 or 9 at night, well with the Dubai rally you start at about 6ish and I was finishing at maybe half 12 to 1 o’clock. This meant that even in the toughest bits you always know that if you make it through you can have time to relax at the end of the day. The organisers also let you miss a day if you have problems or just loose lots of time but you are always allowed to carry on with the rally unlike the Dakar where this would mean you being disqualified”.

“This years rally really appealed to me. There hasn’t been any rain in Dubai for quite some time so the sand was really soft and loose. The majority of the race is on sand and being on the KTM was great. The bike just seemed to sail through the dunes which is a big difference to the BMW which does have a tendency to try to go through rather than over them”.

“I hooked up with another two Brits while I was out there, Justin Carter and Barry Richardson. These guys are thinking of doing the Dakar in 2009 and the race has given them a great idea of how much training they need to do and in what areas. In fact there’s quite a lot of ex-pats over in Dubai and about half the field were British so there’s a great camaraderie over there”.

“Dubai itself is an amazing place to go if you want to have a race and a holiday, there’s a brilliant nightlife and you can go and get whatever food you fancy really. The main downside is the temperature; it’s so hot that everything is difficult to do. I was lucky as I didn’t have much trouble with my bike. Last time I did the Desert Challenge I took my Dakar mechanic Bernie Wright, this year I was on my own. Although all I needed to do was change wheels, oil changes and daily air filter changes, the heat just zapped all your energy and I think when I do this race again I’ll be sure to take a mechanic”.

The first day of the race saw Nick and the other competitors complete a short 2km stage across the sand.

“The first day was a prologue,” commented Plumb “I finished in 21st place out of about 80 riders so I was really happy with my performance. The only downside is that after the stage we had about a 100 mile ride to Abu Dhabi. Most people had transport for this but because Justin, Barry and I had just shipped our bikes out, we were forced to ride it. I think in total we ended up doing about 500km that day”

“The Bivouac at the end was great though. This is were the money shows, each tent was fitted with electricity so we had lights and even plugs to charge mobile phones. Best of all was the showers though, just what you need after a day in the sand. The only downside was that we were sleeping on sand and it got everywhere, but it’s a sand race so you just have to live with it”.

The next 5 days saw the riders and drivers compete almost entirely on sand with one fuel stop each day.

“It felt good to be back out in the dunes,” said Nick, “I was riding within my limits because I didn’t really want to push it to much. I’ve had enough crashes in my career and this rally was for fun so I didn’t want to risk damaging my bike or myself. It was really hard going and after the first day in the dunes I was thinking to myself, ‘why do I do this?’ But then I managed to get behind some faster guys and it became really good fun. I was able to still ride within my limits and because I was following these guys I didn’t really need to navigate so I could just enjoy the ride.”

“On most of the days I was getting back to the Bivouac at about 12:30-1pm and with such an early finish it gave us all time to sit in the big blow up pool that they had shipped in, have a can of beer or Coke, lounge around in the sun for a bit, then have a hot shower and go for a wander and a chat around the pit area. Most of us would then start to work on our bikes at about sundown when the temperature was more bearable. After this we’d go get some food and sort out our Roadbook and then get some sleep ready for the next day. A much more relaxing atmosphere than I am used to on the Dakar”.

“I’d then get up at 5am and normally set off for about 6:20am. As rallies go this is a good start time, it’s not to early or to late and gets us in for a good time in the afternoon”.

“I’d then get up at 5am and normally set off for about 6:20am. As rallies go this is a good start time, it’s not to early or to late and gets us in for a good time in the afternoon”.

“Unfortunately there was a lot of crashes this year and this was mainly put down to how loose the sand was and how hot it was. The heat zaps the power of your bike and your own energy and no energy can lead to a lack of concentration and then a crash. Although the paramedics were great they were having a rough time of it and the 2 helicopters seemed to always be out on a pickup. At one point the organiser made a request to all riders to try to ride within their limits as to many people where getting hurt”.

“I was around to see one guy who shot off the end of a dune. The problem with dune riding is that until you get to the top you don’t know what to expect. It could be flat, have a cut away or just drop straight down. Unfortunately for this rider he read it wrong and was in a pretty horrific accident which saw him break both wrists, both ankles and damage his voice box. On top of this there was also another Brit who’s bike actually caught fire. We could see the flames in the distance and as you got closer you could tell there was nothing that could be done. It was early in the stage and as most riders start with at least 28litre of fuel it was a big fire and by the time it died down there was nothing left of his bike. You can only feel for someone when something like that happens, the previous day this riders engine blew and he had borrowed a spare engine from his friend, which just made things worse, and more expensive”.

“One of the most amazing spectacles of this rally was watching a Scottish ex-pat called Shaun Linton. I rode with Shaun a bit and learnt that he’d moved over to Dubai and set up a motorcycle shop called Gecko Motorcycles. For the rally him and his team had built and were supporting 20 bikes and riders. It was amazing to see how well his team worked at getting these bikes fixed and back out for the next day. Shaun wants to one day attempt the Dakar Rallye and I honestly think he’s got what it takes and look forward to seeing him finish”

“The Dakar was in my head throughout this rally but I do have to admit that I enjoyed this one so much that I did think that maybe the Dakar isn’t for me anymore. I’ve done the Dakar 4 times now and finished twice so I’ve shown I can do it. Maybe now I’ll try to go and take part in a few other races like the UAE Challenge in some other parts of the world. But then again, I say that every year so I’m sure the Dakar will tempt me back soon”

Nick finished the rally in 15th place out of the original 80 that started.

“I’m really impressed with my result this year. I think I could have ridden faster but I was there to enjoy myself and am very happy with my performance. I can’t wait to go again in 2008 and hopefully taking a few more Brits with me to show everyone what we can do. Despite the accidents and heat most people really enjoyed this race and I’m sure it’s going to have a great future”.

The 2008 UAE Desert Challenge is due to take place in early November 2008, more information will be posted here when available.