COVID19 Compliant - Morning Newbie Desert Drive - Margham - Dubai - 09 Apr 2021

[Brette]

Trip Report:

We were lucky there was no fog around the Margham area, a few small patches along the way getting to the meeting point but not enough to delay anyone and the convoy was ready to move by 6:15 AM, thanks all for being on time. 

Being a smaller convoy and also having @Srikumar to support allowed for me to explore a bit as well as I have not done to many drives in this area. For the first half of the drive we had a bit of technical dunes and the scattered soft patches but the entire convoy did well. A few stucks and refusals later moved more towards the bigger rolling dunes where everyone did really well. You guys were doing so good that I decided to bump it up a bit to get a feel of how much is too much for you'll, but all of you handled and kept up so well that I was very close to driving at a fewbie level. Really impressed with all of you today.

 

@JeromeFJ you did really well and I could not have asked for anything more from my second lead. You maintained a perfect distance and rerouted precisely when required. Good to also see how in sync you are with your FJ, I never heard or saw you pushing it to more than what was required, you used just the right amount of gas on every instance. 

 

@Chris Wing you too did really well today. I have been on 2 drives with you and on both occasions have been impressed with your driving skill and the way you approach every situation. Well done buddy.

 

@Rjducos what can I say about you, I expected you to have a few issues with your beast over the smaller technical patches but I never heard you throughout the drive. Well done. 

 

@Ammar Naji you did have a few refusals and stucks today in the technical areas. I have driven with you a few times and see you generally handle most of it well but in technicals areas you need to aware of where you stop and also the angle of the car when stopping. You drive the expedition which is massive and heavy so what others in smaller cars can get away with could be a problem for you and you need to be cautious about it. Other than that, you also did well.

 

@Cale Hugill and @luis mantecon the wrangler boys today, at times I wondered if you guys were still on the drive as I did not hear you guys at all which is also a good thing. Showed you were doing well and were able to keep up under the watchful eye of our sweep today @Srikumar. @Srikumar thank you for the support today, always good to have you on the drive.

 

Thanks again guys for a wonderful Friday morning. 

 

[Srikumar]

Thank you @Brette for an excellent NB drive. I really enjoyed being in sweep and helping out with the recoveries. 

Some very good driving by everyone that even when you started to bump the level, they managed it quite well.

Look forward driving with you all very soon

[JeromeFJ]

Many thanks for the drive today @Brette !

I enjoyed a lot the navigation through the dunes, tackling the hard and soft patches ! You have put the right mix of technical challenge and pleasure rolling !

Thanks @Srikumar for the sweep and assistance. It was great to learn from the recovery situations !

[luis mantecon]

Thank you very much for a great morning !! Thanks @Brettefor discovering us a new area and for leading a balanced, safe and fun drive. Thanks a lot to @Srikumartoo for being always there supporting all of us and giving me tips on how to get the best from my manual beast talking on the walkie at the same time 😉 And congrats to all drivers, good job guys !! 👍 see you in the dunes !

[Chris Wing]

Thanks a lot @Bretteand @Srikumar! This area was amazing especially with the hot air balloons in the background! Also it offers all levels driving experiences which I would love to do again soon, while bumping up the level. See you all soon!