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Just received the most prestigious - Desert Champions Trophy. Let's see who will have the honor to lift it on 19 Nov 2021.

Thanks @Islam Soliman for the perfect drive today. It was fun, exciting and perfectly executed by all the members. No pop-outs No breakdowns. Also happy to see Iftar Bowl and Super Bowl was empty when we arrived. Well done @JeromeFJ and @Russ as SL and Sweep. Happy to see everyone on sand today and looking forward for next drive. Here some actions captured in my camera. Its not edited just shared to see everyone. Have a great week.

@Islam Soliman, this drive just made my week ! It was fun, exciting, challenging, rewarding also. You took us through this difficult area with determination and enthusiasm, leading the way through these bowls, ridges, and technical portions. As usual, you pushed the group to its maximum level, keeping it enjoyable for everyone. And the group responded very well. Thank you all for the ride !

What an energetic day @Islam Soliman. We almost made it to Badayer. Hope you enjoyed the area as much as we did 🙏🙏 Amazing job by the support team specially rescuing me from that pocket where me and @Humayun Ghiaswere very cauciously trying to maneuver a nose bleeder dive with our big cars but that pocket gave me a hug leaving me unable to go back or forth. @Ranjan Das came to the rescue with his powerful winch. He pulled me a meter or two to the front, and then I had to power my way in reverse and full left to exit that pocket. it was a neat recovery thanks to @Russ and @Ranjan Das Awesome job by @JeromeFJ as a 2nd lead and thank you for that little fun quest of chasing 4g signal at the end 🤣🤣 it gave the drive a purpose 😅 A great recovery btw saving both Islam's car and the tree 🌲🌲 @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil @Chinthaka Ruwan @Danish Mohammad @Humayun Ghias @Sunil Mathew Today's outcome really speaks for how GREAT drivers you all are. Chinthaka told me today that we all always drove together from the beginning until we are all here in IM level and its true, I can almost remember each and every Newbie stuck we'v had together 😂😂 Keep it up 🤙🤙

You guys have summed up the drive quite well! Thank you @Islam Solimanfor yet another very exciting drive! Great second lead by @JeromeFJand sweep by @Russ It's so true @Rawadalmost all of us started around the same time, I really like how all of us have come so far. I enjoyed the drive and today was a big reminder to get my bash plates installed. It seems I cannot delay that any longer. I've really started seeing a massive difference in the cars performance with the new high profile tires, there's so much that I can do now.thank you @Chinthaka Ruwanfor sharing the videos and @Ranjan Daswith his aed 500 a tug winch 🤣

Thank you @Islam Soliman, for the great drive, @JeromeFJ for the brilliant 2L and @Russ for the support !!! With the pre-drive brief itself, Islam had set the tone for the drive, and it felt more like a warning - "it will be demanding for you as well as your cars..!!! " and with the days first refusal announced by me, i thought this was going to be a bad day , but while playing with the 4H/4L selector, i learnt that i was driving in 2WD till that first refusal, so that was my car reminding me to get prepped... Couldnt do the full height of iftar bowl and super bowl as its not great to keep hearing your bump stops maxing out , due to all the cross tracks, and i decided not to torture the car further Couple of places where short and steep climbs were required, bogged me down and at one instance had me slide down into a soft sand bowl, requiring some corrections and choosing the shortest exit line, guided by @Islam Soliman and @Russ Another refusal , had me take loops, reverse for longer approach etc, but once i struggled and crossed over, i realized that i was in D and not manual , which obviously resulted in upshifts to 2nd gear at the least prefered moments...so that was another cue from my car , reminding me to drive in tiptronic Twas my 3rd IM drive, was a wonderful learning experience, getting to know the limits of driver and car, and returning home with lots of points to improve. @Danish Mohammad @Chinthaka Ruwan @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil @Ranjan Das @Humayun Ghias @Rawad , good to drive with all of you, see you next time!!

Thank you once again @Islam Soliman for a fantastic drive, such a good route and pace to follow! Great 2nd lead by @JeromeFJ and perfect teamwork throughout to support the very few incidents that occurred. @Danish Mohammad @Chinthaka Ruwan @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil @Sunil Mathew @Ranjan Das @Humayun Ghias @Rawad great driving, and good to spend the morning with you all! See you soon 🌵 Ps - Pics in the gallery 📷

For me today was a discovery. I had never driven in that area before. @Islam Soliman When you first warned us of the challenge, I couldn't really expect what was coming. The tight high dunes looked impressive and wild at first. But the more you made us climb it the more confident I felt. As you said, it was gonna be demanding on the driver qnd on his car. But with focus, guidance and discipline I believe our convoy pulled off a very nice performance. A few refusals here and there - but probably expected in this terrain - and a very nicely mapped out route led us through iconic desert spots all the way to our exit in Badayer. Looking forward for the next one. @JeromeFJ you were were a great attribute for the success of this drive. Hope you sorted out all your bills 😅 @Russ always there when needed, great support mate ! As mentioned by @Rawad we kind of grew up together in this passion, and the mutual respect makes our drives very soothing. Every Sunday when I choose my drive, I look at the list of joiners with a smile knowing I'll have a blast driving with you guys @Danish Mohammad @Chinthaka Ruwan @Sunil Mathew @Ranjan Das @Humayun Ghias PS : @Rawad thanks for the connector

@Shaaz Sha really enjoyed the drive. It seems I'm a regular at your drives We had a very nice spirit all along. A challenging route but very determined crew. Well done everyone ! @sertac glad to benefit from your valuable experience. @Matt.T great support mate. @Pacific thanks for your advice. @Warren Flay @S Jacob @Charbel @Gilbert Khalil @Tareck@Werno very nice to see you and drive with you guys. It was a very lovely Friday morning

@Brette hope your GC is back in good health - was it the oxygen sensor? @Hisham Masaad so pleased to be able to join and support on your first lead and pity it had to be cut short, but as the season is just starting, am sure will be able to join another one in the not so distant future! The sands in Bidayer were looking majestic yesterday...till next time! 😀

Liked the idea of cleanup👍

Good morning fellow adventurers, Today we meet beyond the tracks close to the sand. A short drive will see us in the rolling dunes of Bab al Shams where we you can test your off-roading skills to the max. There will be no high climbs, but there will be lots of opportunities to practice how to get the best out of your car in the sand. We have a hefty wait list , so please please do let me know if any of you can't make it. My proposed convoy is as follows" (subject to any last minute changes) We will use Radio 2 Meet @ 1400hrs Radio Channel 2 (two) Frequency 446.031 Driver Car Rank Position @Foxtrot Oscar Angela Black Xterra Marshal Lead @salah2u Y62 Fewbie 2nd Lead @Erik Ean Subaru Newbie 3rd @Bruno Finel LWB Pajero Newbie 4th @Shantanu Joshi LWB Pajero Newbie 5th @Mark Shepherd Wrangler Newbie 6th @bassel el rafei LC Fewbie CF @Michel Van Woudenberg FJ Newbie 8th @Harkaran Birdi LC Newbie 9th @Imteeaz Goolamhossen Super Safari Newbie 10th @KAMALIO Rubicon Fewbie 11th @Mohamed Shawky Ram Newbie 12th @Manish Kashyap Raptor Newbie 13th @Alex Raptor Raptor Advisor Sweep YALLA!

Thanks @Wrangeld for organising, thanks @Shaaz Sha for leading, thanks @sertacfor 2nd leading, thanks @Alain Canivet-Abikhalilfor CF'ing and thanks @Matt.Tfor sweeping my first drive at Fewbie Plus. I really enjoyed myself and the terrain gave me ample opportunity to experiment with my 'certainly not legal in Sharjah' exhaust... I am amazed at how beaten down and filthy this area of desert has become and it saddens me that people still dump their trash with utter disregard, it is only a matter of time until the authorities start clamping down on EVERYBODY as punishment for these filthy few. If the club does want to run a cleanup drive, I am certainly in. Anyway, rant over, it was a good mix of technical dune driving and some challengingly rutty and well used side slopes. I look forward to going 'home' to Sweihan...

Hi off road enthusiasts. Hope every one is back to ur base safe. Thank you guys for showing up on time. All of us were at the meeting point at around 6.45 , after the briefing and a radio check started to set out, after @Matt.T got us all lined up for the drive.We were all cruising smooth and had plenty of side slopes and nice bowls to play. Despite the traffic and cross tracks we all managed it well to make it enjoyable. You people were all amazing and did extremely well. Being a strong convoy, We had very few refusals and stuck and we made it to the faya area with ease. Thanks to @Wrangeld for organizing this event and @sertacfor making it possible for me. @sertac, thank you for guidances and advices and for your help in recoveries and refusals. @Warren Flay, you did a magnificent job in your first fewbie plus drive. Your Pajero SWB could make it through without much troubles. well done. @S Jacobhad some refusals and a couple o stuck, which is an inevitable part of this sport.You did keep a positive attitude and kept up the spirit to make faya climb possible. well done. @Charbeldid a wonderful job with your X. I don't think you had any issues and hardly heard you on the radio. keep it up bro. @Gilbert KhalilThe only FJ in the convoy and was an easy peasy for you. Did great al the bowls. keep it up buddy. @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil, did a wonderful job as CF buddy. Thank you soo much for your updates from the center and for all your help in recoveries and tugs. great work man. @Tareckwith his ultimate off roader.. the Y62 did amazing.. You did really good to make it through some slopes and pockets where we had a very limited room for a big car to maneuver. Good job. @Pacific and @Werno..guys i believe you had a good day on the dunes.. you guys were excellent at the back and were a treat for the eyes. did great guys. @Matt.T, Did a great job at the sweep buddy. Thank you for all the detailed updates on convoy from behind and did a great job in recoveries. Thanks you guys and see you soon on the sands. Some images in the gallery.

Now comes with seven seaters and sophisticated tech

Thank you Islam @Islam Soliman for another wonderful and exciting driving. Engrossing and challenging but yet thoroughly enjoyable. Your lead and the area are a lethal combination and supremely addictive. thank you once again. Kudos to Jerome @JeromeFJ and Russ @Russ for the great second lead and sweep execution respectively. @Danish Mohammad, @Chinthaka Ruwan, @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil, @Sunil Mathew, @Humayun Ghias and @Rawad - an absolute pleasure meeting and driving with you gentlemen, thanks for the company. Wish you all a great week ahead and hope to see you soon. P.S. Some more snaps in the gallery.

Happy birthday Anish !!

I love driving with this AD team! @John Vanderbleek @Karthikeyan Govindarajan @Josh T. @ShereenMK @Hasan Wahlan. No way not having fun in a drive with you guys. Thank you again for welcoming me in AD! Although the terrain was not challenging enough for these very sound drivers, we found some dunes to satisfy our weekly ridge riding and criscrossing needs anyway. Kept a good pace, made 60 km in 3 hours, no rope, only a bit shoveling to workout. It was nice to meet with "English bowl" before our exit. I will think about "downgrading" issue we discussed for the ones who were not good enough in self-recoveries and those who were lazy to talk on the radio while sweeping 😁 See you all on the next

Didn't see diff lock button !

@Shaaz Shait was really nice drive ,pretty nice mix of initial bout of technical and then long dunes with amazing convoy, idrive was so smooth and hassle free almost silent on radio....enjoyed a lot. Sorry need to exit early. Shaaz you took convoy like pro....kudos to @sertac. Have great evening.

Thank you @Naim Aoun , hope to see you soon in sand. Hope @Brette car will be fixed soon. Unfortunately, could not make it today, hopefully next time and same area. The area was looking nice despite many tracks. @TT_Dubai thanks for sweeping, although a short one, but you were mastering it.

It is a shame that our drive was cut short due to technical issues, still it was enough for us to appreciate the leadership of @Hisham Masaad.. Can't wait to ride with you more my friend. Thanks Brett for the ride, I hope that there is nothing major with your car.

Hi, was on absolute newbie drive this week and both I and another Prado driver faced traction control activating even though disabled by the button on the dash. Any advice for us how to fully disable from other Prado owners? Both of ours see 2015 models.

Many happy returns of your birthday @Anish S Have a blast with best birthday ever with good health and life.

Happy birthday @Anish S

You have to keep pressing the “traction control” button for a few seconds - it will then completely disable all.

Dear Anish Happy birthday and many happy returns 🎉wishing you best health and joyful life many years ahead Mohamed

thanks @Shaaz Sha and the support team for this lovely drive. was great to meet some new and old faces. see you in the next one

Thanks a lot Richard @Wrangeld for the drive yesterday. It was a beautiful discovery of this Al Fayah area that has a lot to offer. The drive was very educational and all of us have learned something from that day. Thank you for taking the time to explain the environment and the the conditions of the recoveries. The team performed very well, with willingness to learn for the absolute newbies and careful listening and practising for the no so newbies. It was a pleasure to be out in the sand with all of you.

Drive report Thanks for joining this drive Sudhanva Sonawane @Sudhanva Sonawane Harshad Ashraf @Harshad Ashraf frederic demolder @frederic demolder Vishal Nair @Vishal Nair Shams Bin Majeed @Shams Bin Majeed Marcin Wronowski @Marcin Wronowski Goh KP @Goh KP munkybizness @munkybizness Rizwanm2 @Rizwanm2 Immense thanks to Rizwan @Rizwanm2and Mayank @munkybiznessfor supporting this drive. Having you was a reassurance that all was well in your watchful eyes. As you all drove really well , most of the issues were sorted with simple shovel and gear changes. Pajero guys need to sort your transmission heating lights, which come up especially when you push your car and in this Area 53 , you end up doing that due to the challenging terrain. And to add a skid plate or cover at the back so that the rear bumper doesn’t scoop a lot of sand which will invariably come off. More Info in the link below ( for transmission heating in Pajeros) Some more information on skid plates for pajero in links below Driver of the day was @Shams Bin Majeed accepting to do 2nd lead in the nick of time and driving really well. Great to see how you recovered from a side slope with simple shovel and manual “blip blip” crawl. @Vishal Nair used his 4L and diff locks to get out of situations , easily done. Hope you get your rear bumper issues fixed . @Marcin Wronowski did well except for a smallish dune cross, probably due to lack of momentum or the weight considering the passengers inside your car ( perfectly ok). Why I tell this is even a single extra kilo in your car matters as you progress in your drive levels, and you have to adjust your maneuvering/momentum accordingly. @Sudhanva Sonawane did well in his montero, hope you get your flag next time around. It is a mandatory requirement. @frederic demolder welcome back after a hiatus, drove really well considering the soft terrain and churned sands. It is all the driver matter behind the wheel and your experience did the trick for you. @Goh KP did well in his SWB pajero. You have a great car and with more drives and experience you will definitely become a better driver on sand. We learn with each drive @Harshad Ashraf was slightly shy of gas in earlier sections, but as the drive progressed you did well considering you were at the back. You all did really well in this difficult terrain, considering the soft sand and super churned tracks. Very nice to see your energetic smiles even when you have some refusals and stucks. Some more pictures uploaded in the gallery See you all some time soon.

I am still hopeful. Will wait till 12 for further changes. Thanks.

Hi All, Can you please suggest any other portals etc where FJs could be available besides Dubizzle and Carswitch? I’ve been glued to Dubizzle but nothing genuine has been available for the longest time. Ofcourse there are several available in the Ras Al Khor garages but there are high chances of odometer tampering on those.

Thanks @Alex Raptor @takeshi sobue @Belal Aldaour @Imteeaz Goolamhossen @Ferl Brown@Felix Obst @Joseph Sebastian@Manoj Soman @Shahid Mehmood for making it to the drive today and being a great team through out the morning. It’s was great for me to return to Faqaa after long time and it’s one of me favorite off-road places in Dubai. The beautiful sunrise and the balloons filling up the sky on the way to the meeting point were a great start of the day, weather was amazing with cool breeze all the time until we existed and we enjoyed the Oryx group and the Gazelles on the way too.. what more can I ask for. Gliding along the long range dunes spread across the whole area, we almost touched all what came through our way and you guys did great managing your tails on slow speeds. straight crossing from very short baby to high dunes at the end was something that I also believe you almost mastered after doing them over and over and learning from the mistakes.. bravo 👏 👏 thanks to all of you and looking forward for driving with you soon.. specially thanks to @Alex Raptor for the outstanding support and @Ferl Brown for the flawless 2nd lead and @Felix Obst for sweeping the convoy. as stated in the debrief pls ensure you have your cars checked thoroughly specially gear and transfer case as we had many issues today due to this in multiple cars. Also having an appropriate setup for your flag to hold it up for the whole drive is mandatory. @Manoj Soman and @Shahid Mehmood pls observe the drive announcements every Sunday 7:00pm and avoid waiting till after RSVP closes on Thu 3:00pm. @takeshi sobue sorry man for sending you back as having radio for every driver is a must and also it would haven’t been safe to let you drive with your baby in the back seat without adult support which can cause distraction leading to safety concerns for you and other fellow drivers. Finally, @qaiser ijaz please consider others points of views on the matter. Working as a team doesn’t mean waiting for late comers specially when it’s 20mins and everyone have been already deflated and set to go and briefing was halfway. Fairness must be for everyone and it’s not fair for others to wait! If the convoy waited for you then we should also wait for someone who comes 25mins or 30mins late! To be fair to everyone we have rules and all these rules are clearly mentioned and stressed over and over in the drive announcement and in the drive brief that is issued on the night before the drive. I have been late before and I know how frustrating it’s to see the convoy leaving without me, but it only becomes fair when the same rules are applied to everyone.

@sertacand @Shaaz Sha was a great drive today thanks. Plenty of variation to keep us on our toes and practice the skills. Cheers