Lorenzo Candelpergher

Dear @Piotr Kolodziej, He said he was OK a few mins after the end of the drive, but commented this drive was enough for his off-road experience for the next 5 years., as he is a highway guy.. In light of that I am not sure he really recovered though.. 😂 😂 😂

Dear @Chaitanya D, I was honestly very impressed by your cool and professional lead yesterday. It may have been your first independent lead but it didn't look like so and I think everyone in the convoy appreciated your great experience and the sense full control that you were constantly projecting. The start from the Camel Track was fast and at the end of the convoy I was driving in a thick cloud of white dust, hardly seing the car in front of me. The Lisaili technical dunes were crossed quickly and without any troubles. Actually it happened so fast that by the time we were out I still had the feeling we hadn't started yet. Approaching the long dunes behind was really beautiful and we were blessed with a fantastic view of the sunrise with multiple hot-air baloons flying above us. The subsequent portion of the drive was fast paced and action packed, with very nice and long ridge riding / criss crossing opportunities. As I was driving at the back and in the opposite direction along a close parallel line I could witness @Chaitanya D's car diving nose down in to a totally hidden and nasty bump at the end of a long and flat ridge that didn't give any hint of such an insidious spot. The impact was unavoidable as was the damage to the radiator, I guess, but @Chaitanya D was very responsive in instructing the following cars to steer away avoiding the point. It took a while for the leakage to become evident so we kept on driving and having great fun, until we had to surrender to the impossibility to safely proceed further. The exit took quite some time and luckily the damaged X-Terra could make it. Everyone drove very well, from what I could see from the back, kudos to all. And great congratulations to @Chaitanya D for his first independent lead. I will be happy, one day, to have half if your coolness in the occasion of my first drive as a lead.

Dear @Jeepie, Convoy 2 had a very nice and enojoyable drive on Thursday. Deflating before dawn with a temperature of 16°C was really a great way to start the day. We made it to Pink Rock rather quickly despite a couple of crested cars. Unfortunately we couldn't climb the rock itself due to challenging visibility as the top part would require driving with the sun straight in front, however driving around it from the north/east side offered an equally spectacular view of the sunrise. As we moved along, we enjoyed a variety of mid sized dunes, challenging enough for my passenger's stomach on his first off-road experience 😖😖. We the reached the mighty Big Red area and made a few attempts climbing up the tallest dunes, but eventually gave up as the sand was a bit too challenging for a fewbie drive, even though we had plenty of time to play up and down on a large and straigh slope on the east side. Everyone did well, with fairly limited stucks and refusals. I could again watch @Piotr Kolodziej in front of me and could notice a great progress since the last newbie drive where I had followed him. @Dagdag Sofiane was able to self recover from at least 3 nasty stucks after some serious fat-burning shoveling. No need to be anxious to get out of trouble: we are in no hurry, and getting stuck is part of the learning process, you should enjoy recoveries as well. @Ashy was sometimes too respectful of and gentle with his throttle pedal.. The rule "Keep enough momentum" prevails on the rule "Don't use too much gas" when you want to climb up serious slopes.. That's when your can really floor it and enjoy the feeling! @Chaitanya D at the back as sweep was a an absolute certainty. In fact he was back and front, left and right, more like a flying sweep which made my job as center forward much easier. Thanks @Jeepie for an impeccable and lead along a very nice route. See you soon in the sand again.

Hi @sertac, Can I be considered as sweep or center forward for the drive? I'll be happy to support.

With my super-heavy Nissan Patrol Y62 I incurred in many popouts, especially in my early days in the Desert. It was only after a recent transition from 275/60R20 tyres on 20" rims to 275/70R18 tyres on 18" rims, along with a better understanding about how to handle 400hp under the hood, that I eventually achieved a consistent trail of popout-free drives. In the process, however, I got curious and deepened the subject of beadlocks. Coming from an engineering background, I see conventional external beadlock rims as an effective solution but with a few significant drawbacks: leaving aside aesthetics, which is a mere matter of personal taste, external beadlock rims require a lot of mainenance (i.e. frequent bolts retensioning), are prone to significant wheel balancing issues (especially on single-sided beadlock rims) as bolts tend to untighten due to vibrations, and generally imply more weight on the wheels, which means more angular momentum, i.e. slower acceleration/deceleration. For these reasons, I also have doubts about the full legality of beadlock rims, when used on road, as they constitute a significant deviation from the manufacturer's stock wheels (in some countries beadlock rims are outlawed or not ruled at all, making them not usable on-road). I'd like to hear some opinions by those who regularly use beadlocks: how frequent/serious are the above problems? What are the main pros and cons? I also looked into internal beadlocks, i.e. Internal tube chambers pressurized at 30 to 50 psi to push the tyre beads against the rim from the inside. This sounds like a much more mechanically efficient solution which, while coming with the advantage of acting on both sides of each wheel, doesn't imply additional weight and requires minimal maintenance (only regular pressure checking), even though I have read that sometimes, if not properly mounted, internal beadlocks could give endless headaches for wheel balancing. Anyone using internal beadlocks? What are your takeaways? Pros and cons?

Dear @Emmanuel, thanks for removing me from the attendees of the drive. When I notified my forfeit I didn't think about withdrawing my RSPV as there was no waiting list and I didn't know it could be done post-drive as well. From the comments and especially the video by @Yousef Alimadadi it looks like a missed a really nice drive..😭. I have almost always driven in the mornings but I must say that the landscape just before the sunset seems equally awesome.

Dear @Emmanuel, unfortunately I have to confirm I am not going to make it. I'm so disappointed.. Enjoy the drive and see you next time!

Dear @Rahimdad, I did not mention it but I was definitely referring to sand crawling as a self - recovery technique.

Congratulations @Chaitanya D. So far I only had the chance to follow your lead in Sweihan but I definitely look forward to have another opportunity soon.

Dear @Gaurav, dear @Rahimdad, I have recently witnessed a very experienced driver performing a proper sand crawling with a Nissan Patrol Y62 (just like mine), which doesn't come equipped with any crawl control programme, unlike Toyotas. The results were quite impressive and I got curious. I understand sand crawling is done in 4LO and it requires a swift combined action of gentle alternated throttling / breaking along with left/right steering. Is it right? Can you enlighten me how to do it?

Dear @Emmanuel, Unfortunately it seems that my attendance this afternoon may be at risk due to an unforseen medical emergency. Nothing serious, but a friend needs help with his kids while he's being hospitalised for kidney stones. If there is anyone on a waitlist for the drive, then I'll drop out in his/her favor. If not, then I'll be able to eventually confirm my attendance only around 1 or 2pm, even though I see it quite unlikely that I may be able to join. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Dear @Brette, dear @Ashy, today's drive in Al Qudra was as complicated, with several stucks and refusals and even a mechanical failure, as it was enjoyable due the very mild temperatures. We did spend quite some time waiting for recoveries (some of which non trivial ones) to be successfully concluded, but it was nevertheless a very nice drive, especially in the 2nd half when we reached a more technical area along with higher dunes. @Janarthan was all over the place helping everyone with great enthousiasm and energy. While others may have waited a bit, he had a very busy morning 😂😂. Well done! The whole convoy must be congratulated as everyone was well disciplined, patiently waiting long minutes during multiple recoveries and showing a good spirit of cooperation, great passion and teamwork when heavy shoveling was required and some reasoning was needed to identify the best recovery strategy . As @Luca Palanca Falsini noticed, @Abu Muhammad's gigantic Toyota Sequoia made my Nissan Patrol look like a toy car in comparison 😂😂.. loosing the power steering on such a beast was definitely a challenge: kudos to @Abu Muhammad therefore, who managed very well on his way out after the mechanical failure. From the back of the convoy I could watch the last few cars, who did all very well, despite the soft and sometimes churned up sand. @Franco Swart, @Rajeevan Vickneswaran, @Luca Palanca Falsiniand @Hennie Schoeman all drove very smoothly with very few difficulties, making good learning of the experiences by those in the first half of the convoy. Drive details below: See you soon in the sand!

Hi @Brette, Yes, if possible I'll be happy to join. Thanks @Luca Palanca Falsini to confirm onnmy behalf. L

@Brette, @Tbone, If you need a sweep or center forward, pls consider me. I'll be happy to support.

Hi @Chaitanya D, if you need a sweep or center forward, I'd be happy to be considered in addition to @Foxtrot Oscar.

Dear @Ale Vallecchi, This drive was really an ejoyable one. The whole convoy drove fantastically well and we indeed had good chances to play with the drone. I had never seen Pink Rock, Big Red, Badayer and Area 53 with so many tracks.. Really too many, but the landscape remains worth the effort of driving on such an uneven ground. Personally I didn't mind and as I'm still learning I think heavily tracked terrain with churned up sand is not a bad training after all. The sunrise at Pink Rock was a spectacular moment. Unfortunately my drone had some issues due to a firmware update and kept on losing GPS signal in the first minutes (a know problem, but always a hassle). On the 1st attempt while your were climbing to the top, I even had to perform an emergency landing as the drone wouldn't gain altitude properly. On the 2nd flight I got rid of the GPS and flew the drone manually, which does the job well even if not with the same stability. I was able to shoot the whole convoy (@Ale Vallecchi, @Rinelle Sanaani, @Yousef Alimadadi, @Mehmet Volga and @Jun Zamora) climbing to the Rock and descending it on the east side with the very first dawn light and then to shoot some nice footage of the first sunrays.. and I literally mean "rays", you'll see.. here's a GIF taste: The 2nd shooting was more focused on the driving itself and it was fun to repeatedly shoot the whole convoy performing a few rounds of ridge riding, criss crossing, slide sloping up and down across multiple bowls. Again I was able to capture a few nice shots, even if in general I wish I did a few more fly-by maeuvers, ie flying very close to the cars (next time..). Honestly I haven't had the time to edit the footage and extract a couple of minutes of highlights, I'll do it in the next days. Here's just an adrenalinic GIF glimpse: What I realized is that I need more planning and less improvising. What is key, for future shots, is to repeat again and again the same actions a few times so I can shoot from multiple angles and in different ways. Our 2nd shooting was OK from this point of view, but the loop was quite long, so I had limited chances to repeat the shots (I actually had a 3rd battery but I didn't want ro exaggerate..). Great fun and great learning. Edited video available in the next days.

Dear @Wrangeld, Every drive in the desert is an opportunity for learning something new. Today's lesson for me was about how not to forget my radio again: 1. Keep on using that check list you prepared long ago as a newbie not to forget anything of the many things needed for a desert drive. 2. Never change which plug you connect your radio charger to.. 😂 😂. The few neurons on early morning duty may not be the same ones of the evening before and may not know about the change. 3. Both lessons above apply especially when you wake up at 5am and skip your morning caffeine shot. After sharing this FUNDAMENTAL learning, I must say I enjoyed today's ride very much, also because it reminded me of my very first Absolute Newbie Carnity drive back in March at Pink Rock. Arriving late due to my forgotten radio made me miss the magic of watching the sunrise, which is one of the morning desert driving rituals I like the most. I was unforgivably late, having driven an extra 100km to get back home and retrieve my radio, but luckily @Wrangeld entertained everyone in my absence performing a pretend stuck in order to let me reach the convoy and make a pretend spectacular entrance to tug him out.. 😂😂 The drive continued very smoothly, with very few stucks and refusals, which were however great learning opportunities. Only the experience of getting crested a few times will eventually let every driver get the feeling of how much power is needed to get past the dune and overcome that moment of hesitation when one lifts the foot a bit too early. The same applies to self-recoveries: it is only by seeing with one's own eyes how powerful shoveling can be in getting out of nasty stucks that one will learn how not to be too easily relying on a friend's tug. I think @Ahab Shamaa , whom I could watch driving very well his FJ in front of me, had further interesting learning today: if you loose visual sight of the car in front of you, you may end up following the wrong tracks and lose the convoy. If you stay too close, on the opposite, especially when crossing a dune when again you don't have visual sight, you may find yourself definitely way too close and risk an impact. Always look at the flags! When we finally made it to Pink Rock we found ourselves in a Sheikh Zayed Road traffic scenario, with convoys coming, going and stopping everywhere and infinite tracks, bumpy and soft sand but we had anyway a good time at the playground. Towing @Andrei's jeep out to the main road was a must and a personal pleasure: at Carnity I've learned helping your drive companions is really a fundamental part of the sport as much as the driving itself may be. See you soon!

Ciao @Ale Vallecchi, Badayer is as well within GCAA Green Zone, therefore no constraints. Maybe leaving at 5.45 is a good idea, if everyone in the convoy agrees. Regarding the actions, it really depends on the location we pick. If in Pink Rock, we will leverage a bit more on the landscape as it calls for it naturally, if in Badayer (which aeems to be the plan) we would probably focus more on the driving, ie on pyramid climbing, side sloping, criss-crossing, ridge riding. Once we pick an inspiring location, we will figure out how to play around it. If we can make it to the top, then landscape comes to play in a more compelling way and we can do some nice stuff, like "reveal" shots (camera close to cars first, then climbing vertically and/or tilting up or zooming back or doing a parallax to capture the magnificence of the landscape). Best would be a place where we can repeat the same loop a few times, so we can shoot it from multiple angles (we dont need a huge loop, just a few hundred meters so we can do forwars, backward, bird's eye, reveal, parallax, orbit, tracking or stuff like that without having to move much, thus quick and easy.

Ciao @Ale Vallecchi, Pink Rock and Al Badayer are all within GCAA Green Zone, so no flight restrictions for hobbyist drones. What about a 30' extra session for the Drone Challenge if everyone agrees to stretch the drive a bit?

Dear @Wrangeld This was meant to be a relaxed newbie drive where, having borrowed my wife's LR4 while my Nissan Patrol Y62 was getting fixed, I just had to roam around for occasional recoveries and enjoy the early morning sun. It turned out quite a "physical" drive, with a lot of shoveling, a pop-out to fix + a spare wheel replacement, several tugs and.. the "perfect stuck". It had been a while since I had last put myself in such a nasty place as this morning, however a superb team effort made the recovery possible. For sure to keep on driving would have been preferable, however I think this complex recovery was quite an interesting one to watch during a newbie drive. Thanks to everyone for their great help and patience. I still have to come to terms with the bizarre behavior of my wife's LR4 (first time I was taking her on the sand) pneumatic suspensions, that can be lifted for off-road use but would lower down automatically if driven above 40 km/h. Whenever I got in trouble today it was because I found myself with unexpected reduced clearance, ie on my belly rather than on my wheels. Whatever my wife may say, I prefer my fat and powerful white whale. Everyone did very well today, kudos! I could closely watch @Piotr Kolodziej who was right in front of me: you did great. If you get used to maintain a bit more momentum, you will avoid future refusals as the ones you experienced today. Thanks to @Foxtrot Oscar for the double tug today: your presence is always a warranty of plenty of help for everyone. Track details below:

Dear @Emmanuel, unfortunately my car is undergoing some repairs (front bumper replacing and... yesss, cutting) and due to delays with the insurance approval they won't be finished before friday, so I won't be able to join. I therefore (and sadly so) canceled my RSVP. Enjoy the ride!

First time for me in Sweihan and certainly a memorable one. I loved the breathtaking landscape, the awesomely huge dunes and the fantastic bowls, as big and deep as I had never seen. Thanks @Srikumar for your smooth lead with lots of criss-crossing and ridge riding (I had never used so intensely my front skid plate as on these sharp ridges..). Congratulations @Chaitanya D for your lead, too bad events made it shorter than it was meant to be. I was impressed by @Nivin who was at his 1st intermediate drive: despite the two pop-outs (welcome to the club, you'll need several more to get even close to my personal record), having watched you from behind, I think you drove very well. Unfortunately we missed the chance to take the planned drone shots, but I'm sure there will be plenty of other occasions. I stole some footage while the team was helping @Foxtrot Oscar: I'll share it in the next days. Everyone in the convoy did very well., but the man of the day was certainly @Asif Hussain, who was all over the place helping everyone.

Dear @Wrangeld, Congratulations for a truly deserved acknowledgement of the great passion you put in every drive. Looking forward to the next drive toghether.

Great news @Anish S, Congratulations and see you at the next intermediate drive! 😎

Dear @Srikumar, I checked and there are no no-fly zones (red zones) in Sweihan area, nevertheless there are some restricted zones (orange zones) for hobbyist drone flights which have quite a strange shape and are therefore a bit tricky, so whether we can freely fly drones it really depends on the specific route. If you share with me the kmz file of the route (or at least the UTM or WGS84 coordinates of the key way points) I can superimpose it on the updated no fly zones by the UAE GCAA. As far as the time is concerned, I would say that for a 1st trial it would be more practical to fly around 8am, with full morning light. The sun by then will be still quite low, so we will have anyway a lot of shadows and nice lighting conditions.