JeromeFJ

Congratulations @Gertjan ! Always a pleasure to have you in the drives

A big thank you @Hisham Masaad for the drive this morning, and for giving me the opportunity to lead the second half. The first section, 2nd Sept to Faya was a perfect warm up to enjoy the fresh morning temperature, and progress quietly from one dune to the other, with the view of the mountains in the background. In the second section, Faya dune itself, you took us through a beautiful area with round dunes and virgin sands before reaching to the top of this massive dune. Everyone could reach the summit, pushing the rev of their cars. The view from the top is always amazing, especially watching the remaining cars of the convoy at the bottom. Another big climb from the side, allowed us to realise all the factors that can impact a climb, power of the car, but also trajectory, tire pressure, gear selection… @Hisham Masaad gave me the honour to lead the third section, the most scenic one. I love this portion, between Faya and Fossil Rock (even if the Rock is now fenced). Finding a way through the ridges and the bowls, with the view of the mountains over the valley to our right, and the dunes and a few rock formations to our left was a real pleasure. Still all drivers were focused on their steering, and we had only one occasion to dig the shovels in the sand. The last portion, Fossil Rock to Mahafiz, had a lot of vegetation and bushes. I was trying to stay on the upper part of the ridges to avoid the bushes, but it was not always possible, and we had to cross a few uncomfortable areas. Still we found some high long dunes, good opportunity for side sloping. After a few runs, and another portion of bushes, we reached an old track that took us to the Mahafiz trees, where joined the tarmac road. Thank you all for joining @Vishal Nair, congratulation, very well done for your 1st Fewbie, @RiaanJH very well driven, thank you for the pics, @Chris Wing thanks for the excellent support from the CF, @Jona deserving FJ team membership, @Sudhanva Sonawane nice drive, @Zixuan Huang - Charlie, and @Sunil Mathew it was a walk in the park for you, but thanks for joining, and @marks thank you for your eye on the convoy from the sweep position. @Hisham Masaad, thanks again for your lead and guidance.

Welcome to the support team @Davie Chase!

Congratulations @Gilbert Khalil ! well done!

Thank you @Islam Soliman, for sharing the drive with me today and supporting my first shared lead. It was an amazing experience to have the dunes wide open in front of me, and to draw a line for the convoy ! And a big thank you to all the Leads, Marshall’s, and Support who guided me up to this point. The area was offering various configurations, technical portions, high dunes, wide open portions with some bushes, a few trees for a break in the shade, some camels and gazelles. Very few existing tracks, no other convoy in sight, perfect conditions for exploring. After a few stucks at the beginning, (including a twisted Silverado !) and a pop out rapidly sorted, the convoy was performing really well even if some of the crests were challenging for the long trucks. We had a few deep bowls, nice ridges to ride, a few steep descends, and remote sand valleys to discover. On the way back, finding a way against the tall slip faces was challenging but all drivers were focused, avoiding to get stuck in the soft sand, and we reached the sabkha and the tarmac road without issue. Great support from @Rob S from the middle of the convoy helping in the recoveries with very clear guidance, and perfect sweep from @Imteeaz, who had the additional challenge to pass in the tracks of 3 heavy trucks. @Islam Soliman @RiaanJH @DP1011 @Pieter Potgieter @Patrick van der Loo @Rob S @Awais Zuberi @Nathan @Mark D @Imteeaz, thank you a great team spirit, and for joining that drive that was very special for me. See you soon for the next ones ! @Rob S your battery was kind enough to wait for the exit to die, perfect example of the British politeness! I hope it was sorted out without too much troubles.

Very well done @Karthik Raptor nice progression since your first drives !

Congratulations @salah2u !!

well done @KKIRAN !

Congratulations @Pacific, welcome to the support team !

Thank you for the drive yesterday @Islam Soliman We did not reach to the fast pace expectations, but a lot of learning was there for everyone in the convoy. Pop-outs : can happen to anyone, but check carefully the tire pressure in accordance to your type of tire/ rim and your driving skills, avoid excessive side effort on the tire (fish tailing for the back, sharp turns with an angle for the front), and avoid steps at excessive speed. Criss-crossing : reach the top of the ridge without excessive speed, with the right momentum, take the time to stabilize the car on the ridge itself, slowly shift the the balance of the car to the other side, get the car stable again, with the weight on the other side, then go down following the track. - If you don't manage to shift the weight of the car to the other side, don't force it (don't fight gravity), exit on the incoming side, make a loop, and re-attempt. Ridge riding : reach the top of the ridge, once on the ridge, stabilize the car, and keep moving maintaining the momentum - not necessarily the speed. The ridge itself is often bumpy, and requires a combination of very precise steering, and the minimum amount of gas to maintain the momentum. I've seen yesterday several cars at excessive speed with a wheel in the air passing a bump on the ridge itself, it can be a very dangerous situation. Distance between cars : learn to gauge the distance according to the terrain to avoid stop and go. If the car in from of you is slower, just accept it and adapt your speed. Don't stop in from of each higher dune or difficulty. At FB+ level keeping the fluidity of the convoy is a team work and depends on each and every driver. Look ahead : FB+ level is where we can have beautiful sensations at higher speed, passing from one ridge to the other, or swinging through a more narrow space between dunes. Of course your priority is the control of the space between your car and the car in front, but look ahead, watch the line of the Lead, anticipate and prepare your mind to tackle what is coming a few cars ahead. @Rob S @ASAD. @Morshedi @Simon Dawood @Trekado @Gregory @Ahmad Shaker @Gilbert Khalil@Joseph Raju @Joji varghese @darren thompson, thank you for patience and team work during recoveries, and keeping a positive spirit throughout the drive !

Congratulations Goutam @Looper ! Welcome to the team

Many thanks @Wrangeldfor this fluid drive on Saturday morning. It was indeed an excellent practice in this challenging technical dunes environment. As you mentioned, all drivers did extremely well, following your lines without apprehension, definitely a key for a continuous pace ! Thank you @Gerrit Bus for the footage, I can see a grey FJ having fun . Thanks @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil for joining us also. It was a pleasure to drive with all the team !

Congratulations @Reggie Landicho ! well done !

Beautiful design and initiative @munkybizness! Perfect memory for this great experience 👏🙏

Great drive last Saturday @Kailas! As usual, straight to the point, with maximum fun and enjoyment ! We went from one area to the other at continuous pace. The small technical patch was a nice warm-up, requiring full concentration straight from the start, and the portion behind the pylon tracks was offering endless possibilities ! We had a few opportunities to use rope and shovels, including a recovery with a steep angle which was carefully handled using 2 cars as anchor points front and rear to enable to driver for a safe self recovery. Great team there also, @Ahmad Shaker and @Trekado, nice seeing you after Liwa, @Aisha S, @Rob S, @Tom B, it was a pleasure to meet you for the first time, @Gok Krish, @Fabien Monleau, @marks, always nice to drive with you guys.

Great drive on Saturday lead by @Shaaz Sha !! @Ranjan Das @Naveen Raj@Daniel Yang @Chris Wing @Anoop Nair @Gok Krish @Humayun Ghias @Amir Amiri @marks It was a pleasure to drive with you. great team, filled with energy, and yes, definitely, the level is there 💪! For me it was the first time we managed to reach 2nd Dec Cafeteria from Shuwaib. So excellent performance from the team, and all credits to @Shaaz Sha for leading us at a continuous pace through these uninterrupted climbs and ridges. Reaching Mahafiz from there would be great, keep it on the schedule !

Well done @Tom B !!

Well done @Simon Dawood !

Congratulations @Davie Chase !

Congratulations @Abdul Basit Khan ! Well deserved