Tata, Morocco
– The racers got a taste of what the weather is like back home as they awoke to
freezing temperatures at 1,700
meters above sea level in the heart of the Atlas Mountains. At 7am, teams received their clues for
this 580 kilometer
(360 miles)
leg of the Great African Run. After the three day super stage, only 3 points
separated the Slovakian leaders from Team Sysman from Hungary. As one can imagine, these
two leading teams were more than anxious to get back on the trail.
As the teams distanced themselves from the cool temperatures of the Atlas
Mountains, they were then faced with dirt roads running through the smaller Djebel Sarhro
Mountains that were
probably the worst they've ever seen. Laszlo Werner – the driver of the IFA
truck – couldn't believe his eyes: "I know a lot of experienced truck
drivers, but this probably would've scared them all." In some hairpin
corners, he had to back up three or four times so that the big truck could even
complete the turn. "Every centimeter was crucial. A single mistake and
we could've fallen 500
meters," he
further commented in a cold sweat.
The IFA before the mountains
Most of the trucks decided to take on the challenge of the
mountains (instead of going around Djebel Sarhro, which is a longer but safer
trip), and so did The Travel Channel's K-Team with their Polski Fiat 126. It
took them nearly 4 hours to cover the 80 kilometers (50 miles) leading to the
top of this formidable hill.
"Because of the
weight, the car simply stopped on our way up. So, we then decided to put
everything – luggage, salami, my teammate – in Hans' truck. Then the car was
flying," Kevin Foster told us. It looks like the K-Team will owe Hans
a few beers at the end of this race.
The Family Frost ice-cream truck, the 1984 Mercedes station wagon and car #75,
a Ford Transporter carrying an operating table worth HUF 4 million (EUR 16,000),
were also among the ones who chose the more scenic, yet more challenging route.
The surgical equipment is part of the charity effort, and it will be given to a
clinic in Bamako.
Djebel Sarhro
The VW beetle of the organizer, Andras Szabo, painted with
colors of the flag of Mali,
made it through Djebel Sarhro as well. "The
scariest part of the climb was near the top at a snowy, icy section. That's
when my cell phone started to ring. They were letting me know that one of the
pipes burst in our apartment back home. That was really scary," Andras
commented regarding the wonderful timing of the news about the exploding pipe.
The second part of the stage, found between Zagora and Foum Zgid, features hard
and soft sand. This proved to be more difficult than many might have expected,
as teams really struggled to make it through the massive sand trap. Only 30
cars arrived to the finish line by 10 pm, and the rest of the pack is still on its
way. It looks like many of them are sure to spend the night in the desert.
Perhaps the biggest surprise yesterday was from Team Velorex. The healthy,
African mountain air seems to have revitalized them as they were among the
first teams to arrive to the pit stop. The narrow serpentines were made for the
small three-wheeled car. There are stages when the Velorex is slower, but this was
not certainly not one of them. The odd spectacle of this Czech team continues
to amaze onlookers.
Today's stage is 480 kilometers (300 miles) and will take
racers from Tata to Tatooine, which is one of the filming locations for George
Lucas' Star Wars.
Standings:
1. Raid Adventure Team (#21), Slovakia, 113 points
2. Team Sysman (#2), Hungary, 110 points
3. DLC Racing (#1), Hungary, 106 points
A message from Team Velorex:
We are on our way to Tata, we just crossed the river, and now everything is
wet. We crossed the Atlas Mountains, and it's
beautiful. We tried the Velo in the sand today, and it passed with flying
colors. Today, we ran into a cop. We were clocked at 70 km/h within the city
limits, but he was cool and let us go. Not like the ones back home. A liter of
gas is HUF 280, and a liter of water is HUF 220.
The
following are excerpts from the blog of "Team Bus #7 goes to Bamako":
On a daily basis, we spend 22-23 hours on the bus. Many of
you asked what we do. The TV and the X-box looks pretty cool, but we can't use
them (please remember that the generator might blow up if we press our luck).
Our laptops do work, but, due to the bad roads, watching movies quickly wears
your eyes down. It's even harder to type. You can, of course, look around, but
even the most beautiful view can become boring. You can eat, but you have to
watch out not to cut your own hand while preparing food. Or you can get drunk,
but to have a hangover in the middle of the Sahara
on a 20 year old Ikarus bus is not the best feeling in the world.
… We got some great news in the morning from T (you know the
magenta colored telecom company) that our roaming bill so far is HUF 312.000
(EUR 1.250). I really don't know how this could've happened. I uploaded two
posts and Aravind tells me that, although he surfed the net a lot, he didn't
download anything, not even porn. If anybody could pull some strings at T,
please do so, otherwise we won't have mobile Internet and you won’t be reading
this any longer.
Day 6, Reaching the Sahara:
(Images: Team Budapest Flotta, Team Sportime, Team Origo)
Tata, Morocco
– The racers got a taste of what the weather is like back home as they awoke to
freezing temperatures at 1,700
meters above sea level in the heart of the Atlas Mountains. At 7am, teams received their clues for
this 580 kilometer
(360 miles)
leg of the Great African Run. After the three day super stage, only 3 points
separated the Slovakian leaders from Team Sysman from Hungary. As one can imagine, these
two leading teams were more than anxious to get back on the trail.
