Hi, I'm planning to race this event in October. Anyone else want to go? Currently thinking about hiring a bike, unless enough US folks want to go to make shipping feasible. Dates: October 20-26, 2013 http://www.merzougarally.com/ https://www.facebook.com/merzouga.rally?fref=ts Check out last year's ADV thread, too. Well attended last year. Dave
I'm starting to work on logistics for this. If you are interested in coming along, drop me an email. Dave
Hi Dave, Thanks for the links ... now know Merzouga is a small village near Erg Chebbi, and that rallyeman had a KLR fall apart under him at an fim event and now races an electric rally bike ... pretty cool! I have a sister & brother-in-law and nephews and a nice in Marrakesh, which looks to be due west of Merzouga ... so I'll be interested in hearing about your logistics, and of course following along as a fan of yours in your role as racer and long-time ADV Rider guy ... ha. What is the $1400 Euro Raid/Ride entry fee for? Guess you got some practice riding in sand in AZ recently ... looks like it will stand you in good stead for Erg Chebbi ...? Don't drink the water! see you around the campfire, -- SFMCjohn
I've lined up rental bikes and support. RenoMoto and I are racing. Sid is joining us from the UK. Who else? Dave
from official Merzouga Rally pages (not in English so far..): Tout est prêt pour la quatrième édition du Merzouga Rallye qui cette année comprendra plus de 100 équipages motos, quads et SSV. Parmi les équipes officielles qui ont choisi le rally parrainé par Edo Mossi comme un test final pour les motos et les coureurs en préparation du Dakar 2014 on trouve léquipe Honda HRC avec Helder Rodrigues et Sam Sunderland, le team HRC Speedbrain avec Paulo Goncalves (no Botturi??), le Team Yamaha avec Olivier Pain et Frans Verhoeven et team GAS GAS avec Jordi Viladoms, Gerard Farres, Marc Guash et Dani Oliveras. Pour la catégorie SSV douze équipages vont se présenter à la ligne de départ le 20 Octobre, le team Los Amigos défi Xtreme Plus et le Club Espagnol Deportivo Delphi. Parmi les nouveautés de cette année, six étapes pour un total de 1.250 km, un warm up de 120 km pour permettre aux pilotes de se familiariser avec la diversité des terrains en Afrique sub-saharienne, le troisième jour une étape marathon avec un bivouac de tentes dans le désert, et le grand Prix des Dunes. Le Merzouga Rally sera la troisième et dernière étape du championnat Rally Pro Series, le championnat promu par Edo Mossi avec un prix de 7500 pour la catégorie Rallye ainsi que pour la catégorie Rallye Lite. Jordi Viladoms, vainqueur du Rallye de Serres, la seconde manche du Rally Pro Series, prendra le départ avec le numéro 1, suivi par Frans Verhoeven et Henk Knuiman.
entry list available here http://www.merzougarally.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/MERZOUGA-RALLY-2013-ENTRY-LIST2.xlsx NR NAME LAST NAME NAT. BRAND TEAM 1 JORDI VILADOMS ESP GAS GAS GAS GAS 2 FRANS VERHOEVEN NED YAMAHA YAMAHA MOTOR 3 HENK KNUIMAN NED KTM TEAM HENK KNUIMAN 4 PEDRO BIANCHI PRATA PT HUSQVARNA BIANCHI PRATA 5 NICOLAS CARDONA VEN YAMAHA PEDREGA TEAM 6 OLIVIER PAIN FRA YAMAHA YAMAHA MOTOR 7 HELDER RODRIGUES PT HONDA HONDA HRC RALLY 8 PAULO GONCALVES PT HONDA HONDA HRC SPEEDBRAIN 9 SAM SUNDERLAND GB HONDA HONDA HRC RALLY 10 GERARD FARRES ESP GAS GAS GASGAS 11 DANI OLIVERAS ESP GAS GAS GASGAS 12 JOAN PEDRERO ESP BETA BETA MACHETTI 14 MARCO GANDINI ITA KTM AMX 15 FRANCOIS CHARLIAT FRA GAS GAS GAS GAS MAROC 16 ARNAUD DEBRON FRA GAS GAS GAS GAS MAROC 18 THIERRY DIEULEVEUT FRA GAS GAS GAS GAS MAROC 19 MARC GUASCH ESP GAS GAS GAS GAS 20 ANTONIO GIMENO ESP HUSABERG ENDUROPRO 21 CESARE ZACCHETTI ITA KTM AFRICA DREAM 22 ANGELO PEDEMONTE ITA HONDA AFRICA DREAM 23 GUSTAVO QUERALES VEN YAMAHA PEDREGA TEAM 24 ARNOLD BRUCY FRA KTM RANDO RAID MAROC 25 MATTEO RIZZI ITA YAMAHA 26 CHRIS BARWICK UK KTM DESERT ROSE 27 ANDREA FESANI ITA BETA AFRICA DREAM 28 STEFANO PELLONI ITA HONDA 29 NICHOLAS CRAIGIE IE CCM YOUNG AND OLD IRELAND 30 GORDON CLARKE IE TM RALLY YOUNG AND OLD IRELAND 31 DAVID BATALLA ESP GAS GAS 32 MARCOS PEDROLA ESP GAS GAS 33 PATSY QUICK UK KTM DESERT ROSE 34 ROSA ROMERO ESP KTM NANI RACING 35 EMANUELE MUSAZZI ITA KTM AFRICA DREAM 36 FRANCESCO TARRICONE ITA BETA ABC RALLY ACTION TEAM 37 MAX GRASSI ITA YAMAHA 38 RAFAEL ERNESTO ERASO ANGLADE VEN YAMAHA PEDREGA TEAM 39 ALEXANDRE AZINHAIS PT HUSQVARNA BIANCHI PRATA 40 FABRIZIO FASOLINI ITA HUSQVARNA BIANCHI PRATA 41 ALEX BOUSQUETS ESP HUSQVARNA TEAM BUSQUETS 42 FABRIZIO BERRINI ITA KTM 43 RAMON BRUCART ESP YAMAHA TRACK LEVER RACING 44 LUIS CALDERAY ESP PEDREGA TEAM 45 PAUL CARLYLE GB KTM DESERT ROSE 46 DAMIEN UDRY CH HONDA TEAM MONNIER 47 IGNACIO CHIVITE ESP YAMAHA XADO MOTO TEAM 48 PATRICK MARTO FRA 49 TXOMIN ARANA ESP YAMAHA GOR SPORT 50 VICTOR OLIVEIRA PT BIANCHI PRATA 51 LUCIANO DI BATISTA VEN HM TEAM MASSONI SPORT 52 LYNDON POSKITT GB LYNDON POSKITT RACING 53 KURT BURROUGHS GB KTM LYNDON POSKITT RACING 54 COVADONGA FERNANDEZ ESP PEDREGA TEAM 55 RICHARD DORS GB KTM DESERT ROSE/MOLSON 56 KEVIN GURR GB KTM DESERT ROSE 57 OLIVER LLOYD GB Speedbrain OWL RACING 58 EDUARDO MARCOS ECHANIZ ESP PEDREGA TEAM 59 FABIO MAURI ITA YAMAHA 60 ALBERTO MAURI ITA KTM FAST TEAM 61 THOMAS DE BOIS NED KTM TEAM HENK KNUIMAN 62 HUMPHREY SENN VAN BASSEL NED KTM TEAM HENK KNUIMAN 63 PAOLO MICHELOTTI RSM KTM 64 ANDREW NEWLAND GB KTM DESERT ROSE 65 DIEGO ORTEGA GIL ESP YAMAHA DELFI SPORT 66 PHILIP PAGE GB YAMAHA PP + C RACING 67 GIORGIO PAPA ITA HONDA 68 LUCIANO PEGORARO ITA BETA BETA MACHETTI 69 RAFAEL VILLANUEVA ESP KTM DIET FOOD 70 ROBIN POWELL GB KTM DESERT ROSE/MOLSON 71 MIKE SHEPHERD NZ KTM 72 MATTHEW SMITH GB DESERT ROSE/MOLSON 73 ANDREA VALSECCHI ITA HONDA ASD FAST TEAM 74 JONATHAN WILSON GB KTM DESERT ROSE/MOLSON 75 NORBERT DUBOIS FRA KTM 76 ANDREA MANCINI ITA BETA BETA MACHETTI 77 CLAUDIO CORRADINI ITA KTM 78 MARC MOLINEAUX GB KTM 79 ROBERT HUGHES GB HUSQVARNA 80 MARCO TABANELLI ITA KTM AFRICA DREAM 81 ENRIC MARTI FLIX ESP GAS GAS GAS GAS 82 ALESSANDRO BOTTURI ITA SPEEDBRAIN AFRICA DREAM so it will be a sort of no-stop for many riders still busy at Oylibia Rally:eek1 nice to see Chivite (on a "proper" bike this time?), Andrea Mancini (the fastest Rallyman in the Italian Championship... after Botturi this year), and many old and new names (Charliat, Jean Brucy's brother, Patsy, Lyndon, the GasGas Team etc)
And with the Maroc Rally done and dusted... let our f5ocus now fall on the Merzouga Rally... lot's of top riders and teams on this one as well!
Mike Shepherd is entered. The second Kiwi ever to enter and complete the Dakar a few years ago. Someone that's there pat that man on the back for me
At least Sam will have some fellow Brits to chat with in the Bivouac, as long as he he is not on Ola and Ciao
Could be a little more room on this one Is Ben not staying on? - there seems to be no Aussie's on the bikes, so I guess it's Pyndon and Sam for you? I see we have a Kiwi though - which side of the Great Divide are you on that one?
From the Honda web site - Next race The next race for the TEAM HRC will be the Merzouga Rally. Starts next October 21th from Erfoud and finishes October 26th. There are two of our riders entered: Hélder Rodrigues and Sam Sunderland. So it looks like Goncalves is not running and may be savouring his double victory
