Serres Rally 2013, 26-31 August

Serres Rally · Apr 1, 2013

[FONT=&quot]Hi to everyone,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I have been lurking on here for a while, and used to post as Serres Rally but for some reason my last post got lost, Anyway I thought it would be better to introduce myself personally. My name is Dimitris "Doc", I am the organizer of Serres Rally, which will happen again this year at end of August, from the 26th to the 31st in the North of Greece .[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Its my pleasure to join you.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]So I am opening this thread to let you know about this race and to answer any questions,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]on our web site you can find most of the important info, [/FONT][FONT=&quot]www.serresrally.com[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I am very sure that this year will be our best edition, just ask the participants from 2012 Recent Tuareg Rally riders Edward Taylor, Guillaume Martens and Polytimi Kyriakopoulou all raced in 2012 and had only the best to say about the tracks and the organization...[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thanks for your time,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Doc[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]PS - from now on, I prefer to chat with my personal name, also because I am a rider too[/FONT]

sergeuk · Apr 1, 2013

Hi Doc,

Thinking of entering this but on a 690R, I managed to drag my 690 around the Tuareg Rally this year, but before i enter the Serres i would like to know if anyone has completed the Serres on bigger bikes please? PS thats completed the Serres Rally before not just entered and found it too technical for bigger bikes!

Thanks

Dimitris Doc · Apr 1, 2013

sergeuk said: ↑

Hi Doc,

Thinking of entering this but on a 690R, I managed to drag my 690 around the Tuareg Rally this year, but before i enter the Serres i would like to know if anyone has completed the Serres on bigger bikes please? PS thats completed the Serres Rally before not just entered and found it too technical for bigger bikes!

Thanks
Click to expand...

Welcome sergeuk,

The 690 is a perfect bike!
Maybe not as playbike as a 250 - 450 4T, but for sure more confortble after a long day.
At 2011 a Suzuki DR Big 800 finish he race, and 2012 some 640 LC4, a Super Enduro 950, and a lot of 690 (Patsy Quick was also with 690).

So, don't worry about your bike!

Brodovitch · Apr 1, 2013

I have done both 2011 and 2012 editions, it's excellent.

Serge, Martin Rabenlehner also finished the race on a 690 with full evo kit (same one he raced in the Africa race), we were neck to neck on the first two days last year. If I remember though he damaged one of his radiators in a crash one day and dropped down the ranks, despite that he looked pretty damn comfortable on it for most of the race...

I definitely recomend this one, I am finishing up the edit of my 2012 story which will be included in the second volume of Tales from the Bivouac.

640 Armageddon · Apr 1, 2013

Will be definately joining this year. Have heard anything but comments for the race / roadbook / hotels etc... They say that the place is a Rally paradise up there.

I plan to race it on a modified 640A (lighter, without the rally fairings and with a heavily modified tower. I have used both the 640 and the Berg and I have to say that after a day I may be slower on the 640 but I am more relaxed and not so tired as the bike does not jump around as much... More often than not I tend to lay the bike on its side so having to pick up the 640A does not compare with the Berg... I guess its a trade off and one has to decide how he ''approaches'' the race...

D.

Torque Racing · Apr 1, 2013

We will be offering assistance for this Event.. watch this space or contact us for more details

Brodovitch · Apr 1, 2013

640 Armageddon said: ↑

Will be definately joining this year. Have heard anything but comments for the race / roadbook / hotels etc... They say that the place is a Rally paradise up there.

I plan to race it on a modified 640A (lighter, without the rally fairings and with a heavily modified tower. I have used both the 640 and the Berg and I have to say that after a day I may be slower on the 640 but I am more relaxed and not so tired as the bike does not jump around as much... More often than not I tend to lay the bike on its side so having to pick up the 640A does not compare with the Berg... I guess its a trade off and one has to decide how he ''approaches'' the race...

D.
Click to expand...

It's a plan. Although I'd still go for the lighter 450 Berg. Even if it tires you out more at the end of the day, 15 minutes in the pool fixes that real quickly, and you will feel a thousand times faster. I don't remember one Liaison where I wished I had a more comfortable bike than my ancient 520, it was like Special after Special, the connecting parts where too small to even catch your breath. Saying that, I wished I had an extra ten minutes to spare before entering a Special, the times were tight, really kept me on my toes.

The tracks I remember from last year weren't rocky at all, save for one. There was this one amazing Special on the 4th day which was a sandy mountain course of 90kms. Yup, sand and fine powder-like dirt like on a mountain. I haven't seen anything like it before anywhere else, I don't think I touched the front brake once in the whole Special. Pure bliss.

I can't wait to go back

JMo (& piglet) · Apr 2, 2013

Torque Racing said: ↑

We will be offering assistance for this Event.. watch this space or contact us for more details
Click to expand...

Nice. Looks like I'll get to ride the LC4-50 in Greece after all this year - count me in too!

Jx

640 Armageddon · Apr 2, 2013

JMo (& piglet) said: ↑

Nice. Looks like I'll get to ride the LC4-50 in Greece after all this year - count me in too!

Jx
Click to expand...

Goody goody goody ,,,
Looking forward to see your tower setup

sergeuk · Apr 2, 2013

Torque Racing said: ↑

We will be offering assistance for this Event.. watch this space or contact us for more details
Click to expand...

Thats me in too then,

Heres a question for the Greece riders, pre the Serres in August I hope to take the Family ( wife + 2 teenage boys) for a 10 day beach holiday in Greece can you recomend a few resorts within 3 hours drive time of Serres that you could recomend to me please?

Thanks

Brodovitch · Apr 2, 2013

sergeuk said: ↑

Thats me in too then,

Heres a question for the Greece riders, pre the Serres in August I hope to take the Family ( wife + 2 teenage boys) for a 10 day beach holiday in Greece can you recomend a few resorts within 3 hours drive time of Serres that you could recomend to me please?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Serge,

less than 3 hours from Serres, I think about 120 - 150kms to the south lies the coastal area of Halkidiki (the three pronged peninsula just south of Thesaloniki) which is absolutely stunning, have a look over on booking.com and check maps / availability

I would suggest bringing a bigger touring bike as well the routes there are out of this world, though the family might not agree

Dimitris Doc · Apr 3, 2013

sergeuk said: ↑

Thats me in too then,

Heres a question for the Greece riders, pre the Serres in August I hope to take the Family ( wife + 2 teenage boys) for a 10 day beach holiday in Greece can you recomend a few resorts within 3 hours drive time of Serres that you could recomend to me please?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Chalkidiki is less than 2 hours from Serres.
Alternative you can book to Kavala, Asprovalta, and other resorts in the beach of North Greece, just one hour from Serres.
Keep in your mind that at race days, there will be daily trips to the sea for competitors' family members!

Dimitris Doc · Apr 6, 2013

The site will be down for one day!

Sorry for this...:eek1

TheCadman · May 5, 2013

Now that memories of the Hellas Rally are fading, I'm starting to plan the next event. Having originally ignored the Serres - racing in Greece in the summer! - I'm now reconsidering and have a couple of questions for anyone who has taken part in this rally before:

How technical is the riding? While the scenery at the Hellas was stunning, the tracks were generally fairly easy to ride. As I prefer the challenge of enduro- like terrain, will the Serres be any different?

How demanding is the navigation?

Thanks

Dimitris Doc · May 6, 2013

TheCadman said: ↑

Now that memories of the Hellas Rally are fading, I'm starting to plan the next event. Having originally ignored the Serres - racing in Greece in the summer! - I'm now reconsidering and have a couple of questions for anyone who has taken part in this rally before:

How technical is the riding? While the scenery at the Hellas was stunning, the tracks were generally fairly easy to ride. As I prefer the challenge of enduro- like terrain, will the Serres be any different?

How demanding is the navigation?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hello,

For sure the asphalt roads will be less than 10-15% of the total routes, and the liaisons will be small

The special stages tracks are not just Tarmac and gravel roads but there are a lot of enduro, off road and some paths from ISDE 2008 routes.

We have separate routes for bikes and 4X4/quads some days.

Dimitris Doc · May 6, 2013

...about the navigation:

The road book is perfect but because of the demanding off road routes and paths, a good rider in navigation, will earn time on them.
It is not so simple, you can't lost the way, but YES, you HAD TO navigate!
It is in the game!

Brodovitch · May 6, 2013

TheCadman said: ↑

Now that memories of the Hellas Rally are fading, I'm starting to plan the next event. Having originally ignored the Serres - racing in Greece in the summer! - I'm now reconsidering and have a couple of questions for anyone who has taken part in this rally before:

How technical is the riding? While the scenery at the Hellas was stunning, the tracks were generally fairly easy to ride. As I prefer the challenge of enduro- like terrain, will the Serres be any different?

How demanding is the navigation?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Having raced both events twice, my thoughts:

Serres is much more demanding in navigation. Hellas was a follow main road affair most of the time, and the wide, more suitable for cars tracks were sometimes too fast for my own liking (and safety)

- as dimitris says, Serres routes included some more technical riding, on two days the long specials ended with single track (only for bikes) riding. In my opinion you could really lose valuable time in these sections if you were not 100% focused. I didn't particularly like that they were placed at the end of long days where exhaustion was a factor, but it did make you want to pace yourself

- Specials in Hellas were riddled with speed limit zones, and the longest special was 114kms. I counted 10 bloody speed limjt zones in one special one day, which turned Specials into timed sprints for me. Pacing myself and trying to conserve energy was never a part of my race plan in Hellas, it felt more like balls to the wall riding, also because the navigation was simplistic. You need a different tactic for Serres, where one day is a Marathon special of 270kms with one neutralised refuelling of 15 minutes (day 3 I think) and 3 specials totalling 260 kms on day 4. I may be wrong here, but I remember very few speed limit zones in those specials, and riding cross country special test speeds was not a smart tactic. Many faster riders than me would either fuck up their navigation or constantly overshoot turns, sometimes crashing. By pacing myself and conserving the bike, I managed to achieve a fantastic result for my level of riding.

Overall, the Hare and the tortoise fable is a fitting comparison between the two. Not that Serres didn't have fast open sections, but there was more variety and the riding was more enjoyable to riders with a bit of an enduro background. Add trickier navigation, and you get the picture

Regardless, I think it is great that these two events have significant differences, I would gladly race both of them again. Hellas rally is a race where routes are written by car drivers, Serres is written by a motorcycle racer and therein lie the differences.

See you in Serres

Mike_MRS · May 8, 2013

Angelo, would you say that Serres is more "navigation enduro" than rally? I enjoyed the terrain on the Hellas (apart from the very loose ground switchbacks) but I don't fancy "enduro" type specials of 260k's

Brodovitch · May 8, 2013

Mike, I would definitely say it's still a rally route, just a bit more "spiced" up.

I'll try and find an onboard filmed by the sweeper bikes last year (I had posted it in the Rally Moto UK forum, it gives a pretty good idea of the terrain)

found it:

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QnshG76z2l4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Mike_MRS · May 8, 2013

Cheers that's great

I'll put the call in to the boys and let's see if we can get there

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