French Duo To Participate In UAE Desert Challenge Rally

A team of Frenchmen comprising rallying enthusiasts Rodolphe Lavoise and Axel Berrier will be heading for Dubai to participate in the UAE Desert Challenge, the final Rally in the FIM/FIA World Championship scheduled to take place in the UAE from 4th to 10th November 2006.

The 16th edition of the Middle East's double world championship motor sport event continues to raise the standards for international cross-country rallying by attracting a world-class line-up of drivers and riders.

The UAE leg is the final round of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup for cars and trucks and the FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship for bikes. Top teams and riders from around the world come to fight for last minute championship points, while others to simply test their equipment before the gruelling Paris-Dakar starts in January.

“The year 2006 will mark our second consecutive participation at the UAE Desert Challenge,” remarked rally driver Lavoise. “We have a passion for the desert and our combined experience for dune driving and all terrain vehicles exceeds 18 years,” he said.

He noted that the duo have been tackling some of the most demanding and spectacular desert terrain in the Middle East and acclimatising themselves to the environment and aim to make a mark on the rallying circuit.

“We have been practicing regularly for six hours twice a week to get accustomed to the testing terrain and raising our performance to handle the toughest conditions and a variety of tasks to prepare ourselves ahead of the cross country rally in November,” Lavoise observed.

Largely covering the desert dunes, the course winds its way across the UAE for five days from the towering dunes of the remote Rub Al Khali (the famed empty quarter) to the flat out wadi plains (dry river bed) that wind their way through the scenic Hajjar mountains.

“We're very happy to be participating at the UAE Desert Challenge that has proved to be a big test for man and machine, and participating means a lot to us,” said co-pilot Berrier.

Each event attracts hundreds of competitors from around the world in bike, car and truck classes and many of the competitors bring along an extensive retinue of mechanics, team managers, friends and families.

-Ends-

For more information, please contact:
BIZ COM - For PRoactive Communications
P.O. Box 48889; Dubai – UAE
Tel: +971 4 332-0888
Fax: +971 4 332-0999
Email: info@bizcom.ae