22 Februari 2011

Dear rally-friends,

Today we were forced to make a painful decision. Nobody could have predicted that Libya, a normally so peaceful country, would turn into a battlefield. All of us hoped in vain that the situation would quickly calm down but unfortunately it’s escalating every day. Since safety is priority number one Hadi and I have decided yesterday to move the rally to a later date; until the situation has normalized and all is quiet again. We want to have a rally and a lot of fun in a risk-free environment. And morally it would be totally unacceptable to race in the dunes of the south whilst people are dying in the north.

Thursday 24th, the day after tomorrow, our vehicles were supposed to leave to Africa. All trucks are loaded and unfortunately all goods were ordered and paid for. Money of items such as Libyan entry visa and several other things we’ve lost, but plane tickets and ferry tickets we can recuperate when a new date is decided upon. CTN Ferries as well as Afriqiyah Airways have confirmed last night they are willing to change the tickets, free of charge. Also Cellhire, the company we use to rent satellite phones, has agreed to cancel the order.

Before making a decision on the next step we’ve been brainstorming about a possible “Plan B” in Tunisia or Morocco, but after a few phone calls with about 20 teams, the situation was clear: all of you want to go to Libya and so do we. We’ve worked hard and long to create one of the most beautiful rally’s in the world and this in a breathtaking place, so beautiful you cannot imagine. An alternative that’s less good is apparently not an option for 90% of you.

If the situation allows it, the new date of Libya Rally will be 8 to 15 May 2011, otherwise later this year.

And finally this: I fully realize you’ve all been looking forward to Libya Rally and that staying at home now sucks. Also for us, being confronted with a situation of “force majeur” on the eve of our departure for Africa, is horrible. During many months you put all your time, your energy and especially your passion in this fantastic project and to suddenly find yourself with your back against the wall, stuck! The consequence: sleepless nights, anger, frustration, etc. I guess you can imagine. Therefore I want to thank you for your understanding and for the many words of comfort and empathy we received by phone and e-mail from many of you today and yesterday.

Hopefully, and especially for all our Libyan friends, the situation calms down quickly so we can soon leave for the most beautiful place in the Sahara … Libya! Inch Allah!

Sportive regards
Gert & Hadi

Order now your Iridium Satellite Phone for LR2011

It is obligatory for every participating vehicle (bike, quad, buggy, car, assistance truck) in Libya Rally 2011 to be equipped with an Iridium Satellite phone, regardless of the category (race/raid/dune driving school) you’re participating in. Reason for this is that on the race track and in most of the camps, there’s no gsm network coverage. Just like every year, the organization of the rally is facilitating the rental of these phones by working with Cellhire, a specialized company based in the UK. You can order a satellite phone for the entire duration of the rally and this for 99,5€ only. One of the advantages is that we’ll ship all the phones to South-Libya (Sebha) and that we’ll be the ones returning them to Cellhire at the end of the rally. Please fill in the order form before 10th February. The amount of 600€ will be taken off your Visa card, but you’ll get it back at the end of the rally, of course lowered with the rental fee (99,5€) and your call costs. For more information on this rental contract or on technical details, please contact Chris Power at Cellhire UK: +44 (0) 1904 616765. Another advantage of renting your satellite phone with Cellhire is that everyone in the rally will have the same phone, including a spare battery and chargers and that all phones will be preprogrammed with the sat phone numbers of your fellow competitors and of course those of the organisation team.

Libya Rally wishes you ...

click here to see what exactly we're wishing you.

Update 09-12-2010

With only 25 free places available the Libya Rally, 6th – 13th March 2011, has nearly reached its maximum of 200 participants. The road books are ready and in January a team will check and validate them for the last time. After Belgium in 2008, 2009 and 2010 it looks like the 2011-edition will be dominated by Holland. Half of the racers that will battle in March for the title of best dune pilot of the Sahara, have the Dutch nationality. Others come from France, England, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Romania, Libya and Luxembourg.

Also for the 2011-edition the level of the rally has risen again and more famous drivers and better vehicles register for Libya Rally. So far we have for instance 4 Desert Warriors (Rally-Raid-UK) participating as well a wide variety of buggies and prototypes (Predator, Rage and PGO buggy, Mercedes AMG and Toyota RAV4 prototypes, etc.).

Libya Rally in a rental vehicle.

If you still want to participate but you do not have a vehicle yourself, an option is to rent one from the following partners:

Quad & SSV: Moto’s Dave (Belgium) offer brand new quads (CF Moto X6i 4x4 ATV), rally prepared with tripmaster, gps and roadbook roller for a rental price of 1500€ for the whole duration of the rally. Another option is a 2-seater buggy (CF Moto Terracross 625i SSV) for a rental price of 2300€ (or 1150€ per person), also fully rally-prepared. For an extra 300€ you’ll get a personal mechanic who does daily maintenance and repairs if necessary. Contact info: info@motosdave.be of 0032/(0)475/68.01.77

Motorbikes: RBC or Rally Bike Center (Holland) offers fully-prepared Yamaha WR450 rally bikes starting from 1400€. For 1150€ extra they offer full-service, including transport of the motorbike from Europe to Libya and back, including your personal luggage. More info on their website www.rallybikerent.com

4X4 rally cars: No standard 4X4’s but genuine ex-Dakar rally cars (Mitsubishi L200 Dakar, Toyota RAV4 prototypes, etc.). More info on www.4x4centrumermelo.nl

In memoriam - Brigitte Tedesco

Liebe Freunde,

Freitag, der 17. September war ein schwarzer Tag für die Rallyewelt. Brigitte Tedesco, meine rechte Hand und beste Freundin starb in meinen Armen nach einem tragischen Sturz von meinem Auto. Zusammen mit mir war Brigitte die treibende Kraft für die Libya Rally, Touareg Trial und unsere anderen Projekte in der Sahara & Schwarzafrika. Sie war eine Göttin, ein Kind der Wüste. Wörter können diesen Verlust nicht beschreiben. Sie lebte ihr Leben mit Begeisterung, Leidenschaft und Energie und gab anderen das Gefühl lebendig zu sein. Sie motivierte. Sie faszinierte. Sie war eine endlose Quelle der Inspiration für mich und für jeden, der das Privileg hatte ihren Weg zu kreuzen. Ihr Motto war: „Lebe den Tag als wäre es der letzte, aber mache Projekte als wärest du hier für die Ewigkeit. Jetzt hat sie ihren Platz in der Ewigkeit. Wir werden sie nie vergessen.

Bon voyage, Brigitte.

Wir vermissen dich so sehr…

Gert

Am 26. September wäre Brigitte 60 Jahre und bald zum ersten Mal Großmutter geworden. Sie hinterlässt einen Sohn und eine Tochter (Remi & Katia) sowie ihre Eltern und 3 Schwestern.

Die, die einen letzten Abschied sagen möchten, oder die Familie unterstützen möchten sind willkommen an der Zeremonie teilzunehmen, die am Freitag nachmittag stattfinden wird. Friday 24th September at 14.00h in the crematorium of Uccle (Rue du Silence 57, Uccle).

Auf dieser Webseite werden wir ein Kondolenzbuch erstellen für diejenigen die Beileidsmitteilungen, spezielle Erinnerungen oder ihren Respekt zollen möchten. Dieses Buch wird dann Ihrer Familie übergeben.

Correction - New date for Libya Rally 2011

Libya Rally 2011 will take place from 6th March to 13th March 2011. Put it already in your agendas.

NEW: Newsletter of 27th August 2010

Click here to watch it

Libya Rally 2011: Präsentation der Rally in Holland und Belgien

2010 wurden "in der Not" die beiden Libyen Rallys "Libya Rally Raid" (Deutschland) und "Libya Rally" (Belgien) zusammengelegt. Während es um die deutsche Rally ruhig geworden ist und auch Veranstalter Wolfgang Pasetti nicht mehr dabei ist, geben die Belgier um Veranstalter Gert Duson jetzt richtig Gas.

Im September will Duson die Rally zuerst in Holland und Belgien vorstellen, bei Interesse ist auch eine Präsentation in Deutschland geplant. Speziell für die deutschen Interessenten will man zudem in diesem Jahr einen deutschsprachigen Ansprechpartner vorstellen.

Wer es nicht erwarten kann: Am 1. September gegen 19:30 Uhr ist der Termin in Holland (Chrysler Jeep Kien, Bedrijvenpark 'De Beemd', Markweg 2, in 6883 JM Velp) und am 2. September gegen 20:00 Uhr in Belgien (Espace 53/Autoworld, Parc du Cinquantenaire 11, 1000 Brussels). Jeder ist herzlich willkommen, Veranstalter Duson würde sich aber über eine kurze Anmeldung per Email freuen (gert@touareg-trail.be)

The Libya Rally photo website finally online

It took a while but finally it's online, the pay site on which participants and fans of Libya Rally 2010 can order their pictures. All photo's are categorised by race number, making the research for your own pictures very easy. But also the prices of the photos are, just like the registration fee of the rally, much lower than those of competing events. You only pay 1 to maximum 2 euro per photo. First create an account, buy some credits (min. 50€) and start selecting your favorite pictures. All photos are available now on www.maniacsmedia.nl

New top-instructor for the Dune Driving School

Rashad Faraj started his carreer as a rally driver with top 3 finishes
in the UAE Championships and is now full time and successfull desert rally trainer (training a.o. Ardavichus Artur and Ivanov Andrey, into being placed 1st and 2nd in the T2 category cross country world championships 2008.
Rashad has prepared a long list of professional drivers,
and their vehicles for various Desert Challenges including the Dakar in South America. His ability to read the sands and his love for what he does, have led to an addictive enthusiasm that when adopted by others; leads to a completive spirit that Rashad nurtures into a winning drive.

Clients will learn from this desert fox how to control a vehicle in extreme situations and how to conquer the elements by understanding the harshness of the soft sands, the gravity defeating momentum needed to climb, and the extreme control of low end torque to maintain superiority over the elements, how to survive and compete to win a Desert Challenge.

Permanent internet access in the bivouac

Cap88.info, a company specialised in satellite internet access, will during the Libya Rally 2010 operate a "Hot-Spot Internet Café" in all of our bivouacs. The off-road cybercafé will travel with the rally and will guarantee internet access via satellite, enabling participants (with their own laptop) to e-mail or surf the web every evening and enabling the organisation to update its website with daily results, reports and photo & video material. Prices for internet acces (per Mb) will be posted soon.

Libya Rally 2010 – nearly fully booked

19/12/2009: Anyone who wants to ensure a place in the rally is recommended not to wait any longer and to register quickly. No less than 172 people have signed up already as pilots, co-pilots or assistance teams.

Teams from 13 different countries will enter the arena of the Libyan dunes between the 9th and 16th March. Countries represented include: Belgium, Libya, Holland, France, Morocco, Spain, Germany, Italy, Romania, Lithuania, the UK, Algeria and even Canada.

About 70% of participants currently registered have opted for the Race category and the remaining 30% are spread over the other three categories (adventure raid, regularity and dune driving school)

The largest group of vehicles so far are the cars: out of 112 registered vehicles we have 40 cars, 6 buggies, 35 motorbikes, 27 quads and 4 assistance trucks.

Also in “regularity”, a recent addition to the categories offered in the Libya Rally and ran entirely by ex-Dakar director Patrick Zaniroli, we have welcomed our first participants. Teams from France and Holland have decided to take part in this special discipline.

Grégoire de Mevius will start in the Libya Rally

19/12/2009: The famous Belgian rally pilot Grégoire de Mevius, who terminated his sporting career as a rally pilot in 2005, has decided, by participating in the Libya Rally, to taste again the beauty and the adventure that African rallies offer. The man who was twice World Champion in the N-group, Belgian rally champion in 1995 and one of the best pilots in the Dakar for 9 years, will participate in the Libya Rally in the “adventure” category, driving a Manx Buggy.
More excellent news is that Stephane Henrard (Buggy VW TDI), best Belgian racer since Jacky Ickx with an overall 6th (2003) and 7th (1999) place in the Dakar, has put the Libya Rally on his agenda as the first event after the Dakar 2010 for him and his team.

Libya Rally welcomes more rally celebrities: international road book specialist Alain Lopes

At the end of September race director Maurice Maurey and his team leave for Libya for the first reconnaissance trip of the LR2010 and to write the road books. To help with this job he gets the assistance of Alain Lopes. As a road book specialist Lopes has written the road books of the Dakar rally 8 times and also 8 times those of the Pharaoh’s Rally, together with Jacky Ickx.

For more than 20 years Alain Lopes (1948) was a professional rally pilot and co-pilot of rally legends such as Schlesser, Colsoul, Duez and -coincidence or not- Patrick Zaniroli. An impressive 16 times he participated in the Dakar rally: 8 times as co-pilot and 8 times as road book writer, which he did also for more than 50 other rallies.

In the Libya Rally organisation Alain’s main responsibilities are writing the road books for the regularity race and assisting Maurice Maurey in the writing of the general road book for the race category.

With the superb combination of Zaniroli-Lopes on board, the Libya Rally can be sure of a seriously experienced team with decades of know-how; something any so-called competition can only dream of.

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Dakar racer Frans Verhoeven will lead the Dune Driving School for motorbikes

The Dutch professional motor biker Frans Verhoeven will lead the new Dune Driving School for motorbikes during the next edition of Libya Rally. With 2 day-victories and an overall 8th position in the last Dakar rally in South-America, Frans can easily be called one of the best off-road bikers in the world. The reason why we asked him for this job lays also in another fact. During the year and when he’s not driving rallies, Frans Verhoeven is working full time as an instructor for off-road biking in Holland, Spain and Romania and this in his own school: the FV Off Road Academy. The plan is that in March 2010 the bikers in the Discovery category will be thought the art of rally driving, both in the field of navigation with road book and GPS, as well as in the field of technical driving skills in sand and dunes. Important: those who are interested in this package, better register quickly: Because in order to guarantee an optimal training, we’ll limit this group to 10 people maximum. More info will soon be posted on www.libyarally.com. Also worth checking: www.fransverhoeven.com/2009