"Sea of Sands" Rally: 3 days of revolution - Walla! vehicle

2021-04-10T17:10:37.997Z

The "Sea of Sands" rally opened the 2021 season with trumpets, leaving a taste of more vehicle Motorsport Rally "Sea of Sands": 3 days of revolution More than 50 participants jumped to the "Sand Sea" rally held for 3 days and 400 km in the extensive dunes of Shonra and Agur. The car category almost became extinct but the motorcycles and the Mavericks took over the arena, pouring new blood into the starting line Tags real Motorsport Area Rami Gilboa Friday, 09 April 2021, 08:06

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Rally "Sea of Sands": 3 days of revolution

More than 50 participants jumped to the "Sand Sea" rally held for 3 days and 400 km in the extensive dunes of Shonra and Agur. The car category almost became extinct but the motorcycles and the Mavericks took over the arena, pouring new blood into the starting line

Rally-ride "Samson Foxes" closes 2020

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Tens of miles of trails in incessant amps have joined the navigation difficulties (Photo: Tim Nodelman)

Hot sands

In the run-up to Freedom Day and the exit from the Corona, the Katanov family - Dan, Shai and Gidi - concocted a new and exciting rally, with an armament of SUVs that took over the country's largest dunes.

The race began on Thursday with a 20-mile prologue, designed to determine the order of the jump the next day.

On Friday there were three ranking sections with a cumulative length of 220 kilometers and on Saturday, two laps of 65 kilometers each.

It was a long and challenging rally ride, ending with a taste of more.

The rally base was in the 'Desert Ship' khan, a hostel that has already become a regular departure base for the races of recent years.

The place is organized and spacious enough to accommodate all the participants, aid teams and the many escorts - for a great motor celebration.

The Negev region challenged the navigators of the road book, and the GPS people (Photo: Rami Gilboa)

The rally-ride scene has recently undergone significant changes;

After years of stagnation and lameness, the desert awakens, and the Rally-Ride League enters a kind of stability and constant growth.

This stability is very important because only the continued existence of a racing league will ensure the joining of new competitors, and the removal of the old race cars from the dark warehouses.

In every race we meet new competitors, among them young bikers who challenge the old ones;

For example, 15-year-old Raz Idan, who was for him the first race with a road book.

Raz won in the 'Motorcycles up to 250 cc' category in all six sections of the rankings. This is an impressive achievement that indicates great professionalism and a right-hand man who opens a throttle all the time. The world belongs to the young and brave.

The yellow submarine of Pointer-TOYO is an eternal element in the field races and this time too, Raz and Hillel were the fastest (Photo: Rami Gilboa)

On the other side are Raz Heiman and Hillel Segal, veterans and senior participants in the competition.

Their 'yellow submarine' was the fastest throughout the three days of the rally, in the road book navigators category.

The Yellows' victory is due to the highest level of professionalism and error-free navigation.

On a swampy dune track like the Sands of the Sands, their race car is significantly inferior to the maverick of the Mavericks that galloped after them, extremely dedicated and modern race cars.

The mavericks are not only the fastest and cheapest to operate, they are also forgiving of surprises on the track (Photo: Eli Revivo)

The world belongs to the X3

It is no coincidence that the Maverick Side by Side have taken over the racing arenas, in Israel and around the world.

These are tools that come out of showrooms with breathtaking space capabilities, almost ready to race.

The Mavericks are undergoing many changes and upgrades - some improving performance (suspension improvements, raising engine power), others designed to meet the stringent racing regulations - replacing the FIA standard rollover cage, increasing fuel tanks and improving reliability, installing navigation systems and other improvements.

This time, too, I chose the Mitsubishi Triton to serve as a press vehicle, in the vast dunes (Photo: Rami Gilboa)

One of the special dusters in Israel (and perhaps also in the world) belongs to Dror Cohen, a racing driver confined to a wheelchair.

The Maverick allows the sparrow to disengage from the wheelchair, and free itself from its movement limitations.

In Dror's navigator's seat sits Avi Primat, known as "Avi XT", after his passion for the mythical Yamaha XT500.

My father's strength is not necessarily in the world of navigation, in which he makes his beginning;

My father is a mechanic by grace, a kind of creative McGiver looking for technological challenges.

Dror Cohen spent the night preparing and marking the road book, ahead of the next day (Photo: Rami Gilboa)

Because of his physical limitations, Dror must drive with his hands only, without pedals.

The existing mechanisms for disabled vehicles are not precise and ergonomic enough to control a race car that travels in the field for long hours.

To this end, my father developed a steering wheel that is not a wheel, but a kind of horizontal 8 shape.

Two handles act as a brake and throttle, and the big task was to calibrate the increased handle movement, to allow intuitive control of the race car.

For this purpose, Avi assembled an ancient Honda 'pilot' steering wheel, pumps and amplifiers of ordinary vehicles, and hundreds of hours of driving and the dose of amplification.

Boaz Sassi hovers over the dunes, in the GPS biker category (Photo: Tim Nodelman)

It does not hurt that Dror Cohen is an F16 pilot in the past, so he has perfect coordination and sharp and quick thinking.

According to Avi and Dror, the unique mechanism is faster and more accurate than using regular pedals;

In their opinion, it is a mechanism that can upgrade even a driver who has no physical limitations.

The team is currently focusing on completing the system for Dror's race car, but there is no doubt that in the future they will try to market the product in the big world.

Successfully.

Erez Abramov's buggy grinds the dunes, leading the T1 GPS category (Photo: Naftali Tsang)

Results

With 13 separate categories for motorcycles, scooters, cars, GPS navigators and road book navigators, division into different engine volumes and 4X4 or 2X4 propulsion, it is impossible to name the 'rally winner'.

Those interested are welcome to visit Raz Hyman's "Traffic Time Measurements" website, but here is the bulk of the news.

The rally participants can be divided into two different groups - riders and drivers navigating through a road book, this is the most professional and considered technique, suitable for those who also want to compete abroad. The second method is GPS navigation, it is a much easier and faster technique; it is suitable for those who do not want to compete With traditional navigation and interested in giving in. There is room for everyone.

There is no end to the sandy sea (Photo: Naftali Tsang)

Book navigation: The

fastest biker was our 15-year-old Raz Idan (sponsored by I moto and Sherco Israel), who completed the three days in a cumulative time of 5:30:55 hours.

The fastest with Mabrik were Massoud and Amran Taha, 5:42:07.

The most agile on four wheels were veteran desert foxes Raz Heiman and Hillel Segal (sponsored by Pointer and TOYO tires), who finished the track in 5:42:07 hours.

For a long time we have not heard the growling of Edo Cohen's V8, Baruch Shuvach (Photo: Naftali Tsang)

On Saturday we had a guest visit from Ido Cohen who arrived with his formidable tropical track, 650 horsepower?

you are welcome!

Ido was absent from the racetracks for three years, but today he knocked out a performance;

The first lap was slow, a kind of rust removal.

He made the second lap in an excellent time, the fastest between the cars - there is no doubt that Ido and the navigator Nimrod 'Kid' are a winning team, even when they are rusty and a bit dusty.

The Pillar of Fire did not solve the navigation problems (Photo: Eli Revivo)

GPS Navigation: The

fastest biker in GPS navigation was Dan Mia (sponsored by KTM Israel, Klim Israel, Champ factory) who devoured the track in a cumulative time of 4:27:42.

It's easy to say 'this is not wisdom with GPS' but given the difficulties in the route and the quality of the terrain, it's an amazing pace.

The fastest GPS Maverick was Eliran Yifrach's, with an impressive time of 4:40:48.

The fastest buggy was by Erez Abramov and Ibrahim Issa, 5:23:41.

The activity in the parking lot began long before the jump, and continued into the late hours of the night (Photo: Eli Revivo)

Sandbirds

After long weeks of preparations and three days of racing, the competitors dispersed to their homes, the Katanov family marked a successful V, and the desert winds erased the tire marks.

The Sands Sea Rally continued to establish the existence of an orderly racing league, which would cause new competitors to pick up the gauntlet, and veterans to pull the race cars out of the darkness of the parking lots.

Currently planning two more races for 2021, in early July and December.

Marshals and checkpoints of the organizers were scattered around the track (Photo: Alex Kornichuk)

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It's time to thank everyone who helped;

First and foremost to competitors and organizers, but also to Colmobil who lent us a Mitsubishi Triton pickup truck that took me to the vast dunes;

I will not hide from you that after the end of the rally I wandered for a few more hours in the dunes, which the Triton swallowed as if they were tight paths.

The Katanov family would like to thank the main sponsors of the rally: KTM Israel, Motoline - the Motor Sports Center, the Dan Service Center, the Sports Driving Association (Cars and Karting) in Israel.