2012 Tuareg Rally, Photo Highlights

It took a lot longer than we expected to process the more than 900 photos we took at the Tuareg Rally, not to mention several hours of video that still needs editing. It hasn’t helped that we’ve been busy planning some new projects, but more on that in due time. Two weeks ago, we also spent the weekend in Salives, France at an offroad meeting organized by Bernard Debucquoi. We have some pictures and video of the Scania to post from that event as well.

First, here finally is a selection of our best photos from the 2012 Tuareg Rally.

From the finish line on Day 2,

The light was getting dim when we took these photos, so the colors are rather unnatural. Here’s Raoul coming out of the final stretch of dunes toward the Finish,

A nice series of photos from Check Point 2 on Day 3,

This sequence starts with the arrival of the Team Belgica MAN out of the dunes on the way to Check Point 2 and ends up in a traffic jam with the truck amidst cars, motorcycles, and camels!

An Artic Cat,

Raoul and Cécile arriving at Check Point 2,

Gilles Girousse and Morgan Bozon Petrier in their restored Dakar Mercedes Koro,

A few photos from the start of the Kingstage on Day 4,

Gilles and Morgan again in the colorful Koro,

The bright red Nissan Patrol with the team from Kazakhstan!

The start was exciting,

but not everyone had an easy time getting out of the dunes,

The motorocycles didn’t start until after the cars,

Some of them had a hard time too,

After the dunes, a fast dirt track took the pilots to the first Check Point,

Raoul and Cécile arriving at the Check Point in their Nissan Patrol,

Caro climbs out of the Protruck to check in with the Orga at the Check Point,

While Stephan waits, the Protruck attracts some attention,

The second Check Point wasn’t that far away as the crow flies, but the road book took the pilots on a challenging route through the big dunes,

We didn’t get to see much of the race after the fourth day; assistance follows its own road book and has its own job to do, so it’s not always possible to find time to watch the race. We made a brief stop at Check Point 3 on Day 6,

but after breaking camp in Missour the same evening, we didn’t see the pilots again until they disembarked from the ferry in Alméria. The smile on the faces of these Japanese riders getting ready to leave for the Finish in Mojácar says more about the experience was than anything we could write here.