El Chott 2013: Douz – Ksar Ghilane

Photo by Andreas Wulf and Anja Bork

Stage 7 started in the Camel Stadium at Douz and took us back to Ksar Ghilane along stony tracks some of which were fast, but which were often covered by sandy dunes from the encroaching desert.

Photo by Andreas Wulf and Anja Bork

Photo by Andreas Wulf and Anja Bork

Photo by Andreas Wulf and Anja Bork

Photo by Andreas Wulf and Anja Bork

We had to leave the roadbook for a few kilometers to avoid a dune crossing that was too technical for us with our damaged axle shaft, but the piste was covered with sand in many places, and we had to find our way through some small dune fields around the Park Jebil.

Photo by Andreas Wulf and Anja Bork

We arrived at the finish in Ksar Ghilane in the second part of the afternoon in the late autumn sunshine. Despite the detour around the dunes, it had been a good day. We had driven as fast as we dared on the piste, but a few times the engine had lost power. When we got to camp, we made another general inspection and took a close look at the fuel filter. It didn’t seem too dirty, but we decided to change it anyway just in case, hoping that would fix the problem.

In hindsight, we should have done more tests, but we were tired, so we spent the rest of the afternoon getting settled in at the camp, where we’d stay for the next three nights and preparing for the next day’s stage, which was perfect for us since there were no dunes. We hoped to drive well to move up in the rankings.

At the driver’s briefing after dinner, the organization announced a number of changes to the roadbook because of road construction along the track, and we dutifully took note of the new directions. We went to sleep early to be well-rested for the coming day, but we didn’t suspect what lay ahead.

Read the next post in the series or go back to the start.