El Chott 2013: Ksar Ghilane – Kebili

We said goodbye to Ksar Ghilane in Stage 10, which lead us back through the dunes by the Park Jebil along extremely fast tracks and through a complicated series of narrow paths to Kebili. We had a little trouble at the start. The day before had been quite windy, and the sand was much softer than when we arrived. The rally cars that had driven the dunes in Stage 9 had a hard time because of the soft sand and limited visibility. Although the wind had died down and the visibility was good, the sand was still soft and we had to shovel for a few minutes just after the start, having been caught off-guard by this change in the terrain.

Photo by Andreas Wulf and Anja Bork

That was the last of our problems. Once we got back underway, the stage went smoothly, even though we had to do it with only two-wheel drive. We were quite efficient, and didn’t lose any time, even when we had to cross some bigger dunes in the last dune section of the rally and on some technical passages with several difficult riverbed crossings.

Photo by Andreas Wulf and Anja Bork

We drove very fast on the last section of the Stage, probably faster than we should have given our broken front axle shaft. When we arrived at the finish, the Explona guys, who had been tracking our progress, laughed and told us to drive a little more slowly on the short liaison to Kebili.

We arrived at the lovely hotel Yadis Oasis in mid-afternoon and checked in before starting the evening’s routine maintenance and road book study. We had not experienced any engine problems during the day, but we cleaned the water separator, which was dirty again and for the last time this rally prepared the cockpit for the next morning’s departure. We had just enough time for a quick warm shower before the dinner buffet and driver’s briefing.

Tomorrow’s stage would be short but interesting. If all went according to schedule, we’d cross the Chott El Fejej before heading into the foothills of the mountains to the north, along some winding tracks leading to the finish. In the morning, the organization would send an alpha car to make sure the Chott was dry enough to cross.

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