Dubai: They call themselves the RAK off-roaders, a group of about 90 Ras Al Khaimah-based desert enthusiasts who meet occasionally on weekends for the sole purpose of venturing into the sands of the UAE in their four-wheel drives.
The 33rd Gulf News Overnighter Fun Drive held in Umm Al Quwain last weekend was one such opportunity for some of them to prove their mettle. And they did it with gusto.
More than 800 cars took part in the gruelling 209 km stretch dotted by scenic wadis and towering dunes. Eight members of the RAK off-road group were amongst the first to complete the challenge. They happily posed for XPRESS after they finished an exhaustive 10-hour drive after starting from the UAE Motorplex at around 8am.
“It was only my fourth trip to the desert and it was a fantastic experience. We got lost only once on a stretch that had a wadi. We also had some difficulty scaling a particularly high sand dune,” said Gulf News Fun Drive first timer Conal Doherty, 36 from Donegal, Ireland, who drove his vehicle in turns with his wife.
It was a second Gulf News Fun Drive though for 44-year-old veteran David Jerromes. “The terrain was very challenging. The sand was firm on the surface due to the recent rains, but it was soft inside and this made it difficult to get traction in spots where tyre marks were left behind by drivers ahead of us. It was a great test for my new tyres though,” said the former speed hill climbing racer from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, England. The only glitch he suffered was when his vehicle took a giant nosedive from the edge of a tall dune and hit a rock.
However, there were no problems for the only lady RAK off-roader. Sue Aiken, 50, from Devon, England, and a resident of the UAE for three decades, went through the entire drive accompanied by her daughter Louise.
This was her third appearance at the Gulf News Fun Drive, but the first time she sat behind the wheel. “Women can drive just as well, if not better, than most men,” insists the chief nursing officer at the RAK Hospital.
