Dubai: It’s the UAE’s favourite time to go out in the desert again and the country’s dune bashers can’t wait to ride the waves in Umm Al Quwain when the 33rd Gulf News Overnighter Fun Drive gets underway on January 10.
It will be the first time in its 28 years that the off-road extravaganza will start and finish in the emirate, ‘looping’ by the neighbouring Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah and the euphoria is at fever pitch already. Registrations for the two-day event that opened last Friday at 9am closed at 2pm as all slots were filled on the same day with hundreds wait-listed.
“It was an overwhelming response. There were people waiting outside the gates from 7.20am. And soon there was no place to even stand,” Naheed Patel, the Promotions Manager of Gulf News told XPRESS.
Patel has been involved with the event, one that occupies a prime spot in the country’s annual social calendar, since its first edition in 1986. She says she hasn’t seen such enthusiasm before. “Unfortunately we can only accommodate limited entries. We had to therefore close registrations the same day. It’s never happened before,” she added.
Austrian national Gerhard Bingle, 51, who’s registered his wife and two daughters aged 10 and 13 to go with him in his Toyota Fortuner, says he is more than excited to embark on the Fun Drive.
Great scenery
“We look forward to driving in the emirate simply because we haven’t been there before. We are all hoping to catch some great scenery along the way and of course the girls can’t wait to get to the camps where there’s a lot of fun,” said the Dubai-based technical manager of a multi-national firm.
At 209km, the route this year is one of the longest the event will have seen and challenging but nothing takes away from the sheer joy of driving through the desert.
The first fun drive was held in March 1986 as a day drive that saw a total of 75 four wheel drives participated.
“The event has grown by leaps and bounds and today it’s almost ten times bigger in every way and more sophisticated thanks to the advances of technology,” said Jehanbaz ‘Jum’ Ali Khan, the 79-year old route director of the Gulf News Fun Drive. He has seen the event grow bigger and better over the years since 1988. The Fun Drive became an overnighter — a two-day event with a night’s stay in the desert — the year after Jum took charge and it has remained the norm since, receiving increasing enthusiasm over the years.
Over 750 four-wheel drives and over 2,500 persons took part in 1997 and Gulf News set the number as an approximate benchmark at all subsequent overnighters.
Fun Drive details:
- The Fun Drive, supported by Al Futtaim Motors - Toyota, will start at the UAE Motorplex and end at the Al Aqran area in Umm Al Quwain, where the camp will be located. Only vehicles (with some exceptions) with 4WD transmission are allowed.
