Gulf News Fun Drive marshals offer tips on offroad driving

Dubai: Some of the marshals Gulf News spoke to offered tips to make your drive in the desert safe.

Jack Pearce, convoy leader: The camel is designed for the desert. It has squidgy feet which spread like sponge when it walks. That’s what works in the desert. You get that by bringing the tyre pressure down. If you don’t and keep it hard, as you would on the road, your vehicle tyres will dig into the sand. Also do what the camel does: Take the easier route if you are a beginner.

Be neither over-aggressive nor over-cautious. You have to watch what other people are doing. Follow somebody who has a lot of experience. People get stuck either because they are over-aggressive or over-cautious. So, you’ve to be somewhere in the middle.

Mark Leonard, forward sweep: Momentum is probably most important. If a guy ahead of you stops, look somewhere where you can be on a nice piece of ground, either downhill slope or uphill slope.

You are going to experience more on the Gulf News Fun Drive than you would ever do by going out with a few friends.

Saliya Jayaweera, deputy route director: It’s a brilliant route this time — it’s more visual. We’ve chosen different areas of the desert. What’s unique this time is the greenery after the recent rains. The track is much harder now. From the Fun Drive perspective, it will be a lot easier because the sand is hard and at some places, it’s soft. But participants should drive carefully and avoid hard turns on harder terrain.

The route is the longest we’ve done so far. So people should continue driving, they shouldn’t waste time.