Media release: Day 3 – Teams Defy the Desert

At 07:00 this morning the teams left the camp at Liwa Dune for the first day of a gruelling 120km trek through the Rub Al Khali – the legendary and unforgiving “Empty Quarter”.

By the time the teams reached the checkpoint at 28km into the stage, they were already strung out over several kilometres with the race leaders, Richard USSHER and team QASR AL SARAB (NZ), setting a taxing pace in the heat. Both Swedish teams among the frontrunners, LUNDHAGS ADVENTURE and SWECO KARLSTAD ADVENTURE, were showing signs of early fatigue, using towropes to stay in contention, while others were already pondering the optional route choices. Most of the teams chose to race the extra distance and avoid time penalties, 6 hours for each CP missed, but were well aware of the risks involved: “We will try to keep to the salt flats and go around the really steep parts if we can,” explained Richard USSHER.

When the sun had reached its zenith, a cluster of leading teams came into the CP at 52km displaying the ravages of the effort and the heat, after a blistering trek across the steep, towering dunes. The first three teams, QASR AL SARAB (NZ), DEPARTMENT OF MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS (GER) and VIBRAM SPORT 2000 (FRA) arrived within 1 minute if each other at 13h39 and they were followed by several others over the next hour. All decided to take time to rest and many could be seen sleeping in their tents or making plans for the following sections.

LUNDHAGS ADVENTURE (SWE) was considering a 3-hour stopover while Richard USSHER of QASR AL SARAB (NZ) was looking at 30 minutes and a burst of speed to the next CP: ”It’s hotter than last year but the pace is quite reasonable. We want to get to CP5 by night fall so we will have to accelerate a little,” the Kiwi captain stated.
The teams have 8 hours of obligatory rest to take between the start and the end of the stage on Day 5 – many have opted to race through the night, when the sand is cooler and more compact, and the sun is absent from the sky.

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