Team Saluki Desert Challenge 2005

[TeamSaluki]

It’s green, it’s mean and it’s ready to rumble.

Team Saluki rise to the Challenge

Team Saluki are set to maintain their lead as both the No.1 rally team in the Gulf and also the highest placed non-works team in the forthcoming U.A.E. 2005 Desert Challenge.

Driving their heavily modified 110 Landrover, Team Saluki are hopeful of rising to the challenge of seeing off their world class competitors in a repeat of last years Desert Challenge. Team Saluki came in a highly commendable 4th place in the T2 Category, ahead of many of the specialised works teams. This finishing position placed them as the number one rally team in the Gulf.

Named after the legendary Arabian hunting dog, Team Saluki will this year be aiming to stay ahead of the pack and maintain their dominance in the Gulf.

To assist in this challenge, Team Saluki will be running a specialist 4.8Litre V8 engine that produces 325 BHP. A very strong International following not only provides support but this year 8 crew members are coming from Europe to ensure that Team Saluki maintain their lead.

Speaking on behalf of Team Saluki, Driver - Mark Powell said ”The pressure to do well in 2005 is that much greater after our performance last year, but we have made several improvements to the car’s transmission and cooling system and with these in place we’re confident of improving on that fourth place. Of course we are racing against professional works teams from around the world so competition is intense, but we have the advantage of local knowledge of the conditions, which gives us a big advantage in the most challenging dunes.

Our new sponsor Mountain Dew have been backing successful NASCAR teams in the U.S.A. for many years now, and we aim to show them that Team Saluki means business too. Years ago we were happy enough just to finish the Desert Challenge, but in 2002 and again in 2004 we made the professionals sit up and take notice of us. A podium finish has always eluded Team Saluki until now, but we’ll never stop aiming for one.”

More information on Team Saluki can be found on their website www.teamsaluki.com or email Team Saluki at [email protected]





Mark Powell (L) and Tim Ansell (R) stand poised once again to take on the world champions in the UAE Desert Challenge in November



Team Saluki powering around a corner in the recent Um Al Quwain rally held in the UAE.

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[OldStroppeTeam]

Welcome Gentlemen,
If it involves racing and desert, this is the place.
Best of Luck !!

[EQuin]

I'm hoping to make a trip to Dubai to visit my sister who just recently moved there. I had asked her and her husband to be on the lookout for any desert racing over there. Good to see a team from there post on here.

[TeamSaluki]

Hi Ed,

No more desert racing until November when it's the big one for us. The Desert Challenge is the final round of the FIA circuit (starts with the Paris/Dakar) and finishes in the Emirates. If you want to rub shoulders with legends (and wannabes!) try and make it!

Mark Powell

[EQuin]

Thanks for the reply and info, Mark. Unfortunately, I won't be able to visit Dubai in November, but am hoping to go sometime in January. So I guess I'll miss that race. Do you know of any desert races in the UAB in January?

[TeamSaluki]

Hi Ed

Pity you'll miss the big one but in January we should see the first round of the local rally championship. Races are usually the third weekend of the month (remember weekends here are Thursday / Friday)

If you keep in touch with us through this site or our email (address is on our contact page on the web-site) we can let you know what's going on.

Don't expect extreme Pro Trucks as in the US though - more like a lot of Nissan Patrols and Land Rover Defenders / Range Rovers with transplanted engines! Ours is one of only a handful of professionally built trucks out here, built to meet FIA regulations.

Let us know what your travel plans are - and keep an eye on the site for up-dates before our big race. 37 days and counting, and a title to defend

[TeamSaluki]

The dog’s got a new heart.

Competing in the Ajman rally prior to the Desert Challenge served it’s purpose. It was meant to be a shakedown for both the vehicle and passengers and a shakedown was exactly what Team Saluki received. We managed to break the gearbox. So while the transmission was out of the car for repairs we decided to check on a couple of other things too. We’ve had some serious reservations about the engine since having it rebuilt in the U.K. in the summer of 2004 and our worst fears were realised when our new sponsors Castrol analysed our engine oil for us a couple of days later. “There’s far too much fuel getting past the piston rings so you’re wasting fuel, running too lean and washing all the oil off the cyclinder walls too.” they said, then added “Sorry to tell you but in our opinion this engine won’t last for another five days under race conditions”.

We had received the news on the morning of 3rd October, with just 5 weeks until the Challenge. The decision to have the engine rebuilt yet again was made – we really had no choice but it was to stretch our budget to breaking point - and a series of frantic phone calls began. The engine was removed the next day and our longest serving sponsors GAC pulled all the stops out to deliver it to V8 Developments in the UK three days later, whilst new sponsors Britpart did their best to ‘lean’ on the engine builders to keep their rebuild costs down. In turn, just 48 hours after receiving it, V8 Developments called us to give us their verdict, but unfortunately it was worse than we had expected. A lot of work had to be done and the bill would be double the original estimate – this was money we simply didn’t have.

To the rescue came yet another sponsor, Al Thika Packaging, who made up the shortfall in the funds, allowing us to call V8 Developments and tell them to go ahead with the full rebuild and modifications, instead of the ‘patch it together’ job which we could otherwise have afforded. After less than a week, the engine was run up on the dynometer and the results showed an excellent flat torque curve, with maximum power a fraction over 300bhp. This is down very slightly on the old engine’s figures, but the new version should be a lot more reliable and the torque more useable in steep sand climbs. Combined with our slightly lower final drive ratios, the ‘new’ Saluki should have superb dune driving capabilities. Perfect for Liwa and the Challenge.

Thanks again to Castrol, GAC, Britpart, Al Thika Packaging and of course to V8 Developments for turning the engine round inside a week. What could have been a catastrophic problem was overcome as quickly as possible.

Black, red and orange rocker covers go nicely with lime green body panels!

The Saluki’s engine is unpacked after being rebuilt in the UK


Follow the dogs new heart at www.teamsaluki.com

[fashionbiff]

Hi Ed


Don't expect extreme Pro Trucks as in the US though

Yea November is a big month for racing in Mexico too where a lot of those pro trucks will be very busy

Look forward to the updates and best of luck !!!

[TeamSaluki]

Who needs luck?

Latest updates:

Team Saluki – A V8 in P8

The team received fantastic news today when they learned that they had been seeded 8th of the 37 starters in autos for this year's Desert Challenge. Thanks to their great finish last year, 7th overall, 4th in the T2 category, the team have broken into the top 10 seedings for the first time in this, their 6th Desert Challenge.

Mark & Tim will once again be racing against Stephan Peterhansel and Jean Paul Cottret, who finished behind the Saluki in last year's race, and against Joan Roma and Henri Magne who they first met in last year's Qatar Baja. The Fitech and Liberty Team are local rivals from the U.A.E., whilst Bruce Garland has been racing in the Desert Challenge for many years and is well known to Mark. Dave Mabbs, who shared the Saluki bivouac last year, has a new co-driver Michael Hannagan and is seeded 24th, one place ahead of David Gabbis & Xavier Caminada who also race locally in their T2 Pathfinder.

In order to catch all the excitement from the race, Sony Broadcast & Professional have loaned the team their latest semi-professional film camera, the HV-A1E. It is a High Definition camera and so will be recording material in broadcast quality. The team hope to offer this footage to production companies around the world immediately after the race.



Unfortunately the HD-TV tape length is just 63 minutes and with stages taking as long as 5 hours, Tim will be operating the camera by remote control and hoping to record the most exciting action. The camera will be mounted just behind the pair's heads from a cross beam on the roll-cage, so the footage might include a few choice words when the going gets tough. We just hope the sound track can be edited...! Another feature of the camera is its ability to automatically take a still photograph every minute or every five minutes, even when filming. With sufficient memory installed, Mark & Tim hope to capture some memorable photos of the view from the ****-pit of the Saluki racer. Some of these these may be posted on the web-site within minutes of the end of each day's racing so look out for the updates.

Follow the action on www.teamsaluki.com

Regards

Team Saluki

[ShaneR]

I really like reading your post's, keep us updated on how the race goes!