The Tuareg Rallye: 18th – 26th of March 2012

The Tuareg Rallye is a desert race for private off road cars, 4×4 vehicles and motorbikes. It takes place in Morocco and is one of the most important Desert Rallies. 

The 2012 route

The event began in Almeria in Spain on Sunday 18 March and the crews travelled to Morocco overnight by Ferry.
Day 1, 19 March – Nidor/Missor
390 Km including tricky navigational sections
Day 2, 20 March – Missor/Mersouga
340Km including sand dunes at Erfoud
Day 3, 21 March – Circuit Mersouga
230Km around the camp at Mersouga
Day 4, 22 March – Kingstage
280Km, the first foray into the sand dunes
Day 5, 23 March – Dune Race
80Km purely run in sand dunes of the Sahara
Day 6, 24 March – Mersouga/Missor
400Km as the crews head back north and towards the finish
Day 7, 25 March – Missor/Nador
400Km back through the Guercif section from Day 1. Overnight ferry back to Spain
Day 8, 26 March – Almeria/Mojacar
110Km including dried gorge, to the finish

The Team

Rally 1
‘Orange Plant’ Qt Wildcat
Driver – Dave Marsh
Co-driver – Tom Neathway

This Wildcat has been given to the team to honour Gordon Chapman’s memory by taking his car to the Dakar. The Tuareg Rallye was the first time this Qt Wildcat 500DKR had competed in the desert and it was a unique opportunity for the team to learn how their injuries will affect them whilst racing.

Rally 2
‘Rat Cat’ Qt Wildcat
Driver – Tony Harris
Co-driver – Ben Gott

Owned by Dakar Stalwart Ben Gott, the ‘Rat Cat’ has been converted to the same specification as the ‘Orange Plant’ car and it featured exactly the same livery and sponsor support. Two drivers in one car might have seemed like a recipe for disaster but it gave both the chance to gain valuable experience of both driving and navigating by swapping round.

Supervision 1
Land Rover Defender
Team Principal – Pierre de Frenne
Team Manager – Andrew Taylor
Press Officer – Jim Blackstock

Support 1
Land Rover Defender
Mechanical Manager – Dave Reeve
Technician – Barney Gillespie
Technician – Andrew Jenner

Support 2
Land Rover Defender
Assistant Team Manager – Sean Whatley
Technician – Fraser Parish
Technician – Adrian Eason-Bassett

2012 Results: 

Dave Marsh and Tom Neathway, driving the Orange Plant Wildcat, finished the Tuareg in tenth place overall, a remarkable achievement. Dave and Tom had their fair share of problems on the event, including mechanical issues such as differential and wheel bearing failures and, like many other competitors, getting stuck in the sand dunes of the desert and having to extract themselves from the situation.

However, they clearly demonstrated their grasp of the Wildcat and their understanding of the sand dunes, by claiming the team’s first international rally stage win on the final day of the action in the Erg Chebbi dune field. Despite a last minute scare, when they rolled their car in treacherous cross-ruts in the final special stage, they arrived at the finish with no problems.

In the RatCat Tony Harris and Ben Gott also had their share of issues, with time lost getting stuck in the desert due to a recurring engine misfire and a very unlucky roll, when they crested over a knife-edge sand dune with a shade too much power. Ben and Tony, however, also went on to claim their first international event stage win, going through the second of the penultimate day’s special stages fastest, to notch up the third of the team’s three fastest times. They eventually finished the event 25th overall.

While Tony and Ben claimed the third, it was Phillip Gillespie who took the second. Originally scheduled to compete on the event, a last minute change meant that Phillip was on the Tuareg as part of the mechanical team. However, he was asked by several competitors to stand in for their co-drivers for various reasons, a task which he approached with vigour and professionalism. Such was his performance that he guided Jonnie Koonja to the win on the first of the penultimate day’s two stages.

Despite the issues with the cars, both were maintained flawlessly by the Race2Recovery mechanical team, headed by Mechanical Manager Dave Reeve. None are professional motorsport mechanics but rather, current or former servicemen who gave their time to support the team’s charitable work.

Read Tony’s blogs from the event here:

Tony’s Tuareg blog 20120316

Tony’s Tuareg blog 2 20120318

Tony’s Tuareg blog 3 20120320

Tony’s Tuareg blog 4 20120321

Tony’s Tuareg blog 5 20120323

Tony’s Tuareg blog 6 20120324

Tony’s Tuareg blog 7 20120325

Tony’s Tuareg blog 8 20120326

If you would like to be an event sponsor, help fundraise for H4H Tedworth House or would like more information about the Race2Recovery Campaign then please get in touch with tony@race2recovery.co.uk or email fundraising@race2recovery.co.uk