Given your notorious reputation of being a driver who does it for fun and absolute pleasure, with no attention paid to the chronometer. Give us your feedback of the race.
I enjoyed racing today here between the pines, with nice side views and large number of supporters, but I always wanted to change this kind of 2 minutes race to a longer one where the components of the car should support hours of stress, so we can test the resistance of the cars and driver strategies instead of a full power ride that ends with broken parts.
Why a Mercedes G class?
I always had a passion for G-Wagen which is a heavy duty 4×4, ready for all missions: offroad rally raids, trial, climbing… Due to its solid differentials, with lockers and well known Mercedes engine, I think that I am the only one in this race that is able to switch the transfer case between four high and four low while driving.
What are the new modifications on the G?
The G that I was racing on today, since I have 5 different G, was shortened, and it computer was tuned to give more torque and horsepower to its Chevrolet v8 engine. The suspension of the marathon G500 was changed, the previous one was designed to support a full load in the car with a total weight of 3500kg, which is not the case here, this G500is fully equipped respecting the FIA regulations and ready for international rally raids. And we are installing on the 4 doors “benzi” a Mercedes 430 engine.
What did your abroad experiences, especially your participation in master rally of Russia, rain forest challenge of Malaysia 2007 and china 2009 manifest in your nowadays strategies: technical and management wise ?
During these participations the goal of the Benzi Team was to cross safely the finish line without serious damages; we rarely drive on full power. During trial competitions we use the electric winch instead of passing by force to cross the difficulties without damaging the car, even if the pilot and his copilot will get tired, after 10 years of the event you will only remember the hard and difficult moments. After different international participations we realized that we should have a long breath and to think well before taking decisions and to drive safely, responsibly and having fun while driving .Taking in consideration that we were the only team representing the Middle East in these competitions.
Tell us about your international rally raid plans.
We are planning to participate to the Silk Way rally in Russia; from Moscow to Sochi, and the rain Forest Challenge of Sri Lanka. I always wanted to race in Dakar but it seems that we will not be able to do it since budget is huge.
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