150 registrations for LDC 2009

Libya Desert Challenge 2009: with 150 registrations already LDC is fast on its way to becoming the largest rally in the Sahara

The efforts and results from March 2008 have paid off: breathtaking landscapes, the highest dunes of the Sahara, challenging roadbooks and an organisational team who were always ready to go that extra mile. The positive comments from experienced Dakar racers and participants from many countries spread quickly with the result that over the last three months registrations have been arriving on a daily basis.

Currently we have 150 racers lining up at the starting line in March 2009; 45 quads, 35 motorbikes and 35 cars. In order to create optimum conditions and support for our participants the organisation has limited the number of registrations to 200, this will be managed on a “first come, first serve” basis. Looking at current registrations and interest we expect to have a “full house” by the middle of January.

Current breakdown of participants per country:

Italy: 21
France: 19
Belgium: 48
Libya: 12
Holland: 8
Spain: 4
Lithuania: 12
Egypt: 14
The Arab Emirates: 4
Germany: 5

The LDC 2009 Tracks

See here the Tracks for 2009 (planning status) for the best Sahara Rally!
Click on the picture and you are redirected to Google Maps, where you can move the map, zoom in, and click on the left side on each track to open the detailed description of each Racing day and Camp:

The new Video is out

See the Movie from the 2008 event.
see all our videos at:

Presentation LDC2009 & BBQ

New adventurous tracks & more breathtaking landscapes. That's what LDC2009 is all about. On Saturday night, 20th September from 19h onwards, we'll give you a flavour of what to expect next March. We invite everyone, professionals, amateurs & beginners, who are interested in rally sport and desert travel to join us that night.

On the programme: a presentation of the tracks of LDC 2009, images of the most spectacular scenes (landscape and driving) of LDC 2008 and maybe ... LDC2008: the movie.

If you want to see the real Sahara, in all its glory and beauty, you must not miss this night. Attention: registration obligatory. Mail your name to gert@touareg-trail.be

If you want to register for the charity BBQ, please deposit 15€ per person (for a large vegetables & pasta buffet and 3 large portions of meat) on the bank account (and followed by your name): 001-4409455-08, (for payments from abroad: IBAN= BE63 001-4409455-08, BIC= GEBABEBB)

The event will take place in "De Fiertel", Ruddersveld 7, Ronse, Belgium, in the middle of the Flemish Ardennes. (www.defiertel.be)

Google Maps of the Tracks 2009

View Larger Map

LDC 2008 - new photos

When surfing on the internet, we discovered a series of fantastic pictures, taken by the Lithuanian teams during their participation in the LDC 2008. They reveal unique pictures of the sad accident of the Libyan top racer Salah and his rescue by the spectacular Agusta helicopter that was given to us by the Libyan Air Force. To see the entire collection, click here.

LDC starts Promotion Campaign

LDC launches promotion campaign 2009 during the "Dakar Days" in Almere, Holland

Gert Duson travels to the Dakar Days to inform racers and to meet the
bunch of professionals who attended the LDC2008. Now. next news you
will get during this week.

LDC Rally. Nothing else matters.

Top-3 of the winners of LDC2008 in every category

Libya Desert Challenge 2008: The most extreme Saharan desert rally challenge has successfully taken place!

This rally which takes place purely in the Libyan desert has cost nearly one hundred participants from eleven different nationalities, blood, sweat and tears to complete and has been unanimously quoted (after the ex Dakar) as the toughest and most extreme marathon rally of the Sahara. The 1700km of sand, encompassing the most extreme and breathtaking dunes of Africa, were ultimately dominated by the Dutch motorbikers and French quadbikers. The overall winner of all the categories went to the French Polaris quad driver Hubert Deltrieu, closely followed in second place by the Dutch KTM motorbike rider Bram Van Dorp who also won the motorbike category. Final victory in the 4x4 category went to the Libyan team of Abdulmajid-Hawas in their Mitsubishi L200. Henk Knuiman (Dutch pro biker), the favourite to win, had to retire during the last lap, when he was still in first position, due to technical problems with his Aprillia.

A. Motorbikes (photo podium A)

1st place: Bram van Dorp – Holland – KTM 525 EXC – 22h. 57min. 52sec.
2nd place: Henno van Bergeijk – Holland – Yamaha WR450 F – 27h. 12min. 05sec.
3rd place: Mike Van Eikeren – Holland – KTM 300 EXC – 30h. 35min. 09sec.

B. Quads (photo podium B)

1st place: Hubert Deltrieu – France – Polaris Outlaw 525 - 21u. 50min. 42sec.
2nd place: Jean-Michel Redal – France – Polaris 500 – 24h. 55min. 41sec.
3rd place : André Sicre – France – Polaris Scrambler 500 – 31h. 49min. 03sec.

C. 4X4's / trucks (photo podium C)

1st place: Agof Adbedmajid & Naser Hawas- Libya - Mitsubishi L200 - 47h. 36min. 43sec.

2nd place: Alkasem Ali Al-Jadia & Mohamed Nagasa - Libya - 61h. 39min. 11 sec.

3rd place: Drdera Sala & Abdulwahed Dardera -Libya- Range Rover V8- 63h. 18min. 32sec.

D. Overall classification (photo podium D)

1st place: Hubert Deltrieu – France – Polaris Outlaw 525 - 21u. 50min. 42sec.
2nd place: Bram van Dorp – Holland – KTM 525 EXC – 22h. 57min. 52sec.
3rd place: Jean-Michel Redal – France – Polaris 500 – 24h. 55min. 41sec.

The best pictures of LDC2008

See the great Pictures from Isolde Poncelet here

Or follow this Link to see the Picasa Webalbum directly:

The Stage 6 Idhan Murzuq from Air

See the great Pictures from Wouter Truyen and enjoy the great Dia-Show HERE!!

Links for Download: The Tracks of LDC2008

At this point we want to say "THANK YOU VERY MUCH" for the great visualization work done by Atlogis!

Through their "artwork" we were able to see all the Racetracks in nearly Live visualization each evening before the Stage starts the next Day. Running the movie every evening for up to 1 hour gave all competitors the chance, to check the upcoming Stage and get a clear picture of what is to be expected next Day.

Thank you Very much, specially to Kai Pieper from Atlogis for this wonderful sponsoring!

http://www.atlogis.com/

Have a look at the Tracks from the passed LDC Rally:

http://www.atlogis.com/samples/Stage-01-renew-XviD.avi
http://www.atlogis.com/samples/Stage-02-XviD.avi
http://www.atlogis.com/samples/Marble-Madness.swf
http://www.atlogis.com/samples/Stage-04-XviD.avi
http://www.atlogis.com/samples/Stage-05-XviD.avi
http://www.atlogis.com/samples/Stage-06-XviD.avi
http://www.atlogis.com/samples/Stage-07-XviD.avi

Download the movies and watch them (best in VLC Player) to see in Detail, where the LDC Rally passed by.

Atlogis Geoinformatics provides worldwide satellite imagery, vector-maps and topographic maps - digital or On Demand large format prints. We offer the complete palette of GIS and Remote Sensing Services like e.g. cartography, web-mapping, Location based Services, 3D-visualization,... More information on http://www.atlogis.com. Visit also our new Online-Mapviewer http://www.TOPOMAPPER.com and browse the world's largest Mapserver for topographic maps (complete coverage !) or toggle between Atlogis, Google, Yahoo and MSN Maps.

We finished the Race!

Despite that again the Internet connection broke down, all of the
participants returned well and save via plane. The concept of the race
start in the south worked well. The next days this newspage will roll
up with all the news and results.

The winner in the category T1 is Agof Abdulmajid and Copilot Nasser
Hwas on a Mitsubishi L200 with the total time of 47:46:43. Second
Place went to Alkasem Ali Al-Jadia and Copilot Mohammed Nagasa. Third
Place went to Drdera Salah and Copilot Chaled Drdets. Despite that
Salah had a bad accident on stage 2, he called us to keep the car in
valuation. The Copilot changed then to the drivers seat after
screening in the hospital.

In the classement Quads the first place went to Deltrieu Hubert with a
total of 21:50:42. Second place went to Redal Jean Michel and third
place went to Sicre André.

In the classement Bikes the first place went to Van Dorp Bram with a
total of 22:57:53. Second place went to Van Bergeijk Henno and third
place to Lumia Carlo.

Race trucks were only set with one truck, on the steering wheel and
gas pedal with Roverto Musi.

Next generation Race Truck

Roberto Musi finished the first stage right after the first car
arriving at the finishing line.

The race is always on.

The first Racingday

The new Stage 1 was just perfect for the clients. The evening briefing
in the overcrouded Camp Africa gives always the right mood for the
next stage. Live from Camp Africa

+++Live news from the Camp++++ We are Ready to recieve 150 persons in our Camp Africa

+++Live news from the Camp++++

The Setup is done and the organization takes a rest for the evening
and the first racing day tomorrow.
Tonight the remaining 150 Persons arrive mostly by plane in Sebha and
the last Trucks come in tonight. Also the libyan Racingteams show up
in time and make the technical checks and paperwork in the camp now.

Picture 1: The Fueltruck and the camel: no question who makes the long march...
Picture 2: Our Camp is decorated for the participants
Picture 3: Enjoy the heat in the shadow: Afternoon in our LDC Camp...
Picture 4: The TV Team from Libya (www.LJBC.NET) arrived this
afternoon and starts with the preparation for Rally.

> Libya Desert Challenge - Turnkey Rallying
> Cross Country Marathon Rallye
> Living Stone Productions vzw
> Jean Van Volsemstraat 77
> 1050 Brussels
> Belgium

Salah Didrah starts again on the new LDC

Salah Didrah, the unbeaten winner of the first LDC just signed in
today to compete in the Race! The classic combination of a Range Rover
ENGINE with a Toyota gearbox gives this car the unique character. The
heat is on.

All Quads and Bikes arrived

We have all Quads/bikes ready for technical checks today. All the 18
cars in Race arrive today in the afternoon. Tomorrow the new Stage 1
ist the first Raceday.

The first Car Carrier arrived

The First round of Trucks arrived, bringing most of the Quads and Bikes