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RALLY: TransSyberia Rally Blog Day 2: Luck Favors the Prepared
Written by: Brian Ghidinelli   
07/11/2008
Charlotte, North Carolina
 
Rally organizer Richard Schalber answers questions and announces the 2009 TransSyberia Rally will be held the final week of July 2009. (Photo: Brian Ghidinelli) ยป More Photos

This morning all teams reported to the Hotel Cosmo starting at 9:00am for tech inspection on the other side of Moscow. It's hard to appreciate the scale of Moscow - it covers approximately the same area as Los Angeles but has nearly three times the number of residents and associated traffic. Combined with lots of construction projects and a laissez-faire approach to traffic laws, we have found ourselves mired in traffic nearly every time we leave our hotel. The upshot is our outstanding local guide Alex knows alternate routes through the labyrinth that keeps the delays to a minimum and our team on-time.

No one seems to know why scrutineering and parc ferme are located at the Cosmo, a 45-minute drive from where teams are staying near the Kremlin, but today was our final visit. With everyone approved and ready to go, the drivers will return in the morning to pick up the cars and we will walk across the river to rendezvous at the Red Square where the rally will start.

Teams this morning were double-checking their supplies, filling their tanks and applying all of the required sponsor decals. The inspection itself was limited to about twenty minutes per vehicle as the scrutineers verified all of the items on their checklist.

Team China pulled their Porsche Cayenne up to the line only to realize they had to actually show all of the equipment on the list. Out came everything required to satisfy the inspection team before they were permitted to pass and everyone had a smile on their face throughout the procedure. There is a, pardon the pun, comrade-rie among the teams and support personnel here in Moscow. A special bond is formed between people who enter an event of this scale and magnitude. Mongolia recorded only 450,000 tourists in 2007 making an international gang of some 300 personnel running a motor race in six-figure vehicles something special.

For many participants
like co-driver Kurt Ettenberger (GER) of the #34 Suzuki entry, participating in the TransSyberia is the realization of his dream to drive across Eastern Europe and Asia. Whether cutting their teeth in their first rally like Melina Frey (RSA) from the #13 Suzuki or having competed in seven Paris-Dakars like François Borsotto (FRA) from the #17 Porsche, every participant has a common love for adventure. The smiles in the paddock this morning reinforce that getting there is going to be half the fun of this event. At least until the final stages when the gloves come off!

With tech inspection complete, teams have turned their attention to their computers and GPS navigation systems. Each car has at least one GPS unit with several teams bringing redundant or specialized systems. Team Germany's Porsche Cayenne has an identical second unit for redundancy while Team USA brought a Lowrance system specially-engineered to withstand vibration. Its 9" screen also makes it easy to see while driving over rough terrain and control when wearing gloves.

Although it sounds straightforward to travel from one GPS coordinate to the next, the variable terrain forces teams off-track at times to accommodate changing course conditions or other racers stuck in the path. If you have ever heard a turn-by-turn GPS voice tell you to "turn right" just after sailing by your exit, you can appreciate how critical accurate guidance and heads-up driving are during the rally. In Russia the teams will rely heavily on their route guide book for road junctions on the short stages and long transits but Mongolia will be navigated mostly by distant GPS waypoints. Obstacles such as water crossings or swampy areas must be negotiated based on experience and intuition rather than data and at least one team last year required two tows and three time-consuming attempts to cross a deep water hole resulting in lost time.
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