Junior Level 6 (2)
Junior Level 6 is one of those rides we’d rather forget.
This was the second attempt we expected to be better than the first but unfortunately it turned out the other way around.
We first started with apologies for the late arrival and of course the delay.
We had the first second try on the first dune and so it continued until the very end of the trip. I personally stopped counting after the 30th second try which completely killed even the last glimmer of today’s plan. I no longer had a solution because every dune regardless of characteristics became a second try.
On the first climb we had our first tricky stuck. That stuck helped us get back to basic and explain the mistakes. Two vehicles after the same thing, same place, different vehicle. We just “weren’t there.” Second tryes and recoveries lasted indefinitely. When everything is added and subtracted, we were more concerned with solving second try situations than we were driving.
Today’s convoy was black and white in color and flavor. 60% chocolate and 40% something in between.
What we have realized is that some members do not take seriously what we explain to them from the beginning of their careers with us. Some questions have surfaced that are the basis of all foundations. It is sad that at such a high Junior level we have to explain and answer the questions we have answered several times in the Prospect level. It’s not serious and it’s a slap in the face to us who are trying to pass on our knowledge.
Standard formation worked well, but the trip discipline was pretty bad. Every time the vehicles stopped, some drivers immediately used it as an opportunity to stretch their legs, take photos and the like. As if they were a tourist there rather than coming to training. Some drivers even had a flip-flop on their feet. The leading team was not at the peak of the task because such situations during training are unacceptable.
The radio was almost unusable. Once I even had to stop the convoy and wait to give instructions to the second lead.
I hope that debriefing with the leading team we had after the ride will help to ensure that situations like this never happen again.
And in the end, this trip was feasible for 60% of the convoy while for the remaining 40% it was simply too much of a bite. We will have to analyze today’s driving and see what we can improve in order to speed up the flow and improve training. We cannot allow a convoy of the same level to be so different and divided into two parts.
In the meantime, I don’t think this area will be available to the Juniors anymore. But a detailed analysis follows first.
At the end of the day, there were a few good drivers who showed their reliability. Others must work on discipline and take seriously what we are trying to teach them. Offroading is fun but we are not invulnerable. Keep this in mind the next time you get your vehicle out on the sand.
I’m challenging all participants of this trip (Juniors) to make honest review of their teammates who was driving in front of them. I’m also challenging you to give honest ratting for the same team member and his performance/behaviour on todays trip.
Thanks!
12 comments on Junior Level 6 (2)
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Amazing shot , 🤩 bumpy ride to take the learnings from and then archive quickly to move forward 🚗💨, see you all soon back in the sand
I’m so sorry to hear this from you Marko, you’re 100% right – this drive was not as expected.
At the beginning I got excited because of the second take of this drive lvl 6 but finally it was not as supposed to be.
You invest time and efforts to train and build real off-roaders – which we totally respect and at the end things do not get at the level it should be.
Let me promise you that next drive it will the way you like and you will have to rate us at least 4 stars ⭐️ – I speak in behalf of my colleagues – if they allow me.
Because I couldn’t attend the first Jr Lvl 6 drive I was looking forward to it. When I saw my name in the last position of the convoy I was a bit worried, because I had some issues in the past to follow the messy softy tracks when in the back. Anyway, I took the challenge and It was very nice to feel and see how much I have improved, having momentum and confidence issues, I was surprised to see myself taking the challenges and making it. I got a tricky stuck that was perfectly handled by Sujith and made me know my car even better regarding gear shifts, it was a nice learning point for me. I was feeling much more confident during the whole drive. Having said that, I can’t hide a bit of disappointment with the convoy. One of the reasons I joined DF is the safety, procedure and communication oriented group. This is crucial in my job and I really like it in an off-road group. Unfortunately we didn’t see that on this trip. I try to learn and go one step above every drive, but I watched almost a Jr Lvl 1 trip this morning. Lack of communication, lack of procedures, lack of following instructions, this was really annoying. Every time I was getting momentum and reading the dunes to take a challenge, all of a sudden I found out a few second tries and stucks without even calling for that. Not even waiting for sweeper instructions. This is not the way I was taught. Sujith was all over the place and he was pushing the guys to keep communication clear, but it didn’t happen. I felt a huge level distance among the convoy. Maybe we could try to filter better the drivers for every trip level. I couldn’t agree more with Marko. In the end of the day, despite of all the issues, I really had some fun, built my confidence up, fixed a couple of previous mistakes and really look forward the next trip to keep learning. Thank you Marko, Sven and Sujith for the professionalism and time. See you on the sand!
Today was quite frustrating to say the least. It felt as if it was a junior lvl 1 group trying to drive. The amount of second tries on tiny little dunes blew my mind. Have we learnt nothing from Lvl 1,2 and 3???
I’ve been working very hard on keeping a perfect following distance but it was made impossible due to the extreme inconsistent driving from the two cars in front of me.
I drop my head in shame at our performance today, Marko, Sven and Sujith donate their time free of charge for us and we pis on it by showing up late and not taking this seriously.
Nag – Orange FJ.
Following distance is poor, how many times did Sujth say catch up and there is a massive space in front of him. Throttle control and preservation of momentum needs some work, every hill climb today he slowed down for no reason at the top causing me to loose all my momentum I need to complete the challenge. Track following is not great, he makes his own track and I need to try and correct for the car following me. He needs to communicate when he goes off track.
All that being said. Nag had a extremely difficult task following Hossam in black Pajero.
In my opinion Hossam needs to redo from lvl 3 at least before attempting a lvl 6 drive again
Stopping dead on top of a side slope, causing me and Nag to make emergency maneuvers just to come to a safe stand still and resulting in me having to do a second try.
Loosing track and not being able to find it again
Many, Many second tries on dunes that should not be a problem at this level.
Ill give Nag 4stars.
Hossam 2or3.
Even though today was not a great drive, We are still blessed to be able to drive in the dessert and I still had moments where I had a massive smile in my face.
To anyone still reading this, Nag reached out to me this morning and we had a talk about yesterdays drive. We talked about how our driving was impacted by drivers in front and behind us and how we need to adjust our ourselves accordingly.
What I am taking away from yesterday drive: After the drive myself and another fella had a chat with the sweeper about what to do in situations where you have a driver in front of you with a different driving style than your own and keeping the correct following distance. He advised that you should focus hard at the beginning of the drive to observe the driving style of the person in front of you and adjust yourself accordingly. He reminded us that you will have someone different in front of you each drive and you have to be able to adapt. It is just another skill to learn and one that I am sorely lacking at the moment.
My apologies to Nag and Hossim if my comments were to harsh, I truly hope we can continue to grow our friendship and skill at Dessert Fellas.
Hi @gros please next time, for any concerns related to drive consult team leader rather than supporting team. In DF every member has his role, Supporting team is there for supporting trip in terms of safety, recovery, clear communication, alignments etc. but not giving you advices as mentioned. Team leaders and above are people who can help you with any concerns. Make sure that you address your questions and concerns always to most senior in the group starting from the team leader to above. Otherwise you will easily get confused if you take personal opinion for granted. We will talk with our supporting guys about this “incident” and get is straight for future trips.
Thanks!
So noted Marko. Sorry about that.
Drive was finished safely, but start /end times were slipped a bit due to several reasons. We could cover very less miles and the real steering time is too less. Most of the time spent on struck & recoveries which was not expected. Individually everyone may be up to the mark but team performance to be improved. As every drive is occupied with different people, it takes some time to synchronize with each other. Personally I struggled a bit to understand the drive style of the car in front of me. I’m sure Johan might have noticed it. Reason looks funny but it’s a real challenge to me in today’s drive. I will try my best to improve. Thanks to Lead and support team for organizing the drive and teaching us. I can understand the pain if we don’t get desired results. I hope things will improve in future drives.
The fellas above me articulated already very well.
To make it short I understand Marko’s disappointement and still grateful with the leading team for their free time with noobs like us.
I started wrong today. The tricky stuck was a beginner mistake due to a lack of rpm reading. And there is always room to improve. Then some few off and back track during the drive.
On a more a general level and on supposed masterized technics and skills during the former Jr levels (2 prospects drives, 6+3 jr lvl drives) please allow me to be more straight forward :
The point is to be able to swallow our own ego and to be able to self assess our own offroading level. And apparently this Jr lvl 6 part 2 is just confirming my thoughts : some of us should redo the all cycle from lvl1. Why ? Because at the end of the day a low level of technics and skills is dangerous for ourselves. If safety is number 1 priority and if we share this value, then my words shouldn’t complex to understand.
I can understand some few stuck situations. It is not our job. But every dunes….I will pass on the capacity to follow a simple instruction for some as to follow the second lead and start at the right moment…
About Alberto:
He arrived late due to a gps issue. Everybody was ready and his delay was managed quickly by the Fellas (great team work initiated by Johann)
His progesses has to deeply focus on the following points : communication (almost inexistant during this trip), not following the track, car is controlling him rather he is controlling his car (to get momemtum seems to be difficult for him, loss of torque on flat area).
Another no no is when saying “stuck” over the radio and he does not even wait for the sweeper to come and follow sweeper’s instructions.
It is the second time for me I follow Alberto. Each time was on Jr level 6. Would I like to do it a third time ? Definitely not at this level.
2 stars for Alberto.
And as Sven said : lets learn from this drive, be f…. honest with yourself and lets move forward.
Let’s be short because the fellas above me articulated already very well.
To make it short I understand Marko’s disappointement and still grateful with the leading team for their free time with noobs like us.
I started wrong today. The tricky stuck was a beginner mistake due to a lack of rpm reading. And there is always room to improve. Then some few off and back track during the drive.
On a more a general level and on supposed masterized technics and skills during the former Jr levels (2 prospects drives, 6+3 jr lvl drives) please allow me to be more straight forward :
The point is to be able to swallow our own ego and to be able to self assess our own offroading level. And apparently this Jr lvl 6 part 2 is just confirming my thoughts : some of us should redo the all cycle from lvl1. Why ? Because at the end of the day a low level of technics and skills is dangerous for ourselves. If safety is number 1 priority and if we share this value, then my words shouldn’t complex to understand.
I can understand some few stuck situations. It is not our job. But every dunes….I will pass on the capacity to follow a simple instruction for some as to follow the second lead and start at the right moment…
About Alberto:
He arrived late due to a gps issue. Everybody was ready and his delay was managed quickly by the Fellas (great team work initiated by Johann)
His progesses has to deeply focus on the following points : communication (almost inexistant during this trip), not following the track, car is controlling him rather he is controlling his car (to get momemtum seems to be difficult for him, loss of torque on flat area).
Another no no is when saying “stuck” over the radio and he does not even wait for the sweeper to come and follow sweeper’s instructions.
It is the second time for me I follow Alberto. Each time was on Jr level 6. Would I like to do it a third time ? Definitely not at this level.
2 stars for Alberto.
And as Sven said : lets learn from this drive, be f…. honest with yourself and lets move forward.
Although I have not been on the sand for a few months I (enviously) read the trip reports because they contain some excellent tips and advice, especially from Johann. This particular report was brutal!
From my limited experience, a convoy is a team that is only as good as it’s weakest member. I also know that not all members are equal. It could be the vehicle (Talal’s F150 for example), a lack of understanding of the vehicle, fear of damaging said vehicle, lack of confidence or, simply not being a good driver. I did not sign up for a Junior Level 5 trip because I missed Levels 2-4 due to an injury and I refuse to risk interrupting the flow and safety of the convoy due to a lack of experience and training. I am now waiting for the next Ab Initio to start again from the very beginning because I cannot get on the Ab13 drives.
I have nothing but respect for Marko and the DF Team who dedicate their free time to professionally teach us. If any driver knows they are holding up the group with too many second tries or stucks then they should raise their hands and admit they are not ready for this level. Leave your egos at home. Likewise, if you are not confident following the car in front, you should inform them and the DF Lead so they know who to focus on.
I look forward to catching up with some of you in the future!
I have not much to add to everyone’s comments already and Marko’s trip report, everyone is being frustrated and disappointed is least to say. Close to the end of the trip I heard someone shouting “it’s a mess” in the radio.
I wouldn’t comment on skill set of a car in front of me simply because I have a lot to learn myself, trip leaders are always accurate on their feedback so I’ll leave it to them.
My only disappointment today is that how fragile our teamwork is. As a convoy, we need to operate as one mechanism and not only pay attention to yourself but look for your team mates and read the situation. I had few drives with following Johann so I’m familiar with his driving style, but today he faced a great challenges. Today I saw many fellas completely ignoring a structure of the convoy and putting at risk other fellas because they were too concentrated on themselves.
This trip greatest weakness was lack of teamwork, that we value so much here in DF.
Thank you Marko, Sven, Sujith for organizing this trip and kept all fellas save today.
hi fellas, sorry one more time for my delay and my gps issue. It won’t happen again.
It is sad to read the bad performance we had, I personally accept and recognise my driving was not as expected. I had a bad starting and it marked my day. I agree with all of you and I appreciate your honest feedback.
This wasn’t my best ride for sure and I couldn’t manage properly my car, I am completely open to receive advising and improve.
about Fouad in front of me:
I cannot compare his driving to mine, he did much better than me. His super safari os powerful and sometimes I felt I cannot follow his rhythm. Fouad did a good performance the first 75% of the ride, I think he lost some focus at the end making some mistakes in easy places.
I am here to learn and every help will be welcomed, if I am doing something wrong I am glad to receive corrections. My apologies for this ride and not being 100%