Our Solar Storm convoy assembled as dawn was breaking in a fairly remote spot beyond the solar park. It was great to welcome back some fellas who had been off the sand for the summer and a chance to catch up before the safety briefing.

This area is not as well frequented by other groups so the objective for the morning was to make the most of the untouched sand and allow everyone to reacquaint themselves with the all important muscle memory as the new season starts ramping up.

After warming up in and around some smaller dunes we increased the pace and were soon flowing like a river taking on some higher climbs across pristine slopes.

There was a lot of ground to cover today so putting the pedal to the metal to cross a flat section, we made our way to the next part of the drive with different dune formations allowing us to add some more side sloping into the mix.

A short break gave us chance to enjoy the good company under some clear blue skies – hopefully signalling the start of the winter weather.

Once moving again, we headed off in search of some bigger dunes, rewarding us with stunning views over the Al Faqa desert as we climbed high. Progress was hampered slightly towards the exit as we picked our way through some more technical areas that had become overgrown with grass and bushes. Undeterred, we made it to the inflation point slightly ahead of schedule.

No stucks or second tries meant our safety team wasn’t called into action but nevertheless a huge thanks to Anders for second lead, Martin for sweeping and to Javier and Marko for keeping a watchful eye on the convoy.

See you on the next one!