Rallye des Pharaons

The Rallye des Pharaons is an FIM sponsored event that takes place in Egypt, with Cairo being both the start and finishing point, and covers 3,100 km. It is similar in format to the Paris Dakar Rally in that it takes place in desert conditions and cars, trucks, and motorcycles are all permitted to compete. For 2004, Rallye des Pharaons ran from September 25 to October 4.

Tragedy struck on September 29 2004 when 3-time Paris Dakar Rally winner Richard Sainct was killed when his motorcycle ran off the course. [http://www.motorcycledaily.com/29september04_sainct.htm] [http://www.fim.ch/sec/documents/f_2253.pdf] . KTM, who Sainct rode for, pulled all other factory racers from the rest of the rally in respect for Sainct.

The 2007 edition of the Pharaons Cross Country Rally was quite a surprise. Specially to the Egyptians as the finally managed to place themselves on global means of endurance racing. Starting in 17th place finishing 7th on the very 1st Stage!! Finally coming home after 7 grueling stages & 2500km of absolute offroad racing. Abd El Hamid Abo Youssef & Mahmoud Ezzeldin, Pilot & Navigator. In the creatively built Herve' Cotel Proto Buggy they finished 4th Place Overall. Since the creation of the Pharaohs Rally in 1981, No Egyptian has ever reached Top 10, but finally the young Egyptian team wrote new rewarding history.

External links

* [http://www.rallyedespharaons.it Rallye des Pharaons Website]