Munich-Carthage Rally 2000

21. - 26. October 2000

The desert called, and Fredrik of Sweden, Vincent of France, Stephan and Mike of Germany - united in this year's AQ Racing Team and with logistical and technical support by Thomas Czolder and his Munich Mud Racer team - followed the call heading for Tunisia, to compete in a desert race, on Africa Twins, of course. Contrary to what the name suggests, this year's rally weren’t launched at Munich but near Gafsa, in the south-west of Tunisia. Thus the journey - the pilots in a Landrover, the Twins on the back of an MAN truck - went first to Marseille, where technical inspection took place and later the crowd embarked on the ferry for Tunis. The crossing on the "Carthage" offered the participants one last time luxurious comfort before the hardships of the rally took their course ...

21 October 2000, 10 o'clock in the morning, mass start to the first stage, general nervousness, then the take-off shot and with roaring engines the field disappears in a dust cloud - we in the midst of it. The choice of terrain on this stage offers variety: Slowly through hills covered with camel grass in search of the next checkpoint, then with full throttle over the flat clay soil of dry riverbeds. At high speeds, the smallest carelessness demands its tribute, in the form of partly hard falls and in the evening bivouac the first bruises are to be treated on man and machine.

The next three days bring sand galore - whether under our wheels, in the air or finally in every drease of our clothes and even in the food. Inside the mostly narrowly set dunes of extremely soft sand, the more than 50 kg lighter single- cylinder bikes of course hold the advantage, but we counter with team spirit and the will to make it: "The main goal is to reach the finish!" The knowledge about the robust, reliable V2 engines of our Africa Twins is reassuring, especially when the first competitors have to give up with with technical problems.With the 5th stage, we left dunes and sand behind us, and ‘gravel pleasures‘ replaced the hardships of the last days. Over fast tracks, sometimes following dry river beds, through the mountains - here our Twins could play out their strengths. The generally high pace, however, was not without danger - as Vincent, in particular, had to find out the painful way: in a hard crash, he broke a thumb, and, as only was later discovered, a back vertebra. Fredrik had two punctures, which threw him far back in the ranking.

The 6th and last stage brought a salty mud bath for some and more challenges with the roadbook navigation for all participants. Nevertheless, our team won the second and third place in the day's ranking, as the crowning conclusion of the rally at the finish line on a beach near Gabes.

We made it, and besides the pride there was also some sadness because this adventure was over now. After dark, the participants and the organisation team gathered for the last time at the final awards ceremony. In addition to good placements in the middle of the overall results, our team collected the podium places in the two-cylinder ranking, as well as a third place in the teams category - so in the end, each of our four team members was awarded a cup to take home. Under applause, each individual rally participant was called forward, since, somehow, we’d all won after all...