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(HU)

A batumi hotelunkbol irok, ahol csak a portasfulkebol tudok netezni, a mellettem 13 centimeterre ulo recepcios nem kifejezetten illatos.

A sapancai hotelbol a szervezoi autok meglhetosen keson indultak Sinopoba amit teteztunk azzal, hogy az egyuk auto felfedezo turara indult, gondoltuk, hogy megnezunk egy alternativ utvonalat. Abbol a szempontbol jo otlet, volt, hogy csodaszep tajon vezetett keresztul, viszont kb. 2 oraval volt hosszabb. A Pace car 02 pedig fek problemakkal kuzdott kilyukadt a fekcso, elfolyt az olaj es szinte fek nelkul ert be a kempingbe.

A sinopi pihenonap sokaknak a szerelesrol szolt, a 01-es Pajeronak tovabbra is szorult a fekje, amit a Beer Team tagjai hihetetlen kreativitassal javitott meg. Az errol keszult viodeot hamarosan kozzetesszuk, javasoljuk elmelyulten tanulmanyozni!

Kellékek:

- egy Lada, leszerelt kerékkel
– a Mitsubishi fékdugattyúja, amely véletlenül pont illik a tengelybe
– tengeri homok, motorolaj és egy rongy
– Peti, aki hármasba teszi az autót és kezeli a gázpedált
– Tibi, aki igen nagy hozzáértéssel csiszolja a dzsuvát a dugattyúról

Mondanunk sem kell, az autón a fék azóta is kiválóan muködik… erre azt hiszem nincsenek szavak

A versenyben vezeto Beer Team lelkes emberei ezen felul megoldottak a Mazda fekproblemajat is, igaz, az auto igy elveszitette a hatso fekeket, de meg igy is egesz jol muzsikal. Mondanunk sem kell, ezt sem hetkoznapi modon oldottak meg, egy csavarkulcs nyelebol kiutogetett vasgolyoval zartak le rendszer serult reszet.

Koszonet erte!

Ok maguk is szereltek, a helyi szerelonek beszerzett emelokeszletet (egy vastag gumigyuru) epitettek be az autoba, hogy batran vaghassanak neki a hegyeknek.

Aki nem szerelt az elvezte a 40 fokos meleget, a hideg soroket es a kellemes tengerpartot. Este a szervezok megleptek a csapatokat egy paprikas krumplival, amely ugyan a vartnal alssabban es nehany kezet leforrazva de elkeszult es jo fogadtatasra talalt, dacara a kirarolag helyi osszetevoknek. Iden is felejthetetlen erzes volt a csillagos eg alatt a tabortuznek mulatni az idot a duty freeben bevasarolt ellatmany kortyolgatasaval.

A 07-es Pajero az L&L`s csapattal a fedelzeten tegnap reggel erkezett meg Istanbulbol, a motor ugy tunik rendben van, viszont most a hutojuk lyukadt ki. Kicsit elveszettek es elkenodtek voltak, de megnyugtattuk oket, hogy a kocsinak jo karmaja van es minden megoldhato. A lengyel Awanturnik csapat elkiserte oket a szereleohoz es delutan 5-kor mar a csapatok utan indultak a 720 km-es etapra.

Az amerikai Yeevan Express autoja tovabbra is remes hangokat hallatt, de megis megy es az elsok kozott ernek be a legtobb szallashelyre. Ugy tunik, hogy kihagyjak a mai offroad szakaszt es holnap csatlakoznak hozzank Mestiaban.

A sinopi pihenonapon a 01-es Pajeronak sikerult szorakoztatni a parton hevereszo csapattarsakat es helyieket, miutan egy hosszabb tengerparti homokozas utan nem sikerult a kemping melletti patakon atkelni. Segitsegukre sietett a Magnum R. Team vezetoje es komolyan felkeszitett autoja, es a csorlojenek nem okozott gondot kihuzni a felig a tengerbe sullyedt Pajerot epp, mielott  a dagaly magaeva tette volna.

A Sinop – Batumi szakasz kulonosebb esemenyek nelkul zajlott, becsulettel daraltuk le a kilometereket es fustoltuk el a literenkenti 520 forintos torok benzint es gazolajat. Az elso csapatok este 7 korul ertek a szallashelyre, ok talan szerencsesebek voltak, a tobbiekben jo 2 orat kellett a hataron varni, sokszor kozelharc-szeru jelenetekben reszt venni, hogy torokorszagbol ki, gruziaba pedig belepjenek. Sokak szerint ez rosszabb volt, mint a marokkoi-mauritan hataratlepes, bar nezopont kerdese. A zuhogo eso mindenesetre nem tett hozza a csapatok rozsas kedvehez.

A hataratlepes unalmas folyamatat feldobando a Csontbrigad aktualis pilotaja leamortizalt a kocsi vonohorgaval egy epp ott teblabolo Ford Mondeot a tulaj legnagyobb oromere. Rosszkor volt rossz helyen.

A hulla faradt csapatok megettek minden ehetot ami a batumi Hotel Mari ettermeben talalhato volt, majd nemi vodka es sor megnyugtato jelenleteben eltoltottek ott nehany orat mielott agyba zuhantak volna.

A mai Batumi-Kutaisi szakasz mar izelitot ad a gruz hegyekbol, aki birja szusszal es futomuvel az atkel a vadregenyes Borjomi-Khargauli Nemzeti Park teruleten… bizzunk benne, hogy szep ido fogadja oket.

Folytatas kovetkezik, kepek akkor lesznek, ha lesz internet es nem ul mellettem 10 centire a komoly szagu portas ember aki mar turelmetlenul nez, meddig potyogok meg….

(EN)

I’m writing from our Batumi hotel where the only place to gain internet is the reception desk and just 8 inch from me is the receptionist guy who doesn’t exactly smell like a flower…

The pace cars started pretty late from the Sapanca hotel and we added a stupid idea to explore an alternative route to Sinop from the main motorway. It was a good idea in terms of driving through wonderful lands but it was about 2 hours longer. Pace car 02 had brake problems and ended up having no brakes in the middle of the mountains. Finally Zoli stopped by a group of road construction vehicles and asked for some brake fluid to be able to drive to the campsite.

Many of the teams spent at least part of their rest day in Sinop with repairs. Team 01′s Mitsubishi had brake problems which was repaired by the incredibly creative team leader of Beer Team. We show the video of the new, patented method soon, it’s well worth a look (see the video above).

The competition leader Beer Team solved the brake problem of the already mentioned Mazda, however the solution resulted a front brake only car… but it’s much better than having nothing. Needless to say this was an unconventional repair method too, they got a small steel ball from the handle of a tool to get the defected brake system close…

Thanks, guys!

They had their own repairs as well building a locally made rubber ring as a lift for their suspension. They do need this for the mountains knowing the ground clearance of their Lada ‘Silver Arrow’ is not exactly high.

Those not repairing anything enjoyed the 40C heat, cold beers and the pleasant beach.

The organizers surprised the crews with a beach cooked dish which got ready some hours later than expected and also did scald some hands but they seemed to like it despite being a Hungarian food made exclusively local (Turkish) ingredients. It was an unforgettable night again sitting under the stars, listening to the sound of the waves while drinking the booze we wisely bought in the duty free shop at the border.

Earlier today Pace car 01 was the main attraction on the remote beach when the smart drivers tried to cross a too deep section of the sea and instantly stuck in the water. Just before high tide….

Luckily the driver of Magnum R Team was sunbathing near the spot and helped the guys out. The winch of the Land Cruiser (many call the vehicle the Death Star for its size) had no problem dragging the Pajero out of the sea.

Team 07, L&L`s arriver in the morning with the 2 exhausted members on board. They spent a fortune to get their cylinder head repaired in Istanbul – it seems to be OK but now their radiator’s got a hole for a change.

They’re a little bit lost and disappointed as they spend most of their time in repair shops, but we tried to cheer them up and convinced them the car has a good karma and everything will be OK. The Polish Awanturnik team escorted them to the local mechanic and at 5PM they followed the others on the 720 km etap to Batumi.

The truck of US team Yerevan Express still has that terrible noise from the engine but it runs and they’re one of the first teams every day. They decided to skip the next off road stages and spend their time in Batumi and Kutaisi and join the teams later in Tbilisi.

Not much to write about the Sinp-Batumi stage, we ate up the kilometers and smoked the most expensive petrol (2,3 USD a liter or 9,2 USD a gallon). The first teams reached Batumi at around 7PM, they might be the lucky ones. The others had to wait more than 2 hours at the border for whatever reason to exit turkey then enter Georgia. Some people said it was worse than the border between Morocco and Mauritania, but the “clusterfuck” situation (this was the point we learned this term from the US team) was spiced up with pouring rain….

To entertain us during the boring process of border crossing (or for whatever reason), team 66 Csontbrigad reversed their car at the wrong time and wrong place and crushed a Ford Mondeo to make the owner’s day.

Dead tired teams ate everything they found in the restaurant of Hotel Mari in Batumi then cheered with some glasses ofvodka and a couple of beers before they went to sleep.

Today’s stage gives a taste of Georgian mountains. Most teams who’s got the proper vehicle and enough power will cross the adventurous Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park – we hope they’ll have a  nice weather as the landscape is truly stunning there.

More to come, photos will be uploaded once we’ll have proper internet and the smelly receptionist won’t stare at me every second to urge me to drop the keyboard finally so he can continue playing Solitaire.

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(HU)

A technikai és személyi állományt egyaránt próbára tevő albániai szakaszok után egy kis nyugodalom következett.

A Tiranától délre lévő országrész legnagyobb városát, Korcá-t érintve átléptünk Görögországba. A Csontbrıgad csapat kicsit megtoldotta az alban szakaszt (ez minden evben elofordul valakivel), ugyanis az egyik feladat utan nem talaltak ra a helyes utra es orakat veszıtve, uttalan utakon hegyeket maszva kovalyogtak el a foutig. Tobb csapat is aldozatul esett az idozona valtasnak es lekeste a beerkezesi hataridot, annak ellenere, hogy erre tobb helyen felhıvtuk a figyelmet…

Az albán oldal a régi kommunista időket idézte – nagy köteg pénzt lobogtató váltósok, olcsó cigit és italokat kínáló viskók. De mindenki kedves volt és mosolygott, a szemlátomást rettentően unatkozó fegyveresek rajtunk kívül aznap nem láthattak külföldit. A görög vámosok pedig azzal mulatták az időt hogy az únióba be nem vihető élelmiszereket kerestek honfitársaiknál, tej, hús és hasonlók kerültek a kukába. Végtelenül álmos és szakadt volt az egész.

A határ utáni görög rész ha lehet még szakadtabb mint az albán oldal, aztán ahogy közeledtünk a nemrég elkészült autópályához lassan „magához tért az únió” és hamarosan tükör aszfalton vágtattunk – Kavaláig.

A szállás egy a mainál jobb napokat látott kemping, a helyiek komoly bajban vannak, a hülye sajtó elijeszette a vendégeket, pocsék a szezon. Hasonló érzelmekkel viseltetnek a Nemzetközi Valutaalap iránt mint nálunk sokan…

Az egyebkent igen kellemes kempinget magunk mogott hagyva hosszu es az ıdojarasnak koszonhetoen kımerıto ut kovetkezett. A rovıd gorog autopalya szakasz utan atleptunk Torokorszagba, ahol egy gyors duty free megallo utan nekivagtunk a torok autopalyaknak. Este 8 korul a legtobb csapat beert a celba (az amerikaiak komoly at fejodtek es elsonek ertek be) es a kıfejezetten ıgenyes topartı Lale hotel kertjeben a hosszu asztaloknal kellemes szelloben fınom kaja mellett pihentuk kı a nap faradalmait.

A csapatok kozul csak a 07-es L&L’s nem tudott celba erni, Istanbulban egy ismerosuk altal beszervezett szerelo ıgyekszık eletet lehelnı a megfaradt Pajeroba hengerfej-csere segıtsegevel. Ha minden igaz a mai napon elkeszulnek es vagtatnak utanunk a Fekete-tenger partjan fekvo Sinopba.

Rajtuk kivul az osszes csapat mukdokepes es csak kısebb-nagyobb problemakkal kuzd, a sinopi pihenonapon mindenkinek lehetosege lesz, hogy rendbetegye a jarganyat, mert utana a gruz szakasz bızony komoly megprobaltatasokat jelenthet…

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(EN)

Both men and machines were tested on the Albanian stages but we were drıvıng on much smoother roads after Pogradec, Albanıa.

We drove through Korce, the biggest town South of Tırana and crossed the border to Greece. Team 66, ‘Csontbrıgad’ must be in love with Albania as  they added another (officially unplanned) stage after reaching a challenge point and trying to get back to the main road. They were not stopped even by the locals who kept on sayıng lookıng at theır otherwıse cool 4WD:  ’ wıth thıs one… no-no-no!’ Fınally they  managed to climb the mountains but lost enought time to be late for the finish. More teams were late that nıght even though we highlighted to always check for time zone changes…

The Albanian side was like in the old communıst times wıth money changers wavıng their banknotes, small huts offerıng cheap cigarettes and booze. Everyone was kind and smiled, the bored Albanian customs officers had probably seen the only tourısts today ın the past weeks and the Greek customs had nothing else to do but check the trunk of the Albanian cars heading Greece for meat, milk or other types forbidden items.

After reaching the Greek highways it was an easy ride to Kavala, a resort place on the seaside.

Our home for that night was a pretty bıg campsıte whıch needs some renovations at certain points but as the owner said tourısm is more or less dead even in hıgh season (like now) thanks to the economic crisis and also the western propaganda alientaing foreigners from the country.

Leavıng the otherwise very pleasant campsıte a 600 km rıde was ahead that became pretty tough thanks to the weather.

After a short Greek drıve we entered Turkey and havıng a short duty free stop we hıt the road to Lake Sapanca, our destınatıon for the day. The hotel was more fancy than what we usually take on these trıps but fırst we had 2 nıghts ın campıngs before and secondly there was no other optıon around. Cool breeze, nıce food, cold beers, nıce storıes at the table, thıs ıs all we needed after an exhaustıng day.

Only team 07 L&L’s mıssed thıs treat, they tayed ın Istanbul and vısıted a mechanic who wıll (ınsallah) put a new cylınder head on theır Mıtsubıshı Pajero so they can step on the gas and reach us ıin Sınop. the nıce beach campıng by the Black Sea where we spend our rest day. The other teams are more or less OK wıth theır vehıcle and waıt for the day off to make small repaırs.

They better off checkıng theır cars as Georgıan roads are mercıless for the unprepared….

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Ha szeretned tudni, merre jar a Kaukazus Rali mezonye, kovesd nyomon a versenyzoket eloben!

A jarmukovetes.hu ceg jovoltabol 2 auto es egy motor utvonalat kovetheted nyomon, meghozza szinte valos idoben. A Pace Car 1, a Csontbrigad es a Motoros csapatok pillanatnyi helyzetet, a megtett utvonalat es egyeb erdekes adatokat a kovetkezo modon erheted el:

- Latogass el a jarmukovetes.hu weboldalra.

- Jelentkezz be a jobb oldali mezokbe irva a kovetkezo adatokat:

Felhasznalonev: cc2010

Jelszo: cc2010

- Kattints az alatta levo “Jarmuveim” gombra

- A megjeleno ablakban fgelul ki tudod valasztani a vizsgalni kivant idoszakot, majd az OK gomb megnyomasaval megjelenik a jarmu utvonala es pillanatnyi helyzete.

- A jobb oldali terkep alatt talalhato Google Maps` gombbal az utvonalat megjelenitheted a Google terkepen es muholdas kepen is megnezheted a nyomvonalat.

- Az oldal aljan talalhato linkekre kattintva egyeb erdekes adatokat is megtudhatsz: sebesseg, tachograf allasido, stb.

Jo szorakozast!

* * * * *

If you`d like to know where do the teams of CC2010 ride their cars and bikes you can enjoy LIVE tracking of some temas equipped with GPS tracked thanks for Lochner Ltd.

If you`d like to see the route, just do the following steps:

- Visit http://lochner.webeye.hu/lochner.htm

- Select the British flag for English language

- Login with using:
Username: cc2010
Password: cc2010

- Select the team you`d like to follow on the top bar (lic. plate)

- Select the time period you want to check

- Press the OK button

You`ll see the list of places the team visited and lots of additional datya like the place and timew they stopped, the total distance covered, average speed, etc.

Clicking the links at the bootom viges you additional info of speed all over the time period, tachograph, etc.

If you click on `Google Maps` link below the map on the right you can see the same route and position on Google Maps, so you can check the route on satellite maps too!

Have fun!

The Caucasian Chalenge 2010 flawlessly started on Saturday morning… well, as usual not for everyone.

First of all, British participants Team Willcox could not make it to the start as a couple of days after they started from the UK their car started to misbehave and was running n 9 mpg (around 32 liters/100km) and they couldn`t risk further complications and drove home. We reslly miss them as we know they were prepared for this trip for long months. Also Team Redworks ahd to skip this year`s challenge due to workload.

Team Gaz 69 had another problem with their car – it simply stopped 1 day before the start and refused going to the Caucasus. Luckily they managed to borrow another vehicle, a Toyota Hilux so with broken heart for their precious soviet trooper they`re on the road.

Team Yerevan Express faced some delays too due to the complications of their car, but 4 hours after the official start they received their Jeep Cherokee and were off together with Pace Car 2.

First night the teams spent their night (and their free drink coupons) in the small hill town of Ivanjica, Serbia celebrarting their first completed day. Next morning some of them had some hangovers but the beautiful weather let them forget about their problems.

Day 2 they drove through Southern Serbia visitng the beautiful monasteri of Studenica and driving scenic mountain roads before crossing the border to Kosovo. The sun was merciless to teams and almost none of them have A/C in their vehicle.

After driving through Kosovo they entered Albania testing their navigation skills for the first time to find the destination, the town of Kukes. Due to different difficulties some tems cut the difficult part and they took the asphalt road to the hotel.

The teams in competition category work hard for geting their points and apparently they improve their skills day by day. It seems all of them feel the spirit of competition and go for the grand prize, a free entry for Mumbai Xpress 2011 autorickshaw challenge dubbed `an amzing race for the clinically insane`.

Day 3 was a real navigation challenge for the drivers and navigators to find their way through rural Albanian backroads and the beautiful vally of river Drinit. The road was a test for vehicle preparation too and some teams faced some mechanical problems too.

Team 07, L&L`s had overhaeting, possibly a cylinder head gasket failure, but they seem to be able to continue. Team Yerevan Express has strange noise from the engine but the US team is full of hope and they keep on pushing it. They lost their tail pipe once but a skillful mechanic welded it and they ended up paying only 20 Euros for the repairs. They also need to improve their navigation skills a bit as they ended up in Montenegro while that country was officially nt in the route plan of the Caucasian Challenge…

Pace Car 1 had some problems with their brake pads but a cross-team effort with Beer Team solved it after buying the necessary parts and tools in Pogradec, Albania.

All teams arrived to Pogradec early in the evening yesterday to enjoy the lovely baech of Lake Ohrid, cold beers and a gift of Team Motoros, the biker man who brought a bottle of his home made blueberry `palinka` for all teams. When all the cold beers were gone from the fridge of the local abar in the campsite and they shared all the funny experience of the day most of the participants went to sleep except for the ones who enjoyed a late night swim in the pleasant water.

Day for is an easier route to Kavala, Greece when teams camp out again. We can`t wait tasting the famous dishes of the place and see if everyone could make it….

More updates soon!

Attila

It’s almost 11 but I still haven’t packed anything for the trip… so much left to do for the last day even though I thought we finished almost everything by the middle of the week.

And I need a haircut – badly.

I’ll probably do it somewhere in Albania or Greece or Turkey, just like 2 years ago. Whenever I feel I can’t stand the heat anymore…

A good news is that anyone interested can follow come of the vehicles LIVE as we have GPS trackers in some cars (and a bike).

I’ll post you the details tomorrow.

I know we’ll have so much to tell even after the first day…

Attila