Another Egyptian Victory in Paris-Dakar Africa Eco-Race 2011

Egypt has accomplished a new historical achievement in the desert rally with the great results of the Egyptian heroes participating in the race “Africa 2011”, which lasts for 14 days, held in the period from the 29th of December 2010 to the 9th of January 2011. The race included 12 stages for speed and reached a total length of more than six thousand miles. The Egyptian team –led by
Mido and his assistant Mahmoud Nour AL Din- succeeded in winning first place in the diesel engine category and coming in fourth in the general final ranking. The rally started from France and passed through Morocco, Mauritania finally reaching Senegal and
ending at the Capital, Dakar. The Egyptian team, which participated with a car model Rally Ride Desert Warrior succeeded in finishing the race in fourth place, the same as last year with the difference that last year they were competing with 30 cars, including a number of experienced drivers and world Champions in rallying the desert and the Dakar Rally.

Mido and Nour Al Din came in after the experienced Frenchman Jean Louis Schlessler, who won his third consecutive rally and four races during one year: 2 titles for the Africa Race, the Tunisia race and the last Pharaohs rally. The Belgian, Steven Henrar, the winner of Pharaohs rally 2005, came in at second place. The Frenchman Jerome Plushier, the winner of Pharaohs rally 2009 and the champion of the Paolar Wild Cup came in third.
Mido and Nour Al Din faced a tough competition during the rally. They were ahead of the title-holder Schlesser at the early stages of the rally. The team was in sixth place then advanced to fifth place and maintained it for a while. Then, they succeeded in moving up to fourth. But they returned again to fifth place after some a breakdown and a part of the car was destroyed in the deserts dunes. At the end they succeeded to end the race in fourth place the same as the last year.

Abdel Hamid Abu Yousef, “Mido” who has the best result among the Egyptian teams in the Pharaohs Rally and in international rallys has been ranked first for cars surging gig in the Rally of the Pharaohs in 2009 with Mahmoud Nour Al Din, and scored the ninth place overall in the rally, as he succeeded in scoring a win in one of the stages. Abu Yusuf has achieved the best result in the Rally of the Pharaohs by arriving in the fourth place in 2007, and has also been third in the Race for Africa in 2009, has
won three consecutive Rally of the Pyramids, was in his first Rally of the Pharaohs in 2005 with a Toyota Land Cruiser pick-up with the help of Ramses Nosshy. He returned the ball again with a similar car in the following year, before participating with a Kotel Buggy in 2007 with the help of Izz al-Din Mahmoud, and in 2008 was assisted by the German Thomas Holtzknan. Mido plays the role of organiser of the Rally of Egypt Cup and the Challenge to the desert of Egypt organised by the school rally, the first of its kind in Egypt.

Egypt’s participation in this race was considered as the only Arabic representatives in this great event which is covered by all the
European media. This kind of sport is witnessing a huge development in Egypt in the last years. The Egyptians teams have won the diesel race for three consecutive years and the two wheel drive race in the Pharaoh’s Rally in 2009.