Desert driving with Renault (+ pics)
Picture the scene. Two R28 Renault F1 cars are sitting in the middle of the Dubai desert. There’s nothing around for miles except endless mountains of sand. We’re an hour’s drive from central Dubai and the last place you’d expect to find two of the fastest cars on the planet. Sitting in the cockpits are ING Renault F1 Team third driver Romain Grosjean and demo driver Adam Khan as they get set to make history as the first men to take F1 cars for a blast through the desert.
The scene for this unique demo is a motorway that cuts through the sand dunes and stretches as far as the eye can see. There are few signs of life in this hot, barren environment – just the odd shrub or bush emerging from the sand. Shortly before the demonstration begins, a heard of wild camels wander across the motorway, clearly intrigued by the noise and vibrant colours of the Renault F1 Roadshow. Fortunately their interest soon passes and they head off into the distance.
Both Romain and Adam quickly get strapped into their R28s to begin their demo runs. They disappear from view with their V8s humming sweetly as they hit seventh gear on the desert road. Driving in such a surreal setting makes an interesting change from pounding around a Grand Prix circuit and both drivers thoroughly enjoyed demonstrating the speed of their F1 cars in such an unusual location.
“Racing in the desert was obviously different to anything I’ve experienced, but it was great to come here and do something that hasn’t been done before,” said Grosjean as he climbed from the R28. Adam was just as enthusiastic: “This is my first taste of the Renault Roadshow and I can’t think of a better place to start than Dubai. The road in the desert was a bit dusty but it was smooth and flat so we got up into top gear. Overall it was a lot of fun!”
Also behind the wheel of the R28 today was Mohamed Ben Sulayem, the FIA’s Vice-President for sport. As a 14-time Middle East Rally Champion and self-confessed car enthusiast, he is no stranger to high-performance cars. However, the chance to sample the brute power of Renault’s V8 F1 engine was an experience that left him thoroughly impressed: “I’m lucky to have many supercars of my own, but nothing compares to this Formula 1 car,” he said after completing his runs in the desert. “The thrust and power were simply amazing. It’s great of Renault to come to Dubai and put on this show and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to drive their car.”
