Once again we entered the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge - this time with a new gearbox and hopefully the mechanical failures were a thing of the past. We raced into 2nd postion behind the BMW X3 of Leonid Novitsky, all the time snapping at his heels. It ended in tears when we launched the buggy off the top of a dune and we were unable to continue. This was our best showing so far and it shows that the buggy is extremely competitive.

Since the early days Team Saluki strived to generate publicity - the amount that we have achieved over the few years that we have been on the rally circuit is certainly very impressive!

The new look Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge suprised us all with the date change! Despite the Dakar competitors not being able to make it in time, 35 cars entered. This time Mark was unable to drive due to work commitments and Glen Reid took over the leash with Paul Richards navigating once again. They achieved a 10th overall position and 1st in class, despite having a 24hr penalty on the second day. The Saluki certainly showed a clean pair of paws, although it was moulting by the time it reached the finish ramp! All photos courtesy of Craig McAteer.

The Ha'il Baja was to be the first round of the World Cup for Cross Country Bajas. When female navigators were barred from entering, the FIA status was pulled, but the rally continued. The first few photos show the route on Day 2 when the Organisers were doing their route checking - it's not many times that you see white stuff in the desert! Mark Powell, Paul Richards, James Thomas and Mark Adams drove the 1,600 odd kms to Ha'il and achieved 2nd position overall and then drove back to Dubai! The photos in this gallery are a diary of their exploits!

The Saluki was finally ready although neither driver was entirely sure that they were as prepared as they would have liked. As usual, there were too many last minute jobs, lots of rushing around and plenty of nerves.

Mark and Dave had not raced in almost 17 months, the car was untested, there were many in-car jobs to get reacquainted with and there was no time left, the event was here!