ADDC 2021: A real adventure for the CST Polaris Xtremeplus crews at the Tunisia Desert Challenge

A real adventure. Yesterday the two Italian CST Polaris Xtremeplus team left the bivouac at the oasis of Ksar Ghilane heading to Douz for a 255km long stage.
As anticipated by the organizers, the fifth stage was the toughest one because it was all about dunes and more dunes, sandy tracks mixed with more dunes. For those who are new to the Tunisian desert, the special took the competitors through about 40 kilometres of semi-off-road tracks in the typical "dunettes" of Tunisia, small but very tricky dunes.
 

“Sand, sand and more sand”,

said Andrea Tronconi at the arrival at the bivouac this morning at 5:30 am. Yesterday it was a very intense day; we had an issue with the suspension, and we were obliged to slow down.  We get stuck so many times. We also broke the belt. As the night arrived, we preferred to sleep in the desert and hit the road again this morning with the first morning light”.
 

“It was a wise decision”,

confessed Giorgio Papa, the navigator,

“considered that this is our first rally with the Polaris. It was tough but for sure we have a real adventure to tell when we go back home”.
 

Be prepare for the unexpected.

“This is in the DNA of the Rally Raids and the Dakar, so it’s part of the game, even if we prefer to sleep in the Xtremeplus motorhome at the bivouac”,

continued Andrea.
 
For Tronconi and Papa just the time for a warm shower and a rich breakfast  before taking the start of the 6th stage (Douz-Star Wars). Meanwhile the mechanics worked on their Polaris Pro XP equipped with the robust CST Apache tyres.
 
The second crew, Checco Tonetti and Andrea Bertoldi, are expected to reach the bivouac of Douz any minutes. They also had a tough day in the dunes. They spent the night in the desert with the Xtremeplus assistance truck and are now on the way to the bivouac.

Source Xtremeplus