Vanguard CEO Ronn Bailey managed to finish his first ever Cross-Country World Cup event, thus meeting the expectations of his SMG team and getting the best possible preparation for the 2006 Dakar Rally.
"I learned technical skills, like going up and down sand dunes. Now I know how to judge which way the dune is going down just when I come to the top of it. There is an instant when you catch that. It is very important because it tells you where to turn in order not to roll over. I also learned to better control the car in the turns without using the brakes. It allowed me to go a little faster. Finally, as I said on Sunday right after the race, I learned about the whole business of finishing the race. When I went to Morocco, it was for my own individual training. The long and very interesting conversation I had Saturday night with Jean-Louis Schlesser and Philippe Gache, when they told me how driving is their job, made me change my point of view. On Sunday, when Philippe told me that my job was to finish the race, I realized that I was not the only one out there. I needed to finish for the sponsor, Vanguard, and for the team, for these fantastic mechanics who worked on the car before and during the race. As a driver, I had that responsibility and I drove with that in my mind all day on Sunday."
As regards to the next Dakar, here are the influences the Morocco experience will have on Ronn: "First obvious thing is that it has a positive impact on my skills on all kinds of terrain. Of course, I still need a lot of training and I will do a lot in the next months. Being with a very professional team, I know and understand better now how racing is supposed to be done. Driving with a professional navigator is important. Denis Schurger called me today and said he wants to do the Dakar with me. This is going to be very helpful".
