The Badawi Trail to the Last Oasis

In the heart of the desert, where echoes softly wail,

Vintage cars roar, on the Badawï Trail,

In twenty twenty-three, under the sun’s fierce light,

They race through time, in the golden night

Keith ‘Mutchie’ Mutch

Aqaba to Dubai

The Badawi Trail (Badawi is Arabic for desert weller) wound its way from Aqaba to Dubai over 16 days, from 10-26 October, from desert floor to soaring mountains, travelling in tracks cut into the sand by pilgrims, armies, explorers and nomads, and through landscapes that until recently have seldom been seen by the western world. 

The HERO-organised rally reached its final destination, the Emirate of Dubai, 7,500km from the start in Aqaba, Jordan, having crossed four countries, 23 regularities, 10 desert time controls, one test, as well as a couple of laps of the Jeddah Corniche Grand Prix circuit, with drivers of 14 different nationalities.  Despite temperatures that reached as high as 45 degrees as crews dealt with sand, rocks and even thunderstorms, 43 of the 45 cars that began this journey, made it to the finish in Dubai.

Victory went to the Argentine pair of Jorge Perez Companc and Jose Maria Volta by over six minutes, the feat all the more impressive with the crew nursing a gearbox problem in the Chevrolet Master Coupe in the later stages and finishing without second and fourth gear. 

Read our report in the December 2023 issue of Historic Motor Racing News….