7T6 6661

Cool shots, certainly a unique double spot!

+2

It was lucky he took some photos in 2018, what is very painful however is that I was supposed to be a part of the 2019 Turkmen Desert Race but the FIA cancelled it and it will never run again so I was hoping to get some really cool spots but I will never get that chance now Luckily my friend has let me upload a few pics he took on his phone from the first and only race they ran...

+2

That's super unfortunate, would've been a fascinating opportunity to visit a very unique country. What was the reasoning behind its cancellation?

+1

I was led to believe that the governing motorsports body "FIA" did not approve of how Turkmenistan operated or something to that effect. The first rally was done without FIA approval as a test, but they then prohibited further events once an application to make it official had been made.

+1

Interesting, shame it never got the official go-ahead. Although I can assume that Turkmenistan isn't necessarily the easiest country to work with.

0

From what we read about the country it seems to be described like a difficult country, but my understanding from my friend was that they did everything for the rally, even their strict visa entry scheme was waived for the duration, and they splashed out to make it an amazing event. I am familiar with many of the teams that ran in the Turkmen Desert Race from my volunteering with the Africa Eco Race preparations in Monaco and South of France (still working on joining the full event!) and they seemed to praise the event, so I think it more a political falling out than anything else sadly.

Here is a summary video if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWaNDKdojWI

+1

Certainly sad that these problems caused it's eventual cancellation. Thanks for sharing that video, always neat to see videos of Turkmenistan, looks like a great backdrop for that kind of race!

+1