Cross-Country Rally
Transorientale Rally: Ronn Bailey final summary
AMERICA'S RONN BAILEY CROSSES THE FINISH LINE NEAR THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA IN THE TRANSORIENTALE -- THE WORLD'S LONGEST OFF-ROAD RACE - Sole U.S. Car Team Finishes 29th Out of 48 Cars That Started in Russia-to-China Rally Covering 10,000 km in 17 ...
Edited: Jul 2, 2008, 11:48 PM
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AMERICA'S RONN BAILEY CROSSES THE FINISH LINE NEAR THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA IN THE TRANSORIENTALE -- THE WORLD'S LONGEST OFF-ROAD RACE
- Sole U.S. Car Team Finishes 29th Out of 48 Cars That Started in Russia-to-China Rally Covering 10,000 km in 17 Days -
LAS VEGAS -- Vanguard Integrity Professionals CEO, CTO and founder, Ronn Bailey, completed the world's longest off-road race ever, the first Transorientale Rally from Russia to China on Saturday near Beijing. The race started in St. Petersburg, Russia on June 12th through Kazakhstan and ended at the Great Wall of China near Beijing on June 28th, covering 10,000 km in just 17 days. Bailey and his co-pilot and navigator, Kellon Walch, both from Nevada, were the only U.S. car team in the race and the only U.S. participants to cross the finish line.
The incredibly challenging competition felled many car, truck and motorcycle teams racing through all types of the most challenging desert and mountain terrain, with only 60% of the vehicles finishing that started the race.
It is an even more significant accomplishment for Bailey, an amateur racer who only started racing in 2005, competing in only his 12th race against far more seasoned drivers with decades of experience. Bailey, who had competed in three Dakar races but had yet to finish, was consistently in the top 10 rankings in his Transorientale class early in the Rally, rising to 6th overall in the cumulative rally total time at the end of Stage 8. Bailey had a fantastic run in the 12th Stage, finishing fourth in that daily timed special. But after the 12th Stage Bailey was plagued by mechanical problems. Amazingly, despite those problems, the enormous distances and rugged terrain crossed each day through the Gobi Desert, Bailey completed the entire rally and was recognized as one of the few surviving competitors at the finish line at the Great Wall.
Overall, 48 drivers started but only 30 finished. Bailey came in 29th. Bailey will remain in China for several more days for meetings on behalf of his enterprise security software company, Vanguard Integrity Professionals, which sponsored the team.
The Transorientale Course
The Russian segments consisted of five short Stages through dense forests, and fast sandy tracks with rollercoaster drops. In Kazakhstan, the four Stages traversed numerous lakes and flood zones, though mountainous and difficult to navigate birch forests.
After one rest day before starting the seven Transorientale Stages in China, the race continued along the Sino-Kazakh border. Those series of Stages winded through slippery undulating dunes and gigantic sandy mountain dunes which reached close to 2,000 meters in height. The last leg led to the foot of the Great Wall, close to Beijing, and the finish line on June 28th. www.transorientale.com
About Ronn Bailey
For more than three decades, Bailey has been a recognized leader in information security technology. He has worked closely with governmental agencies and Fortune 500 companies worldwide to solve security issues at the highest levels. Bailey decided his first off-road race should be the 2005 Dakar. Since then, Bailey has raced in the 2005 Rallye Maroc race in Africa, the Dakar in 2006 and 2007, and has been a first through third place finisher in six North American and Mexican races. The Transorientale 2008 is his 12th race.
-credit: wheresronn.com
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