EGYPT: MOTOR RALLYING - Egyptian rally driver ascends the highest mountain that a car can scale in another record attempt

Record ID: 212648

  • Title: EGYPT: MOTOR RALLYING - Egyptian rally driver ascends the highest mountain that a car can scale in another record attempt
  • Date: 27th April 2010
  • Summary: DRIVER HISHAM NESSIM GETTING OUT OF JEEP AND GREETING BEDOUINS BEDOUIN WOMEN AND CHILDREN
  • Embargoed: 12th May 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAEMFCW07H0HVRV27GYM7PB9ZZA
  • Story Text: Egyptian rally driver and adventurer Hisham Nessim, who holds two Guinness records for desert rally driving, attempted to secure his third this weekend when he drove up one of the highest mountains in the Sinai desert.
    Guinness did not grant Nessim a record for his attempt to ascend the highest mountain in Sinai that a car can climb, because - he says - they deemed the area too dangerous to send a verification team to.
    He nonetheless raised the Egyptian flag from the summit of the 1,800 metre Igma mountain in south Sinai.
    Nessim already has two records under his belt in 2009 alone for fastest solo trip across the Great Sand Sea in Egypt's Western desert and fastest crossing of the entire Western Desert.
    He timed his Sinai record attempt was timed to coincide with Sinai Liberation Day, which commemorates the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Sinai in 1982, and the restoration of Egyptian sovereignty over the territory.
    Accompanying Nessim in his souped up Toyota FJ Cruiser was the governor of south Sinai, Mohamed Abdul Fadil Shousha, and a number of Bedouins who helped to guide him through the tough mountain terrain.
    There is a history of tension in Sinai between the Bedouin population and the Egyptian government and violence has sometimes broken out between government troops and armed Bedouin.
    The Governor was eager to show that relations between the two sides were peaceful and that Sinai, sometimes the target of terrorist attacks against tourists, was peaceful.
    Nissim eventually reached the summit of Mount Ras Igma and he, the governor and the local Bedouins raised a giant Egyptian flag they had brought with them.
    The trip, he said, had been even more satisfying than his recognized world records.
    "I'm very proud and very happy from what I did. Even I feel its better than the two world records in Guinness that I did the last years," he said.
    There is still a chance Guinness will recognize his third record attempt, says Nessim, his team is including the sheer size of the flag they raised - 5.6 by 3.4 meters - as another possible criteria for inclusion.
    Local Bedouin leader, Sheikh Mosallam, said that joining Nessim and the Governor had been exhilarating.
    "Honestly I feel very happy, because we have a very important person visit our country here, our places that we wish a long time to be together in this area. To enjoy the beautiful view. To enjoy this good feeling to put our flag in the very highest part in the desert," he said.
    After the flag was raised an Egyptian army helicopter flew overhead, allowing journalists a birds eye view of the rally team and the new addition to summit of Mount Igma.
    With the epic journey behind them, Nessim and his crew began the long journey out of the Sinai mountain range and back home.
    His attempt at a third Guinness record in a little over a year may have fallen just short for Hisham Nessim, but his the Egyptian rally driver is fast building up a reputation as one of Egypt's most daring desert adventurers.
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