Toyo Tires' Ramses Persez Takes Us Through Turbo Tom's MAN Rollover

Jacobacci, Argentina - January 7, 2008 - Ramses sent the following message and photos to the Toyo Tires headquarters in California on Tuesday night. Due to poor internet connections throughout the region, he was unable to post these himself. Here is what he had to say:

“I’m sitting in my tent at the bivuac in Neuquen Argentina. I traveled again in the Media H1 Hummer. It was a very long drive through rough roads and continually elevated towards the mountains. We had traveled about 135 km when we got word that the MAN support truck had rolled and needed assistance. We quickly headed back and saw the aftermath of the accident.

The MAN rolled on the driver side and broke most of its suspension components. The guys were okay just a little shaken up.

We headed back towards Neuquen loosing about four hours of the day. The road here was for lack of better words…INSANE! The gravel roads were full of huge holes, silt holes would suddenly pop up. That was nothing in comparison to the miles and miles of driving through silt beds and washes. The Hummer skidded around powering through the terrain. It beats you up pretty bad, but I must admit…it was fun. We climbed very high in to the mountains seeing the rural areas and small villages.

After twelve hours of driving, we finally arrived. You can’t believe how good it feels to finally drive on asphalt after all that off-road driving. We were treated to a now trademark Argentine welcome. Thousands and thousands of people line the streets. They run after the car and yell “Buena suerte” which means good luck in Spanish. I have taken a liking to the fanaticism the Argentines have. They are curious and excited because other than soccer, no other sporting event of this magnitude has come to this country in a very long time.

Robby had an interesting stage four…he rolled three times in the air and stuck the landing. He was very lucky, something that has not come his way in a long time. Maybe this is a sign of better things to come. Gordon finished stage four 10th overall and is still sitting in 9th overall for the rally. Tomorrow’s stage will be the rally’s first endeavor in the dunes of South America. The perfect terrain for the Hummers…”