September 5, 2008
9/04
Score: #12 Brian Collins Likes it Rough
AMERICA’S RONN BAILEY
CROSSES THE FINISH LINE NEAR THE
GREAT WALL OF CHINA IN THE TRANSORIENTALE
THE WORLD’S LONGEST OFF-ROAD RACE
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.
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.
About Vanguard Integrity Professionals
Vanguard Integrity Professionals provides enterprise security software and
services that solve complex security and regulatory compliance challenges for
government agencies and Fortune 500 companies around the world. With solutions
for Identity Management, Assurance & Compliance, Access Management and
Intrusion Detection, Vanguard automates processes necessary to identify and
mitigate the risks customers face. Vanguard’s customers receive a rapid
return on investment and are able to focus on other critical business needs thereby becoming more productive and more secure.
For more information, visit www.go2vanguard.com
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