K&N and Total Chaos Fabrication Take on the Sahara Desert in a One of a Kind Race
- 3 févr. 2017
Started in 1990, the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles du Maroc, as it is officially called, is a rally race held in the southeastern portion of Morocco, Africa, along the Algerian border. The race, put on by Maienga, an international event management agency, is only open to women. Their goal is to raise money to support a team of doctors to provide medical attention to the remote regions of Morocco.
Being an all women race, there are often a wide range of participants from all over the globe and from all walks of life. One of the teams consisted of a pair of Southern California women, Chrissy Beavis and Nicole Pitell-Vaughan. Chrissy is a rally car co-driver and has worked with some of the best in the industry. Nicole Pitell-Vaughan owns Total Chaos Fabrication in Corona, California. Total Chaos fabricates suspension parts for a variety of off-road specific applications. So both women are no stranger to driving off-road, but this would take them to the next level.
“I only work with companies that I truly believe in,” explained Nicole, “K&N has been making filters since the ’60s and they build some of the best air filters around. They were one of the first calls I made when I decided to go on this adventure.”
Nicole explained that the sand in the Moroccan Sahara is finer than any sand she had ever encountered before. This meant the truck needed an air filter that would offer excellent airflow while keeping out as much dirt and dust as possible. K&N has always claimed that our products really do work and this would be a test of that statement. Nicole and Chrissy would be driving the Total Chaos 2014 Toyota Tacoma 4x4, affectionately dubbed the “Morocco Taco”. We outfitted the Taco with a K&N 33-2281 replacement air filter. This helped ensure that the TRD supercharged 4.0-liter engine received the clean air it needed to work properly. Nicole explained that they were allowed an hour before they left the camp in the morning and an hour when they got to the next camp to work on their vehicles.
She also explained that the only problem they had on the journey, was a broken upper shock mount in the rear. Aside from that, the truck performed flawlessly, even climbing the Merzouga Dunes, some of the largest dunes in the world.
The US team of Nicole and Chrissy came in second place in the 4x4 class, the highest ranking U.S. team to compete in that class. Nicole said that her mind and body have forever been changed by the Rallye. “I entered the Rallye to redefine my career,” she explained, “and I have to say that spending almost two weeks driving through the desert with zero contact to the outside world does something to you. Not in a bad way, but it makes you look at the world differently.” We are glad that Nicole decided that K&N was worthy enough to come along for the trip. | |||||||
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