Africa Eco Race 2010

[Jenna]

TENADI > SAINT-LOUIS
Stage10 - January 9th 2010

liaison : 0km | SS : 204km | liaison : 317km | Total :521km

More sand, more dunes, the stage goes over some of the previous day’s route, but in the other direction.

For around a hundred kilometres, there will be plenty of dunes to cross, of varying lengths, interspersed by plateaux, vegetation, camel grass and dry lakes…

The special stage will be marked by colours, with the varied shades of the dunes making a superb backdrop !

There are many different solutions to crossing the dunes. Sometimes, you have to know where to lose some time in order to gain an advantage later…

The second part of the route is a fast, winding track with a few soft sections.


THE FINAL CONFRONTATION
More sand, more dunes : today’s route went over some of the same sections as the day before, but in the opposite direction. For around one hundred kilometres, there were plenty of dunes to cross (of varying lengths) separated by plateaus, vegetation, camel grass and dry lakes… A colourful day, which was, of course, superb !

The second part of the route was faster, with some winding passages and soft sections.

This final timed stage kept all its promises, as did the second edition of the Africa Eco Race…

AND FOUR FOR JACKY LOOMANS ! JEAN-LOUIS SCHLESSER PERFECT WINNER OF THIS SECOND EDITION …
Between Tenadi and Saint Louis, the 204-km special stage was far from being a simple formality. Jacky Loomans, more on form than ever, took advantage to claim his fourth stage win, ahead of … Jérôme Pelichet, by just five seconds ! A victory that the Belgian driver dedicated to his grandson, who celebrates his birthday today ! As for Jérôme Pelichet, he may not have been able to add a stage win to his career record, but the second place overall delighted him, especially as back on the third stage, he was ready to retire due to engine problems… The real joy, however, will be for tomorrow when they reach the Rose Lake : “It will be the first time for Eugénie, and as for me… I haven’t seen it for a very long time !” Jean-Louis Schlesser is now shaping up to be the double winner of the Africa Eco Race : « Another beautiful stage… We were driving with François Lethier, but at one point he got stuck and we could not really risk losing too much time. Yesterday’s overheating problem cost us a lot, and if the problem had reoccurred, our first place was under threat. But François has a good lead over Mido, who is 4th overall. »

Further to serious problems with the deflating – re-inflating system yesterday, the blue buggy lost a lot of time. Like yesterday, Pelichet Sr worked hard, while enjoying himself. A fine family success within Team Raid Lynx !

A popular competitor with fine skills behind the wheel, ‘Mido’ was once again enjoying himself on his favourite playground. Fourth overall, and plenty of satisfaction at having completed a fine race. With his navigator Mahmoud Nour El Din, the Egyptians never faltered. Just like Gilles Florin with the Cotel Buggy, which today surfed over the dunes with particular efficiency …

In the trucks, Hungarian driver Miklos Kovacs claimed another win in his Scania, ‘sliding’ towards the Rose Lake.

On two wheels, the Italian rider Marco Capodacqua added his name to the record books of the Africa Eco Race finishing ahead of his compatriots Alberto Dottori and Giovanni Stefani. An extraordinary adventure for these pure amateurs.

Tomorrow, the arrival at the Rose Lake will allow the caravan of the Africa Eco Race to celebrate its winners after 11 days of intense racing in surroundings which were quite simply extraordinary.

[Jenna]

The Rose Lake …. At last !

The reward for all the hard work since December 28th, and the final deliverance on the beach, before reaching the mythical Rose Lake ! That is what the competitors of this second edition of the Africa Eco Race enjoyed today.

A great moment, and time to enjoy themselves… the 14 km on the beach did not count towards the overall final classification, but they allowed the competitors to show what they could do on one of rally raids' most famous locations. Sun, sea and sand… everything was in place for a fine celebration… which it definitely was !

A fine finish in presence of many Senegalese officials and spectators, friends, family members of those taking part, in the great tradition of a real marathon !



This final stage was the opportunity to reward the winners of the three categories taking part. In the car class, Jean-Louis Schlesser added a second win on the Africa Eco Race to his career record. After 11 magnificent stages, the 'Desert Fox' was delighted to have discovered a route with a thousand and one different facets : "Réné's route was of a high quality… no comments ! He really has the talent to draw up magnificent special stages, and once again, he was able to call our bluff. We have lived through stages of pure delight, both in terms of driving and navigation. More than ever this victory is that of a team, and François (Lethier) drove perfectly. I would like to emphasise that our welcome in Mauritania was exceptional. The Mauritanian authorities were perfect and the visit from the Minister of the Interior showed the interest this country has in the event. With more competitors taking part next year… it will be even better ! Team Schlesser will take part in two or three events this season before preparing for the Africa Eco Race 2011 !"

After a magnificent race, despite nearly coming to an abrupt end on the third stage (after losing a piston), Jérôme Pelichet finished in a brilliant second place, having managed his race to perfection : " This second place is extraordinary for us. Our initial aim was to get on the podium, but we never really expected this, and especially, we were not expecting such a rally ! What joy, both for me and for Eugénie, who worked really well, as in this event, the co-driver really has plenty to do. This was her first time at the Rose Lake, and we are both so happy. During 12 days, we have seen so much ! " For his second participation in the Africa Eco Race, François Lethier with a Schlesser Buggy, finished on the third step of the podium : "Magical… this race was magical ! It was impossible to guess what we would see next. Every day was enchanted. We had a really good race, and lived some intense emotions… thank you, René ! "

Just off the podium, " Mido " (Ablehamid Abouyoussef), who was also here in 2009, also enjoyed this adventure. Driving a Desert Warrior, the Egyptian driver has no regrets : " It was a beautiful race, with a great atmosphere. The driving, the navigation, the scenery… everything was there ! This rally really put forward the joint work between the driver and co-driver. We are really pleased with this fourth-place finish, as our initial aim was to finish in the top ten. I had not driven a four-wheel drive for a long time, and finally, after some minor changes, everything went perfectly…"

Just behind the Egyptian tandem, Jacky Loomans finished 5th. After a brilliant start to this race, the Belgian had clutch problems which prevented him from finishing on the podium : "I think I did more dunes on this rally than on all the Dakars in which I have taken part ! Over 150 km of dunes per day, including some really soft sand… it's the kind of terrain I love, and I had my fill ! Even if we had problems which lost us a lot of time overall, the only thing I will remember… is that Africa is still Africa !"


Congratulations to all those who reached the finish line : Edmond Pelichet, Gilles Florin, Miroslav Kubicek… to all those who had problems, who went through some difficult moments but still managed to get to the end of the adventure … Momo Asloun, Vincent Demonceaux (who had got off to a brilliant start), Rudy Goeminne, Juan Aibar, Jean-Jacques Jousseau, Stéphane Corso (who rolled at the start of the race but still reached Dakar), Karim El Zanaty, and all the others.


On two wheels, Marco Capodacqua won the event having suffered some days, but always remaining positive : " It was a difficult rally, and very demanding. Sometimes, I will admit I had problems, but I have reached the end. The dunes were quite terrible, and I had to outdo myself, but overall, I am so pleased to be there, with my friends. " Alberto Dottori was second behind Marco, having also had some serious problems some days…

Finally, among the trucks, after the retirement of Elisabete Jacinto, who had been very competitive at the start of the race, the Hungarian colossus Miklos Kovacs had a clear path towards victory : " I really enjoyed this race, except perhaps when I got stuck for 90 minutes in the dunes.. But it was really very beautiful and very technical. I won't forget this race, or my victory. Thank you, Africa ! "

So yes, 'Thank you, Africa !' - and see you again next year in January 2011 for another great adventure…

[Jenna]

final positions:

bikes
1 101 CAPODACQUA Marco (I) KTM
2 100 DOTTORI Alberto (I) KTM

cars
1 300 SCHLESSER Jean louis (F) DEBRON Arnaud (F)
2 302 PELICHET Jerome (F) DECRE Eugenie (CH) BOWLER
3 303 LETHIER Francois (F) LURQUIN Jean marie (B) BUGGY
4 304 ABOUYOUSSEF Abdelhamid (ET) NOUR EL DIN Mahmoud (ET) DESERT
5 301 LOOMANS Jacky (B ) DRIESMANS Frits (B ) NISSAN
6 308 PELICHET Edmond (F) MALFERIOL Bernard (F) BOWLER
7 306 FLORIN Gilles (F) COTEL Herve (F) BUGGY
8 312 KUBICEK Miroslav (CH) FRANC Bronislav (CH) RANGE ROVER
9 314 JOUSSEAU Jean-jacques (F) FOURDRAINE Frederick (F) TOYOTA
10 307 DEMONCEAUX Vincent (F) CASTAN Jose (F) BOWLER
11 309 GOEMINNE Rudy (B ) LEFEVRE Jacques (B ) AUDI
12 305 EL ZANATY Karim (ET) ALY Mohamed (ET) DESERT
13 313 CORSO Stephane (F) GROS Remi (F) MITSUBISHI
14 311 ASLOUN Mohamed (DZ) ASLOUN Naella (F) RENAULT

trucks:
1 400 KOVACS Miklos (H) CZEGLEDI Peter (H) TOTH Tamas (H) SCANIA
2 402 ESSERS Noel (B ) DE PAUW Hans (B ) BAETEN Richard (B ) MAN
3 403 OLIVIER Stephane (F) TURLAIS Xavier (F) VIVIER Frederic (F) RENAULT

I will post up the video links and latest pics tomorrow.

[cbrpaddy]

Great stuff. Many thanks for all the updates, Jenna, much appreciated

[Jenna]

it’s no problem, happy that people see that there is an alternative.

The editorial has been patchy this year (but way better than the first year), as the media team are all from mainland Europe and that has been their first priority.

Hopefully you will see an even bigger/better coverage next year as we (Raidxtreme) are discussing handling the UK media side of this rally along with several other rally raid events going on later this year and into 2011.

Can I ask anyone that has been following this thread what you would to see more (or less) off, what you like and what’s of no interest as that will help decide what we concentrate on providing in the future?

[Mutley]

Thanks Jenna,

It's been very interesting keeping up with the results from here

Coverage of the entrants further down the field is always good as these are the people struggling on budgets, and how they cope with running out of time then repairing vehicles, studying routes, and perhaps even sleeping is fantastic.

[Sohoeasy]

Well done Jenna ! saved us from all that "net dredging" for tit bits of info

[Jenna]

Coverage of the entrants further down the field is always good as these are the people struggling on budgets, and how they cope with running out of time then repairing vehicles, studying routes, and perhaps even sleeping is fantastic.

One of my biggest gripes with the ASO Dakar is that they ignore anyone that isn’t a media bigshot, as you say media coverage for privateers is key to not just getting sponsors but keeping them.

Everything is all still a bit early (some people are still not home after this year’s rally!) but what I would like to do is put together a 'media year' with one of next year’s entrants (same with several other rally’s)... it will follow them from day one with the organizing through getting sponsors, training, building the bike/car/truck ending up with the rally and the 'aftermath' of vehicle repatriation and rebuild.. more on this soon.

This all said UK entrants in any form of motorsport are their own worst enemy when it comes to PR, unlike the guys out in mainland Europe they do seem to be afraid of banging on the medias’ door to get attention.

Last year I was speaking with engineering students that were part of a student/university single seater championship and they seemed to think that people were going hand over cash just to have their name stuck on the car and that was it… those days have long gone, ‘sponsorship’ is a business in its own right these days with cash being tight and corporate ID’s being highly protected.