Africa Eco Race 2010

[Jenna]

nice new shiney thread for the Africa Eco

...well we dont want it all mangled up with maingey old Patagonia Atacama/Por las Pampas Rally... oh whoops sorry I meant 'Dakar' thats not going anywhere near dakar but cynically plays on the history

Pics from the scruiteneering in Portimao on monday/tuesday

[Jenna]

Heading for « The Mummy »…
The second leg took the competitors to the site of « The Mummy »… a mountain with angular forms, which has gained this name after the rather atypical scenery was used in the film of the same name. Rather longer than that of the day before, the day’s special stage was generally quite fast, with some deep depressions in the plains and valleys. René Metge had made a promise… « We have not removed all the stones from the Moroccan tracks, but we have removed as many rough passages as possible. » The promise was kept, to the delight of the competitors.

Despite everything, the navigation was far from easy. It was imperative, not to say mandatory, to follow the road book with great precision to keep heading in the right direction and stay on the right track. And it must be said that there were a few u-turns…

First stage win for Jacky Loomans !
Over the 207 km timed stage, the Belgian driver Jacky Loomans set the best time, with an impressive pace. Despite a puncture and a small navigational mistake, his Nissan Navara allowed him to claim the win. Jacky Loomans and Frits Drietsman, his navigator, therefore finished 2009 in fine style… Second in today’s stage, Jérôme Pelichet and Eugénie Decré had a busy day in their Wildcat, but finished just over five minutes behind the ‘Flying Belgian’. In the overall classification, the Franco-Swiss pair have taken the lead, but Loomans is close behind… Third today, the everlasting Jean-Louis Schlesser, with his Buggy, was a model team-mate, coming to the aide of François Lethier, who was suffering from a few brake problems. Wisely, the two blue Buggies showed great team spirit. In a waiting position, third overall, the ‘Desert Fox’ is only a few seconds behind Loomans. Congratulations to Vincent Demonceaux, 5th today and 5th overall. As for Edmond Pelichet, he was back on the air today, with his radio functioning again… closely followed by a very consistent Miroslav Kubicek. As far as the Egyptian drivers are concerned, « Mido » is more and more satisfied with the behaviour of his Desert Warrior, while as for Karim El Zanaty, his first rally outside his homeland appears to be delighting him. Gilles Florin and Hervé Cotel are in a good position, watching and waiting without gambling too much on the Moroccan tracks. Rudy Goeminne, with his Audi Buggy, appears to be getting the better of his problems, setting the 10th fastest time today. Juan Aibar, 7th overall, suffered today, but the Spanish duo has not stopped smiling. Jean-Jacques Jousseau is continuing his apprenticeship, as is his navigator, Frédérick Fourdraine ! Stéphane Corso, who rolled his vehicle yesterday in the first stage (without serious damage) has not lost his motivation and took to the track this morning with a slightly rumpled Pajero. As for the Asloun family (father and daughter), a number of problems yesterday and some electronic issues slightly spoiled their start, but it would take more than that to discourage the driver of the Ch’ti Kangoo, and his objective remains the Rose Lake !

In the Truck category, Mr Miklos Kovacs took control, determined not to let Elisabete Jacinto disappear into the distance. The Hungarian driver set the fastest time, and has a 47 second lead in the overall classification in front of the Portuguese driver.

On two wheels, Giovanni Stefani got the better of his two compatriots today, but in the overall classification, it is Alberto Dottori who is in the lead…

Jacky Loomans – Nissan Navara
« The special stage was very beautiful… fast, fast, fast ! But I was still very careful because I know that in Morocco, you can lose more than you can win ! To prove that, we had a front right puncture during today’s stage…»


Jérôme Pelichet – Bowler Wilcat
«It was quite simply magnificent… and once again we had lots of fun ! Thank you, René, because at last the navigators have some work to do!!! »


Jean-Louis Schlesser – Buggy Schlesser
«Everything went very well, but the navigation was not easy ! The special stage was very beautiful and the road book was perfect. Towards the end, François (Lethier) was a bit slow. I stopped, and decided to stay with him. »


François Lethier – Buggy Schlesser
« I didn’t want to take any risks, and I slowed down towards the end. The special stage was splendid… I live in Morocco, and I am still discovering some astonishing tracks. My congratulations to Jean Marie (Lurquin) because we were opening the route ! »


Gilles Florin – Buggy Cotel
«The special stage was really beautiful. Hervé has done a great job ! Our motto : to get out of Morocco with a new car, so we’re going quite ‘calmly’..”


Vincent Demonceaux – Bowler Nemesis
« Well done to René (Metge) as it was quite a job to follow the right headings !!! José (Castan) was rather ill today but he survived ! »


Karim El Zanaty – Desert Warrior
« We had a radio breakdown after 50 km and we had to shout very loudly… This is the first time I have driven outside Egypt and I am really happy to be here! »


Miklos Kovacs – SCANIA
«The special stage was great and we had a good fight with Elisabete. Our brakes began to overheat so we slowed down slightly. We’ve taken a narrow lead in the overall classification and we’re preparing ourselves for the rest of the event ! »

[Jenna]

[Jenna]

Stage3 -January 1st 2010
liaison : 4km | SS : 423km | liaison : 51km | Total : 488km

When Draa rhymes with the Chegaga…Dunes

The first day of 2010 was definitely not a rest day, even though a tasty programme was in store for the competitors… The first twenty kilometres took place in a magnificent plain on a good track, but which was often twisty. Reaching some low mountains, it was important to keep a close eye on the navigation…

A rocky, rough pass with a number of depressions came before the wide open spaces. A fast plateau, a rolling track and a big saline lake towards the mountains made up the rest of the day’s programme.

At the 240 km point, it was time to get down to the serious business, with small dunes, often broken, interspersed with small flat saline lakes. ..

The last part of this third special stage went through the Draa wadi, the major Chegaga dunes and finally the Iriqui Lake… a magical panorama !



Down to serious business !

Although Jacky Loomans set off in first position this morning, it did not take long for Jean-Louis Schlesser to first catch, and then overtake him. François Lethier soon did likewise. Without a tyre deflating system, and forced to go through the dunes with great care, the ‘Desert Fox’ did not lose his head, although he did give himself quite a scare by stopping dead right at the edge of an enormous dip. Having avoided a catastrophe, the driver of the blue Buggy stormed towards the finish line, claiming his first stage win ahead of his team-mate François Lethier, who was delayed by a puncture and a blocked jack. Jacky Loomans, yesterday’s winner, lost some precious minutes after a puncture and becoming beached on top of a dune. In the overall classification, the Belgian driver is lying third, approximately four minutes behind the new leader, Jean Louis Schlesser, who leads ahead of his team-mate.

Today’s big loser was Jérôme Pelichet. After a brilliant performance which would certainly have given him the stage win, the Bowler Wildcat driver saw some worrying blue smoke coming from his bonnet. Having added oil, the Franco-Swiss team continued carefully towards the finish line, where they discovered a broken piston.

Team Raid Lynx is not giving up, however, and will do everything they can so that Jérôme and Eugénie can continue tomorrow morning. A fine performance from ‘Mido’ should also be mentioned, as he set the 5th fastest time today, despite a small navigational mistake in the dunes, which took around 50 km to get back on the right track.

The sand, softer than expected, surprised all the competitors, who, despite a few problems, found the stage magnificent, once again. Among the unluckier competitors, Rudy Goeminne suffered a pierced radiator on his Audi Buggy, Karim El Zanaty, had a broken distribution cable pulley bearing, while the unfortunate Mohamed Asloun, driving the Ch’ti Kangoo, once again suffered electronic problems.

Among the trucks, it was a bad day for Elisabete Jacinto, who is now ten minutes behind Miklos Kovacs, who is still in the lead. The Portuguese driver first suffered a rear right puncture, and then became stuck in the dunes… a tough day. Noel Essers also suffered a few misadventures.

On two wheels, finally, the Italian clan suffered today. Alberto Dottori pulled off his fuel tap before breaking down. This evening, Marco Capodacqua was leading the category.

Jean-Louis Schlesser – Buggy Schlesser

« We were very careful as we didn’t have a tyre deflating system and I didn’t want to get stuck. The stage was really not easy… »



Jacky Loomans – Nissan Navara

« I must admit that I had fun today. Over the first 20 kilometres, which were very fast, it was impossible to follow the Schlesser Buggies. We caught up with them later on, but by being too careful, we got stuck on top of a dune. In terms of navigation, it was still not easy !»



Jérôme Pelichet – Bowler Wildcat

« A broken piston ! It is even more disappointing as we were on the same pace as Jean-Louis. We felt that something was not quite right, and when we arrived close to the Iriqui Lake, we had to stop. We then drove carefully to reach the finish line. The special stage was magnificent, René has spoilt us again ! It was really not the best day for Team Raid Lynx… Edmond drove the last 200 kilometres without a terratrip or radio, while Kubicek suffered a broken transmission. The mechanics are going to be really busy tonight ! »



« Mido » - Desert Warrior

« The special stage was excellent. There was a bit of everything… However, we did spent almost eight hours behind the wheel and this fifth position is really pleasing. The alternating fast and technical sections gave a perfect rhythm to the day. Despite a small mistake which added about 50 km to our day, we are satisfied. But the rally is far from over… »



Gilles Florin – Buggy Cotel

« These first dunes were not that easy. We had a few problems with overheating while going through the wadi, but all is well ! »



Miklos Kovacs – Scania

«As the road-book told us, the day was difficult, but my co-driver was perfect and did not get lost once. Despite a puncture, our gap over Elisabete is more ‘comfortable’ now… but Dakar is still a very long way away, so… we have to take care ! »

[Jenna]

Classificações:

Etapa:
Auto: 1ºSchlesser/Debron (Buggy Schlesser), 3h03m38s; 2º Loomans/Driesmans (Nissan), a 4s.

Camiões: 1ºKovacs/Czegledi/Toth (Scania), 3h19m19s; 2º Elisabete/Velhinho/Cochinho (MAN), a 1m30s.

Geral:
Auto: 1º Pelichet/Decre (Bowler Wildcat), a 4h58m52s; 2º Loomans/Driesmans (Nissan), a 2m27s.

Camiões: 1ºKovacs/Czegledi/Toth (Scania), 5h28m09s; 2º Elisabete/Velhinho/Cochinho (MAN), a 47s.

[Snaphappy]

Nice reading thanks for the info Jen

Am I looking at the wrong place or are there only 4 bikes involved??

[Jenna]

I dont have the full entry list with me ATM, lol yes there is more than just 4bikes!... The KTM service truck is on course and i think its servicing just under 10 on its own.

The company thats running the rally is fairly new formed (well this is only the 2nd time the rally has run anyway!) so information/website etc are all a bit thin as every effort was put into the event its self. Plans are in motion to get the rally a much bigger press footprint in the UK in the summer ready for next years event, more on that later in the year

I'll dig out the full entry asap.

[Jenna]

FIM classified bike riders are just 4 being

DOTTORI Alberto (ITA) KTM 690 ENDURO A.S.D RACING TEAM VALMUSONE
101 CAPODACQUA Marco (ITA) KTM 660 A.S.D RACING TEAM VALMUSONE
102 STEFANI Giovanni (ITA) YAMAHA 450 WRE
103 SARR Alioune (SEN) KTM 525 EXC SENEGAL RACING TEAM

there are others but not 'officially' competiting and not on the score card.

see if i can get there names.

[Snaphappy]

More coverage and it will pull back many a Dakar competitor

Wish them all good luck and a safe rally

[Sohoeasy]

Nice one Jenna ! Seen a bit of coverage from Polsat TV.The overnight looks a bit like 80's Dakar That AUDI body work looks sooo wrong, don't it ?