19e édition - du 14 au 29 mars 2009
Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles
La référence féminine depuis 1990
Backstage
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The daily Press Briefing
Phographers, cameramen, journalists, company communication personnel: every evening they attend a briefing with Jean-François "Jeff" Jobert, press relations director, to discuss the following leg of the race. It's Jeff who has the task of coordinating and distributing the press among the press vehicles every day. According to personality, affinities, priorities, time constraints and the nature of the
reports to be made, he juggles with the teams, always managing to make his flock happy.
In the ranking office
The "P'tits Gris" are a key feature of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles. One is bearded, the other has a moustache, and together they look after the numbers. Odometer readings, temporary rankings by category, penalties... You can't fool Jean-Paul and Jean, they know the rules back to front! Térésa helps them in this important task, and always has a smile and words of
encouragement for the Gazelles on the start line. This year the team
was joined by a 3rd "P'tit gris", Jean-Pierre, whom everyone here calls "Pelican". It's true that he is a strange bird...
The Radio Relay
They travel in packs of four. Two carry the radio relay on their backs, the others each carry a 17 kg car battery. The whole thing must be set up every day on the top of a hill or a mountain
(at an altitude of up to 900 metres) to ensure that communications between the Race PC, the press cars and the participants cotinue uninterrupted. It goes without saying that to work in this field, you'd better have plenty of stamina! Christian Sabastia has been working for the Rallye for 12 years and has been setting up the radio relay for the past three. For him, "setting up the relay gives me a chance go rock climbing and to go where nobody else goes. The views are magnificent!" And when man reaches his limit, the helicopter takes over!
The radio relay team is composed of Christian Sabastia, Michel Gamache, Nicola Martins Goncalvez and Martin Jayot.
The radio relay team is composed of Christian Sabastia, Michel Gamache, Nicola Martins Goncalvez and Martin Jayot.
Bravo for the mechanics!
Thirty men working every evening and night, often until the wee hours of the morning, a small distance from the bivouac. Specialists in Toyota, Mercedes, Quad,
"general mechanics", these men do everything they can to get the Gazelles' mounts back on the road and in the race.
For Pierre-Romain Bailly, experiencing his first Rallye this year, "This is such an enriching adventure! We do emergency repairs and we have a big responsibility towards the girls who have to make the start the next day."
The top 5 mechanical problems:
Broken shock absorbers
Flat tires
Bent fenders
Damaged underbody
Clogged air filters
For Pierre-Romain Bailly, experiencing his first Rallye this year, "This is such an enriching adventure! We do emergency repairs and we have a big responsibility towards the girls who have to make the start the next day."
The top 5 mechanical problems:
Broken shock absorbers
Flat tires
Bent fenders
Damaged underbody
Clogged air filters
The history of a checkpoint
A
checkpoint – also known as a CP – is neither a black box on a rock nor
a ribbon tied to a bush. In fact, a checkpoint is a 2 metre tall red
flag, with a
"scorekeeper" at its base who is in charge of validating the arrival of
the Gazelles. And if checkpoints seem to be growing like weeks on the
Moroccan landscape for the past few days, it's because a band of dedicated desert-lovers set them up
systematically ahead of the competition... while the bivouac has its
back turned!
Pierre Delsaut is an opener. Nothing would make him leave this place...
Pierre Delsaut is an opener. Nothing would make him leave this place...
Synchronize your watches!
A good Gazelle is a Gazelle that is on time. Every morning, Jean-Pierre Berthet – the Rallye's Sporting Director – announces the GPS time during the 5:00 briefing. "It is now 5:01 and 30 seconds..." In that way, all of the Gazelles are synchronized with the
organization; no unpleasant surprises at the checkpoints, where the
Gazelles' arrivial time is recorded in GPS time.
Irregular shifts
The other tents have been empty for almost an hour when Patrick and Arthur put up theirs... Did they spend the night outside the bivouac? Yes, but not to party! In charge of fuelling the
quads, the two organizers got back at dawn and haven't yet gone to bed. Good night!
Ludovic Taché, in charge of the Race PC
Temporary ranking, minimum distance, no speed:
Ludovic Taché, Race PC Manager, explains what makes the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles unique.
Ludovic Taché, Race PC Manager, explains what makes the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles unique.
"Mail Ladies" behind the scenes
We call it the the nomad la Poste tent. A large Berber tent, "La Poste yellow" in colour, bridging the gap between the Gazelles and their families. In the tent: cushions, two computers and two telephones that the competitors can use to contact their loved ones with disposable calling cards.
Nathalie and Alexandra, postal workers, have the job of printing all of the email received by the Gazelles every day, "on A5 paper, double sided. To save paper!"
And the mailbag is heavy: last year 10,000 email messages were printed in ten days!
But the record for the number of emails received in one day is held by the nomad La Poste tent's "mail ladies" themselves. Family, friends, to your keyboards: the record to beat is 68 messages in a day!
Nathalie and Alexandra, postal workers, have the job of printing all of the email received by the Gazelles every day, "on A5 paper, double sided. To save paper!"
And the mailbag is heavy: last year 10,000 email messages were printed in ten days!
But the record for the number of emails received in one day is held by the nomad La Poste tent's "mail ladies" themselves. Family, friends, to your keyboards: the record to beat is 68 messages in a day!
Two German mechanics at the Rallye!
Benjamin BESSLICH and Henner GARBADE are full of good intentions. These two German mechanics are taking part in the Rallye des Gazelles for the first time, and hope that they won’t have too many repairs to do. Not because the work intimidates them, but because they would prefer to see the cars - and the Gazelles - in good shape! “I’m worried that if we have too much to do, we won’t be able to have all of the vehicles ready in time…!” admits Benjamin. No worries, the veteran mechanics have the solution: “We work all night!” rejoins a mechanic, in French. “We are mainly here to have a good time; I think we will survive!” adds Henner, with a laugh.
Under the patronage of his majesty King Mohammed VI