21eme édition - du 17 au 31 mars 2012
Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles
La référence féminine depuis 1990
Backstage
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Portrait of the checkpoint team
Without the "CP openers" and the "CP officials", there could be no Rallye. And yet, we rarely run into them at the bivouac, only between 21:00 and midnight. And for a good reason: they are the ones who install and man the famous checkpoints, also known as "CPs".
Three questions for Fabrice Belhaire, media pilot
"At the Rallye, we respect the spirit of the desert"
In "real" life, Fabrice Belhaire manages his own interior decoration company, in the Calvados region of France. Since 2005,he has been volunteering at the Rallye as media pilot, behind the wheel of his 4x4 Toyota HDJ 80...
In "real" life, Fabrice Belhaire manages his own interior decoration company, in the Calvados region of France. Since 2005,he has been volunteering at the Rallye as media pilot, behind the wheel of his 4x4 Toyota HDJ 80...
Mohamed Oufkir, from odd jobs to Logistics Manager Morocco
Every year, the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles employs more than 60 Moroccans: for putting up and taking down the bivouac, 4x4 drivers for inter-bivouac transfers, checkpoint officials... and all of them are under the charge of Mohamed Oufkir, now in his 14th edition of working for the Rallye. From odd job to odd job, this 50-year-old resident of Merzouga has become essential to the smooth running of the Rallye here in Morocco. And through him, the Rallye gives a lot to his native Merzouga region: two weeks working for the Rallye provides the equivalent of two months' salary for a local worker. It all began 15 years ago, when Mohamed was working for a travel agency in the south of Morocco... to hear his interview, click here (French).
A big Thank You to Mohamed and his team!
A big Thank You to Mohamed and his team!
Smile, you're on camera!
In order to transmit daily images of the event to media around the world, the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc has a dynamic and passionate team... zoom in on image production!
La Poste innovates with electric quad for garbage collection
A round-trip around the bivouac takes 10 minutes. So when it comes to emptying the numerous recycling bins (sorted by category: paper, plastic, cans, glass, food waste...) with many collection points all over the bivouac, we are talking about a long process. To fix this problem, La Poste provided the Rallye with the use of an electric quad: La Poste and the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles, working together to protect the environment.
Patrick and Arthur: super attitude (unleaded!)
Go figure, the two members of the "quad/buggy refuelling team" first met about fifteen years ago in Morocco! A good omen?
The nomad La Post office - staying in touch with the world
The bivouac is a real little transient village right in the middle... of nowhere. With its restaurant, its bar, its residential area, its parking lot...
Sherlock Press Pilots!
At every edition of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc, about twenty pilots (including two women this year) are charged with the mission of transporting the journalists, photographers, cameramen and celebrity guests who spend their days out on the terrain for two weeks...
Andréanne Guimont, from quad to organizer
Geographer by training, school secretary and municipal web journalist, Andréanne is a diminutive 30-year old who lives three hours from Montréal...
The "mechanic-icians": a finely-tuned organization
At the bivouac, there are those who are awake during the day and sleep at night, and those who stay up all night and sleep during the day... when the heat allows it. Among the latter, there are the mechanics, a team of enthusiasts, of specialists, used to rallies and extreme conditions...
When it comes to the "rules"... ask MO
In the Gazelle's collection of navigation tools this year can be found, right beside the indispensable plotter, something new for 2010: the "magic ruler", so named by the competitors because it is so ingenious and practical...
Spotlight on the Race PC
A few minutes before the start of the Prologue, the Race PC is undergloing some last-minute adjustements. Thanks to the Iritrack satellite tracking system, Sporting Director Jean-Pierre Berthet and his team follow the competitors' progress live 24h/24h throughout the competition.
The competitors are never left out in the desert without surveillance: with a simple click, Serge Barbieux, PC Security Assistant, can find out the precise position of every team and the route they have taken. Ludovic Taché, Race PC Manager, coordinates the positions of the assistance vehicles by radio. True teamwork for the next 8 days of competition!
The competitors are never left out in the desert without surveillance: with a simple click, Serge Barbieux, PC Security Assistant, can find out the precise position of every team and the route they have taken. Ludovic Taché, Race PC Manager, coordinates the positions of the assistance vehicles by radio. True teamwork for the next 8 days of competition!
The bivouac is flooded... with recycled Pilot pens!
Don't worry, nobody is getting their feet wet like they did two years ago! But since this morning, a large numnber of new-generation pens have been distributed all over the bivouac: the "B2P" or "From Bottle to Pen", donated by Pilot for the journalists, the organizers, and, of course, the Gazelles...
Under the patronage of his majesty King Mohammed VI