19e édition - du 14 au 29 mars 2009
Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles
La référence féminine depuis 1990
Backstage
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Three questions for Fabrice Belhaire, media pilot
"At the Rallye, we respect the law 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.
Is 4x4 a family affair?
The desert has been my passion since I was a teenager. I belong to the "Dakar generation"! But my dream only became real later on. It is an expensive passion. For seven years I have been driving with my cousin, Yvan-Pierre Dard, who has also been coming to the Rallye, for fifteen years now. I spend Christmas every year in Morocco, near Merzouga, with my wife and children, riding 4x4 or quad.
What do you do during the Rallye?
In addition to our main mission of transporting the media (photographers, cameramen... ed.) out on the course, we are often asked to lend a hand to the search/mechanical assistance team, when they have too much to do. Sometimes certain pilots go back out after a day of 10-12 hours of driving, to help get a car out of the sand, for example. We may also be asked to make a round-trip of several hundred kilometres to transport celebrities between the race and the airports.
Not to mention looking after the daily maintenance of our vehicles (mechanics and the vacuum!), for the comfort of our passengers... but also our own, given that we also sleep in our vehicles! These are exciting days, sometimes stressful when we are given extra responsibilities, and physically exhausting, because they can last from 4 am until 1 o'clock in the morning!
So... it is no holiday! Why do you come back every year?
I need this break. The fatigue is not the same as after a "normal" day's work. Even though the workload is heavier at the Rallye, the ambiance is great and there is a remarkable cohesion between the organizers.
Here, we respect the "law of the desert" which is never to leave anyone behind you. For example, during the first marathon leg, a ball bearing came loose on my 4x4 which broke the axle and half of the transmission shaft. It had just gotten dark. Then solidarity instantly came into play via the press vehicles' radio channel: some came to help us, then we found a pilot who had the right spare parts in his car. But someone had to go get them and bring them back, which took 2 hours first thing the next morning, after not much sleep. All of the pilots helped in whatever way they could. And everybody found that completely normal.
I don't know what the future holds in store, but as soon as I get back, I am reserving the month of March 2011 in my agenda!"
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.
Is 4x4 a family affair?
The desert has been my passion since I was a teenager. I belong to the "Dakar generation"! But my dream only became real later on. It is an expensive passion. For seven years I have been driving with my cousin, Yvan-Pierre Dard, who has also been coming to the Rallye, for fifteen years now. I spend Christmas every year in Morocco, near Merzouga, with my wife and children, riding 4x4 or quad.
What do you do during the Rallye?
In addition to our main mission of transporting the media (photographers, cameramen... ed.) out on the course, we are often asked to lend a hand to the search/mechanical assistance team, when they have too much to do. Sometimes certain pilots go back out after a day of 10-12 hours of driving, to help get a car out of the sand, for example. We may also be asked to make a round-trip of several hundred kilometres to transport celebrities between the race and the airports.
Not to mention looking after the daily maintenance of our vehicles (mechanics and the vacuum!), for the comfort of our passengers... but also our own, given that we also sleep in our vehicles! These are exciting days, sometimes stressful when we are given extra responsibilities, and physically exhausting, because they can last from 4 am until 1 o'clock in the morning!
So... it is no holiday! Why do you come back every year?
I need this break. The fatigue is not the same as after a "normal" day's work. Even though the workload is heavier at the Rallye, the ambiance is great and there is a remarkable cohesion between the organizers.
Here, we respect the "law of the desert" which is never to leave anyone behind you. For example, during the first marathon leg, a ball bearing came loose on my 4x4 which broke the axle and half of the transmission shaft. It had just gotten dark. Then solidarity instantly came into play via the press vehicles' radio channel: some came to help us, then we found a pilot who had the right spare parts in his car. But someone had to go get them and bring them back, which took 2 hours first thing the next morning, after not much sleep. All of the pilots helped in whatever way they could. And everybody found that completely normal.
I don't know what the future holds in store, but as soon as I get back, I am reserving the month of March 2011 in my agenda!"
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Under the patronage of his majesty King Mohammed VI