Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles

Second leg of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles 2011. The Gazelles have to cover a distance of 175 km to the new bivouac in Nejjakh, north of Erfoud. No major navigational difficulties except at the beginning of the leg. The teams will be given the day's road book at CP1. Maps spread out on the ground or on the hood of their vehicle, they plot the day's checkpoints. 

Marie Ménager and Natalia Dinger, Team 184 - ISUZU / TÉLÉ 7 JOURS / ASSOCIATION MÉDICO LIONS CLUB, make an error in navigating to the first checkpoint and search for quite a while before finding it. Despite the bad start, the day ends well with 6 CPs But the Gazelles are totally exhausted... "It's really long, we were rushing and we just got here, it's 7 o'clock, even after they cancelled CP7!" says Marie. They lead the Isuzu Media Challenge after 2 days with +48.73 km on the odometer.

Team 176 (Sandrine VALLIER and Carole HUBER - ISUZU / GENERATION 4X4 / ASSOCIATION KASSOUMAI) reach CP5 around 18 :00 after spending 2 hours stuck in the sand, alone. They decide to head straight for the bivouac without trying for CP6, preferring to reach the camp before dark. They are currently in second place in the Isuzu Media Challenge.
CP2 seems to be causing a lot of problems. A lot of Gazelles are spending time searching for this 2nd flag. Team 121 (Estelle DUCRAY-RIDENT and Marie-Amelie SIROT - ISUZU / AUFEMININ.COM / HEART OF GAZELLES) also have a hard time finding it and return to the bivouac after CP3. They are advancing slowly and prefer to play it safe.

The “Miss France” team, Team 149 (Cindy FABRE and Valerie BEGUE - ISUZU / TV MAG / ASSOCIATION ELA) hit hard going over a dune yesterday (setting off the airbags), and had transmission problems that forced them to call mechanical assistance, costing them 200 points. They set out today with a fully functioning vehicle and drive a great leg, finishing in 5th place.

Mother-daughter team 194 (Anne-Charlotte TILLIETTE and Beatrice TILLIETTE - ISUZU / TF1 AUTO-MOTO / ASSOCIATION HUMA CHTI) is 3rd despite spending 3 hours looking for CP2! Good navigation and driving help them to make up for lost time.
Moroccan team 148 (Maha HAFIANI and Nadia BERRADA - ISUZU / LUXE RADIO / ASSOCIATION AMSAT) has been performing well since the beginning of the competition. Yesterday they got 6 CPs and barely missed the last one. They are 4th in the Challenge after the 2nd leg.

Belgian team 195 (Tatiana SILVA BRAGA TAVARES and Emilie KINO - ISUZU / CINE TELE REVUE / ASSOCIATION THINK PINK) didn’t make it back to the bivouac last night and slept in the desert with two other teams. They came back to the bivouac this morning and left again at 08:30. They plan to perform well during this second leg, and to return to the bivouac in time to enjoy the excellent buffet served every night.

Team 179 - ISUZU / TV5 MONDE / ASSOCIATION PAROLES DE FEMMES, Fiona Gélin and Valérie Ravery reached two CPs and decided to head back. Fiona is impatient for the sand in the Merzouga dunes on Sunday. Team 173 (Anne-Sarah GRUNENWALD and Maryline BARBE - ISUZU / COTE SANTE / ASSOCIATION CEW) also returned early to the bivouac with 2 checkpoints. They are finding this first Rallye des Gazelles difficult: the navigation, the hard and rocky terrain, the camel grass, the first taste of sand... Team 182 (Marie PINGET and Jessica GOUTTENOIRE - ISUZU / RADIO FRANCE BLEU / ASSOCIATION REVE) are doing well for a first participation: they are currently 8th in the IMR. The two young mothers of team 139 (Laure NIGIDO-AMISSE and Valerie SANFOURCHE - ISUZU / RADIO VITAMINE / ASSOCIATION LE SOURIRE DE LUCIE), who are also at their first Rallye, have accumulated a lot of CP penalty points, but are gaining in experience every day.

Team 170 (Julie FERREZ and Ingrid GRAZIANI - ISUZU / FEMME ACTUELLE / LA FONDATION PIECES JAUNES) plot their points as they go along, take the time to stop to take photos and buy jewellery from the children in a passing village… Remember, this is not a speed race!
Team 177 (Aurore TEBOUL and Charlotte LATOUR - ISUZU / AUTOROUTE FM / ASSOCIATION AUDITIONSOLIDARITE.ORG) do not return to the bivouac tonight, preferring to sleep in the desert than to drive after dark. They have until noon tomorrow to start the next leg.