Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles

BREAKING NEWS 14:00 - Start of the Prologue

After 4 long days of travelling South, the competition of the 21st edition of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc is launched by André Manoukian, live from the Mech Irdane bivouac, close to Erfoud.

A Prologue under a blazing sun across the Moroccan desert,  allowing the teams to warm up and adjust their strategy without penalty. Jean-Pierre Berthet, the competition's Sport Director, announced at the pre-Prologue briefing that this half-leg would be "not very difficult" and that most of the teams should be able to make it back to the bivouac without any problem...

Odometer calibration: getting ready

BREAKING NEWS 17:15 - The first teams are back at the bivouac!

The first teams are already back from the Prologue, a deliberately short leg that serves as a test and a warmup for the rest of the competition. Impressions in the heat of the moment from quad Team 20 (Catherine KERAMIDAS and Veronique DULUC-JOVER - CENTRE E.LECLERC) : "The scenery is wonderful, it's just a pleasure, and it gave us a chance to adjust!" An opportunity to face the terrain, get back into navigation and improve their management strategy, which requires an extra effort for a quad team. They are followed by the Gazelles of Team 149 (Cindy FABRE and Valerie BEGUE - ISUZU / TV MAG / ASSOCIATION ELA), who found all 3 checkpoints without much difficulty: "Today we were approximating, but tomorrow, we'll be more precise". In the meantime, after dropping the vehicle off at the mechanics workshop where it will be pampered overnight, it's time for a shower and dinner - our Gazelles want to be in good shape tomorrow!

RACE NOTES 17:05 - first call for technical assistance

The Control Centre just received the first request for technical assistance from Team 142 (Anne-Emmanuelle LUGRIN and Karine BOUVART - LABORATOIRES GENEVRIER). Stuck in the sand, the team made the call using their IRITRACK system.

Right away, Serge Barbieux, Control Centre assistant, coordinates a response from an organization vehicle. For information, every request for technical assistance earns the team 200 "penalty kilometres", a good way to discourage unnecessary calls... Fortunately for Team 142, these points earned during the Prologue will not affect the team's performance, as today's results are used only to set up the departure order for Leg 1.

RACE NOTES 16:25 - some good performances

On Route C, Teams 134 (Martine BANCAREL and Cecile TESTUD - BARACALAND AGDE), 136 (Severine ARNAUD and Corinne ARMAND-GALLION - BEABA), 139 (Laure NIGIDO-AMISSE and Valerie SANFOURCHE - ISUZU / RADIO VITAMINE / ASSOCIATION LE SOURIRE DE LUCIE), 149 (Cindy FABRE and Valerie BEGUE -  ISUZU / TV MAG / ASSOCIATION ELA) are navigating exceptionally well: the headings are precisely calculated and the drivers aren't deviating by a single degree.
Meanwhile, on the same course Team 142 (Anne-Emmanuelle LUGRIN and Karine BOUVART - LABORATOIRES GENEVRIER) is driving south around an obstacle that most of the other teams took from the north, and end up wasting some time in a sandy zone. Not too serious, they should be able to adjust their heading and reach the CP by driving north-east. On the other hand, Teams 163 (Dorianne SCHILLACI and Nicole BANO DEMAY - TOUSLESPRIX.COM) and 191 (Caroline MAURICE and Catherine LAJOUX - MEDITERRANEAN SHIPPING COMPANY) are deviating further and further off course...

RACE NOTES 15:00 - at CP1

While 1/3 of the teams are close to their 1st CP, Team 175 has already reached the third checkpoint! According to Ludovic Taché, in charge of the Control Centre where he follows the progress of every team live through the IRITRACK system,  "it's going very well", a reflection of the relative accessibility of this Prologue.

ANALYSIS - Prologue: quality performances

Competition for the podium is going to be tough during this 2011 edition of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles, judging from the results of this afternoon's Prologue. Team 159 (Florence DERAMOND and Laurence USUNIER - GROUPE MAORI) turned in an impressive first-day performance: with only 0.79 penalty points, or 790 metres over the crow-flies distance between CPs, they lead the pack in the 4x4 class.

At the bivouac, one last phone call

As the Gazelles are not permitted to have any means of communication in their possession during the competition, the teams had to hand in their phones to the organization after today's Prologue. At the bivouac, it is time to make one last call before surrendering their phones to the organization for the duration. But, far from being cut off from the world, the Gazelles will be able to make calls and receive and send emails at the nomad post office set up by La Poste (French postal service) at the bivouac. Last year, more than 18,000 emails were received and printed at the bivouac. This year, the charming Hélène Delahaye and Evelyne Griffet are in charge of printing and distributing the precious messages to the appropriate personal "mailboxes" every day. Every day the competitors will  eagerly collect and read messages of encouragement and support from their families, friends and anonymous fans. Conclusion: the record to beat this year is 18,000 messages - write to the Gazelles!