Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles

On the eve of the first leg of this 21st Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc, most of the Gazelles spent one last night in hotels in or near Erfoud. The morning was spent calibrating the vehicles' odometers, an important operation since the competition is based on the distance driven by each team.

At 14:00, after a last briefing by Jean-Pierre Berthet, Sporting Director, the 110 vehicles lined up at the start line for a Prologue that should take about 3 hours during which the teams had to find 3 checkpoints on fairly easy terrain, 40 km around the bivouac. A good test for the newcomers (73% this year) and a necessary revision for the old.

This is a first for Team 121 - ISUZU / AUFEMININ.COM / HEART OF GAZELLES. Estelle and Marie-Amélie worked hard to be a part of this Isuzu Media Challenge. "For us it was inconceivable to live this adventure without doing anything for the local people. What we like about Heart of Gazelles is that its actions target the women and children of Morocco" They were smiling as they reach their 1st CP.
Team 139, Laure NIGIDO-AMISSE and Valerie SANFOURCHE - ISUZU / RADIO VITAMINE / ASSOCIATION LE SOURIRE DE LUCIE reached their 3rd CP just 1.5 hours after the start! "This is our 2nd Rallye - last year was a learning experience, but we still finished 13th in the First Participation class and 43rd overall! This year we want to do better for "Le sourire de Lucie", an association founded by the mother of Lucie, a little girl with a rare disease.
The Moroccan team in the Isuzu Media Challenge (148, Maha HAFIANI and Nadia BERRADA - ISUZU / LUXE RADIO / ASSOCIATION AMSAT) fly through the Prologue. The Gazelles stick to their headings without losing time. Maha and Nadia are competing in support of AMSAT, Association Marocaine de Soutien et d'Aide aux Trisomiques (Moroccan Down's syndrome Association). Team 149 - ISUZU / TV MAG / ASSOCIATION ELA also has Rallye experience. The two former Miss Frances Valérie Bègue and Cindy Fabre reach the bivouac after finding all of their CPs, in time for dinner!
If there's one truck that can be seen from miles away, it's 173, Anne-Sarah GRUNENWALD and Maryline BARBE - ISUZU / COTE SANTE / ASSOCIATION CEW: the vehicle and its occupants are bright pink. Their slogan: "7 billion breasts in our hands!" The two Gazelles are chemotherapy nurses and are competing for CEW, which provides beauty services for cancer patients. "We pinned a pink ribbon on every organizer's vest, to symbolize Pink October, breast cancer awareness month".
Team 170, Julie FERREZ and Ingrid GRAZIANI - ISUZU / FEMME ACTUELLE / LA FONDATION PIECES JAUNES are competing for l'Association des Pièces Jaunes (providing services and aid to sick children and their families); this is their first Rallye and their first time in Morocco.
Team 176, Sandrine VALLIER and Carole HUBER - ISUZU / GENERATION 4X4 / ASSOCIATION  KASSOUMAI is from Alsace; it is competing for Association Koussoumaï in Senegal.
For the two journalists from Autoroute FM (107.7 FM, hence their team number, 177) Aurore TEBOUL and Charlotte LATOUR - ISUZU / AUTOROUTE FM / ASSOCIATION AUDITIONSOLIDARITE.ORG), all of this is new: they didn't really know each other before coming here, they were just colleagues, and had never been to Morocco or the desert before! The Prologue was a real test...
At the start line, Team 179 - ISUZU / TV5 MONDE / ASSOCIATION PAROLES DE FEMMES,  Valérie Ravery and actress Fiona Gélin, is a bit tense... But the Gazelles are resolved not to break their vehicle, not to argue and not to get too lost...
Jessica and Marine (182 - ISUZU / RADIO FRANCE BLEU / ASSOCIATION REVE)are living a dream. They had wanted to come to the Rallye des Gazelles for a long time, and were looking for a sponsor… They found better than just a sponsor: they found a patron! At the Auto Show they met Bernard Darniche who decided to help them, and suddenly all doors were opened. "We are supporting Association Rêve (Dream) because this is a dream come true for us!"
Marie Ménager and Natalia Dinger (184 - ISUZU / TÉLÉ 7 JOURS / ASSOCIATION MÉDICO LIONS CLUB) had a little trouble during the prologue, even though they did the Rallye together in 2008: "I need to get my navigation reflexes back, tomorrow will be better" laughed Marie.
Team 194 - ISUZU / TF1 AUTO-MOTO / ASSOCIATION HUMA CHTI is the only mother-daughter team of the Challenge. They won their registration fees and their 4X4 rental during a competition organized by Auto Moto and TF1. "We just found out that we were coming a month ago - what a great adventure! Anne Charlotte competed in (and finished) the Dakar with her father on a motorbike when she was only 20; now she is doing the Rallye des Gazelles with her mother!", says Béatrice, laughing. They are competing for Huma Chti, charity organization of Pas de Calais.
The Challenge's Belgian team (195 - Tatiana SILVA BRAGA TAVARES and Emilie KINO - ISUZU / CINE TELE REVUE / ASSOCIATION THINK PINK) and its very attractive pink 4X4 decorated for Think Pink is a beautiful symbol of the fight against cancer, even in the middle of the desert! This is their first Rallye; they are a little stressed and find the Prologue difficult.