While the difficulty and length of Leg 2 have helped to determine a fairly clear ranking within the Moto/Quad and Crossover classes, the top 5 seem fairly well established.
The results of Leg 2 :In the 4x4 class, the competitors promised action, and that is what we got in leg 2: Team 138 (Florence MIGRAINE-BOURGNON and Corentine QUINIOU - TOYOTA FRANCE), in first position after yesterday's leg, finished 4th today with 38 penalty points following difficulties in finding CP5.
One team's error is another team's pleasure, Team 155 (Syndiely WADE and Carole MONTILLET - AXECIBLES VICAT) lead today's leg with 26.5 points thanks to precise navigation. 26.5 points is not a lot, but this does not intimidate Team 181 (Réjane PENNEQUIN and Marie-Hélène PENNEQUIN - NUDANT AUTOMOBILES), second in today's leg who earn only 6 more penalty points. Third place goes to Team 192 (Sophie TAKENOUTI and Anne LE GOUAIS - A2B Collections), not far behind with 37.5 points.
They were followed, in order, by: Teams 138, 170, 167, 121, 162, 125 and, the surprise of the day, Team 199 composed of our two male Gazelles, David Casteu and Eric Loizeau. A leg that allowed no team to really stand out. Patience, the sands of Erg Chebbi (or dunes of Merzouga) should work their magic tomorrow!
In the Crossover class, watch those Dacia Dusters! Whether through the skill of the competitors, or the capacities of this vehicle which will only appear on the market in April, Teams 315 (Isabelle CHARLES and Dounia BENNANI - DACIA) and 316 (Nathalie DESCOUT and Dorothée TOPIN - DACIA) finish the leg in first and second place with 164 and 181 points. The competition is not far behind: the Mercedes Sprinter of Team 317 (Andréa SPIELVOGEL and Bettina SINGHARTINGER - MERCEDES BENZ) is just 14 points behind Team 316...
In the quad class, an honourable performance for Team 22 (Karine CANDES and Valérie DOT - THIERRY TRANSPORTS) who finish with just 34.5 penalty points. The second team in today's leg is far behind, with 94.5 points.
Consult the day's rankings by type of vehicleFirst participation:A lot changed today for this year's novice teams: Team 197 finished in 36nd place, Team 149 14th, and Team 156, 17th. The queens of the day in the First Participation 4x4 class are Teams 188, 151 and 129 with 95, 103 and 104 penalty points respectively. The dice have been cast!
In the crossover class, Team 317, yesterday's leader among the new participants, earned 194 penalty points today, just 13 behind today's leadr, the Dacia Duster of Team 316.
CMR Challenge (Car Manufacturer and Media Relay):Team 138 (a Toyota Land Cruiser) confirmed yesterday's performance, finishing in first place with 41.5 points. Team 137 (Hit Radio, in a Toyota Hilux) finished second with 73 points.
Consult the day's rankings by ChallengeMale Gazelles, Team 199 :The only masculine team, composed of David Casteu and Eric Loizeau (199), does slightly beter than yesterday, finishing in tenth position. ne gagne qu'une place en prenant la dixième place. While the first two legs demonstrate the high level of competition among the event's top 15 teams, our two
Gazous (male gazelles) can be proud of their performance!
The General Rankings:In the 4x4 class, Team 155's exemplary performance today pushes them into first place with 31.5 points, ahead of Team 138 with 41 points. Third place is taken by Team 181 with 42 points. The competition will be tight in the top 10!
In the Moto/Quad class, the ranking order, from first to fourth, is 23, 22, 21 et 20. A "perfect" order which is more then likely to change over the next week!
In the Crossover class, Team 315 leads the pack with 189 points, followed by 317 and 316.
Tomorrow, the teams will move on to "serious business" as they confront the dunes of Merzouga, which are sure to impress even the most experienced Gazelles.