LEG 3 : « GERBOISE » (DESERT RAT)
Transfer : 45 km - Special : 300 km in two laps - Transfer : 45 km
AMV Shamrock - Rallye du Maroc (September 21st - 27th 2008)
Third day for the AMV Shamrock-Rallye du Maroc 2008, under a bleak sun. A few rain drops fell towards the end of the second lap. For the bikes, David Frétigné keeps the lead of the overall, in front of Thierry Bethys, himself threatened by Michel Marchini, only 14 minutes behind the triple winner of the Enduro du Touquet.
For the cars, Jean-Louis Schlesser made up in one lap for half of his handicap, and is now only 17 minutes behind Leonid Novitskiy. Ronan Chabot, third, should be safe from any come-back from Jean-Noël Julien, 2 hours behind the T2. For the quad, Vincent Albira is still the leader, as is Laurent Renault in the Enduro Cup.
Frédéric Alard was the victim of a radiator leak but did otherwise very well and finished both laps on his SSV. To finish with, Elisabete Jacinto, so far comfortable in 4th position in the overall, had some mechanical troubles today, with broken engine mount and gearbox mount.
Well-avoided traps …
At yesterday's briefing, Stéphane Clair had warned the competitors about the danger of some passages. The message got across and no one got tricked. The first 30 km were quite fast, then the competitors reached a beautiful chott. The track then became very technical and the riders and drivers had some fun, before they got to a complete off-track, lasting 40 kilometers. Alternating between fast zones and bad passages with the only constant a cap at 190. Great caution on the second lap to avoidr « the » mistake.
Frétigné still in control, Bethys keeps going and Marchini attacks…
David Frétigné, still in the lead in the bikes category, perfectly controlled his race today. Michel Marchini attacked hard on both laps and is making up for his penalty day after day. At 1h00m and 44 s behind Frétigné, without said penalty (a non-validated waypoint), Marchini would be right behind the leader.
The leading trio is opening the trails for Bruno Da Costa, Frédéric Lepan (who had engine problems in the second lap), Sébastien Coët and Harite Gabari, the surprising Moroccan rider who has been steady and accurate since the beginning . For the Enduro Cup, Laurent Renault is still holding the fort and is getting used to the navigation instruments.
Vincent Albira ahead of the other quads, but the young rider from Southern France suffered from a severe backache. However, his opponents Climent Vicent and Jean-Christophe Ménard are still way behind.
Schlesser lashes out…
For the cars, Jean-Louis Schlesser did not let go and Novitskiy's lead is disappearing day after day. If the « desert fox's » technique didn't pay off this morning, the Russian's confidence was shaken this afternoon, as he suffered from two punctured tyres.
Attacking in the second lap, Jean-Louis Schlesser made up for half of his handicap, and made the leader take risks to keep his lead, which led to two punctured tyres. Ronan Chabot was still tuning up his Land Cruiser . This day was spent on suspensions and by getting the 4th and 5th best time of the day he keeps his third place in the overall easily.
If Régis Delahaye got the third place on both laps, in the overall Jean-Noël get the fourth, left vacant by Elisabete Jacinto, victim of a broken engine mount and gearbox mount. Guillaume Balloy and his Bowler also made it in the top five.
Further down in the ranking, the beginners are learning about the Rally Raid the tough way, kilometer after kilometer. And studious students Jérémie Choiseau and Arnaud Boningue can vouch for this. After a nightmarish first day, they are gaining some confidence and finally getting some fun out of it.
The SSV's are still there… not the same ones on the track everyday, but present all the same!
Today, Frédéric Alard, and his single seater Dazon finished the first lap in spite of a leaking radiator. At the service park he was kindly helped by Thierry Bethys' and Bruno Da Costa's mechanics and patched the leak. He then went on for the second lap with increased motivation.
Samuel Lecomte and his Polaris, still having issues with troublesome cardans, only rode on 10 km on the first lap and 6 on the second. Not changing his mind, he is hoping to be back on the track tomorrow, alongside with Alain Fricker and his Drakart.
SAFETY :WHAT'S UP DOC?
For NPO, the subject of safety has always been treated professionally and rigorously. As on the Tunisian Rally, AMS, which provides the medical coverage on most raid rallies, works in collaboration with AMIS (the acronym means FRIENDS in French). Founded in 1993, AMIS (Assistance Médicale Inter Sports) is an thirty-person association, physicians, emergency caregivers and paramedics, and fulfils its assistance mission in a particular way.
The medical personnel is indeed on motorbikes... These « knights » have been seen on a number of Enduro races, and have now appeared on the Rallye du Maroc. After Tunisia, where they were greatly appreciated, NPO has decided to renew this experience, reassuring for the competitors and especially the bikers.
One of the first ones, Jérôme Feuillade, emergency care specialist, defines his role as a « Sand Saint Bernard ». Jerome is no beginner in the field. A long time biker, he has even been a competitor in the Dakar, after eight editions in the medical car. Nine Dakars and three Tunisian Rallies made him quite knowledgeable in terms of trails…
« In a race we are obviously present to intervene as quickly as possible and to establish an emergency diagnosis. We transport emergency equipment in a 9kg bag. The goal is to go on the special, which of course requires a great deal of experience in riding and navigating. But our mission is also to help the late riders and drivers and to give them medical care and moral comfort.
We can also motivate them when they are feeling down, telling them reassuring words. Coming from another rider, the message gets across more easily than with a « regular » physician. On each race we work in pairs, a physician and a nurse, or a physician and a paramedic.
We also use this experience to develop protective gear for the bikers. We have designed the « Phlicstop » which protects the hands from blisters, and we are also working on a cervical necklace. On top of purely medical interventions, we also act as nannies, we take care of minds as well as bodies.… »
Tomorrow a lot on the menu with 408 km of timed section. Off-track, navigation, fast and windy tracks, big plateaux, uphill, downhill, technical passages, corrugated iron, fesh-fesh, small dunes to pass or circle… the full monty.
www.npo.fr
Lydie ARPIZOU – Photo NPO
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