No surprises for the last leg in the cars category. Jean-Louis Schlesser finished 22 minutes ahead of Leonid Novitskiy. the « Desert Fox» strikes again :
« The week was nice, we tried a new gearbox and had no problems with it. Novitskiy is a great opponent and the game was a tight one. This team is a very good pair and made us take calculated risks everyday. The rest of the program for the blue buggies : the Africa Race in January 2009 ! »
Arnaud Debron, Jean-Louis Schlesser's co-pilot, was surprised by the quality of the tracks: « I was pleasantly surprised by the difficulty. I expected something very easy and it wasn't the case. The two lap system, about which I was skeptical to begin with, proved very efficient. And the navigation was pretty tough too... A beautiful rally! »
On the BMW X3 from the X-Raid Team, Leonid Novitskiy, second in the overall, got another leg win :
« I am a bit disappointed to finish second but I can only blame myself. I made mistakes and I am paying for it. Even then, we drove well all week and I could use my car to its best potential. We had a number of punctures, and another one with morning. But a good week in terms of driving. »
Third and first on the T2, Ronan Chabot got his Production on the final podium :
« This rally was very nice. A race is never over until you pass the finish line... just look at the three punctures we got this morning, within 25 km. Some specials were not to be missed, such as the first one, which made a huge difference from day one. The lap system was very good for the setting up of the cars. And in terms of sports it was a good teaching lesson. All of this is great news for the big event in January. We have found a new organizer, friendly and with lots of charisma, and it makes one want to come back.… »
Jean-Noël Julien, 4th in the overall and 3rd T1 celebrates his first podium:
« Super week and super rally, as always with NPO. No major problem with the car, which allowed us to concentrate on smaller details for the Dakar. My copilot was a beginner and we had ideal conditions to teach him since the navigation was quite difficult. A tough teaching but the rest should appear easy now. I am happy with this first podium. Thanks to all the MD Rallye Sport team, they did a great job.»
Jean-Noël Julien's team mate at MD rallye Sport Régis Delahaye finishes 4th in front of Guillaume Balloy and Etienne Smulevici, who claims having had "a wonderful week!"
For the trucks, Bruno Bouey, Richard Gonzalez et Jean-Pierre Cottret won their category on their Renault Kerax, after the withdrawal of Elisabete Jacinto on a mechanical incident. Finally for the SSVs, Frédéric Alard got his Dazon single seater place in first position in front of Alain Fricker's Drakart. Some friendly machines which will come back in greater numbers in 2009…
This 2008 AMV Shamrock-Rallye du Maroc edition had quality written all over it. Quality of the competitors and quality of the tracks, for the greatest joy of the competitors, who will have an excellent memory of this Moroccan week.
For NPO, the preparations for the next rally have already started. From April 23rd to May 2nd of 2009, the Rallye de Tunisie will offer, as each year, a long visit in Libya with breathtaking vistas. With ten legs and 5000 km, the Tunisia will go over borders without changing its recipe. Small budgets, convivial bivouacs accessible to all vehicles, quality of the tracks, reliable road books and first rate security systems.
After a much appreciated 2008 edition, this real marathon , the very core of Rally raids, will go through Africa's most beautiful ergs.
Registration opens on October 15th,2008.
Find all the inormation on www.npo.fr
- Lydie ARPIZOU - Photo NPO
