Adventure-wise, cauliflowers averted

The Gazelles had an easy start to the day with a stretch of paved road. No need to stop at the first checkpoint, which was automatic and located in Erfoud. The traffic jams began along a oued before reaching the village of Aoufouss. After more than 40 kilometres of road, the teams turned onto a trail across the plain with a palm grove rising in the east. Some played the game and took a straight heading across the dusty, rocky desert trails.

Wisdom and safety

At CP 2, a checkpoint common to all of today’s routes, a team was concerned. Team 312 (Laetitia GIRAUD / Sarah SOURBIER - FRUIT4FIT) finished third yesterday in Crossover Class following a 200-point penalty for mechanical assistance. “The worst part is that we’re the team who drove the shortest distance in our class. We’re not here to win, but we had a really good Prologue and our confidence went up. We get caught up in the game, we forget that we’re beginners.” Today they would take less risks. “It allowed us to refocus on the reasons we’re here. We overestimated our vehicle. I have Sébastien Loeb with me,” joked Sarah, the navigator. Team 156 (Patricia VILLARME / Muriel LE BRIS - MARAIS CAFE) also played it safe: “We’re following all the rules; we’re not making anything up.”

Straight heading or not?

The trail was not as easy as it looked, particularly for the vehicle of Team 210 (Marie Christine LAPEYRE / Danielle DUBOS - TAROS Essaouira): “The Duster is low, so we’re forced to adjust and recalculate a lot of headings.” Even with a 4X4, it’s not that easy across this tough terrain. Team 311 (Christelle PERRIN / Lucie FAGEDET) were keeping a close eye on their car: “We’re driving an injector short. The engine light came on this morning. That got our spirits down. We’re going to take it easy today and avoid doing too much sand because we don’t have much power.”

Few features to navigate by

For many, the next checkpoint wasn’t the right one. Several Gazelles found themselves at CP6 while looking for CP3 of Route C. “There are no landmarks. There’s only the mountain on the other side of the plain. We’re going to have to recalculate. Indulge us, we’re beginners to the Rallye,” explained Team 310 (Sandrine MARTIAL / Isabelle FAUST - Les tourtons du Champsaur et Classic All Blacks). Team 201 (Florence BEAULIEU / Agnès JANIN - JATO DYNAMICS) knew it wasn’t the right checkpoint: “We just stopped to say hi. The heading is back there.”

Prevention is better than cure

As all teams received the rest of their road book at CP3, finding CP3 was essential in order to continue. The teams began to plan their strategy: “With the Crossover, we’ll go around this part of the oued and go around the back, otherwise we’re going to get stuck.” Team 212 (Cécile FOUILLAND / Florence RONGER - LA CLOISON AMOVIBLE) were exasperated when they finally reached the third checkpoint of Route E: “We’re sick of all this gravel. It took us 3 hours to get here instead of one and a half.” They were still the 5th team on their route to reach the checkpoint!

Perfectionist Gazelles

The Gazelles of Team 101 (Katia PERROTIN ENCISO / Roselyne NIVOIS - BVI - Bourgogne véhicules industriels IVECO) worked on the 1:250 000 map rather than the 1:100,000 to avoid having to work on four different maps and to have a wider view of the terrain. Another trick: “Every time we change heading, we note the number of kilometres on the left, the heading on the map, the heading on the compass and the heading of the car compass and once we’re in position, we check the car’s heading again.”

Skiing in the desert!

Time for lunch and little R&R. Also the day’s most unexpected image: Lyne of Team 189 ( / ), skiing down a small dune. It was a bet: she brought the skis with her from Canada. “I’m going to try again in Merzouga if we have time.” Team 219 (Veronique BEAUDOUX / Carole MINIER - CLEAN 86 et JURICA) reflected on a dilemma: “We keep trying to go around all the cauliflowers and oueds. It makes us drive a few extra kilometres, but at least it’s easier on our François.” Yes, François is the name of their 4X4 and third team member, as well as the name of both of their bosses.

Penalties? No thanks

The lessons we learn aren’t always those we expect on this second leg… “We told ourselves we would avoid the camel grass, and we ended up in the rocks instead. So we’re going to stop going around everything and just go for it,” explained Team 203 (CHEN YUN ZI / Sophie NAYLOR - AMC Travel). Team 174 (Sandrine PRONIER-CORDIER / Anne-Lucile DELAFOSSE - Mac Donald's Deauville) got back to the bivouac in two-wheel drive in the middle of the afternoon. Their axle was broken but they preferred not to call for mechanical assistance. Not wanting to tempt fate, Team 140 (Melissa CURSAN / Marion BRIAN - Veravant) decided to stop after reaching the 7^th checkpoint. A good idea: tomorrow will be a big day filled with surprises.