Competition-wise, intense day in the Merzouga dunes
LEG #3, NEJJAKH-MECH IRDANE
Each year the dunes show different faces, depending on the weather. For this edition, strong winds buffeting from every direction shaped the dunes in every which way. On top of that, it was the first hot day of the Rallye. It was better not to waste time: as the day heats up, the sand takes on the texture of flour. The invincible Betty Kraft of Team 28 (Elisabeth (Betty) KRAFT / Sonia BAUDOIN-GUERARD - POLARIS FRANCE (quads), jet-ski champion and world ATV champion, knows Merzouga like the back of her hand. She managed to hit every checkpoint in the dunes before noon. “This morning, I found that the sand was good but I didn’t want to waste any time, especially as visibility was getting difficult,” she remarked at the finish line. On the rest of the route, especially the section in Oued Ziz between CP7 and CP8, “it was tough sticking to a heading. Even my quad was sinking in 30 cm. If you stop, there’s no way to get going again. So in 4×4, for a novice, it was better to take the trail in the Ziz.”
Late finish, uncertain ranking
At the top of the rankings, Carole Montillet of Team 246 (Carole MONTILLET / Sylvie GODEAU GELLIE - Vakkorama), who has dominated 4×4 Class since the start, had a slight advantage in today’s leg: the dunes are her terrain of predilection. But dunes were not the only item on today’s menu, and Jeanette James of Team 202 (Jeanette JAMES / Emmanuelle TARQUINI DOS SANTOS - Bumper Off Road Jeep) had no intention of giving anything up, neither ahead nor behind her in the rankings: last night only 450 metres separated the team from the Montillet-Godeau duo. And Team 238 (Hélène GRAND'EURY / Charlotte ZUCCONI - VAL THORENS/VALTHOPARC) trailed them by a mere 100 metres. The general ranking will not be available tonight because many teams are not coming back to the bivouac this evening. However, in light of the results, it is more than likely that the same teams will remain in the top five, despite a few small surprises: Team 146 (Caroline ZOSSO / Peggy VOGEL - ZZKUSTOM), 18th in the general ranking, drove the leg in 5.53 km, shaving 530 metres off the performance of Carole Montillet. Teams 153, 107 and 234 remain under 6 km of penalties and are among the teams to watch.
Many First Participation novice teams chose Route X, eager for the challenge. But some bit off more than they could chew, such as Team 122 (Samantha JACQUEMIN / Véronique MEUNIER - ORPEA GROUPE), who decided to get out of the dunes before reaching their second checkpoint. “We ran into a team who told us the terrain was terrible. So we turned around. But we don’t regret having tried. There are no regrets here: Everything is great!”
The Zoé
The Renault electric vehicle continued to do well: good driver, good navigator… it was hardly surprising that Team 313 (Solen KERLEROUX / Carine POISSON - RUN FUN / MTECH) turned in another good performance. The team dominated Crossover Class with 44.55 extra km today vs. 101 km for their closest competitor, team 312 (Laetitia GIRAUD / Sarah SOURBIER - FRUIT4FIT). They easily held onto their top place in the general ranking.
Queen Elisabeth
No surprises today in Quad/Motorbike Class: Betty Kraft and her teammate Sonia Baudouin won the leg and are well in the lead in the general rankings with a comfortable lead of more than 5 km over their closest competitor, motorcycle team 22 (Tracy MORANDIN / Valérie ROCHE - MORANDIN Yves). The latter drove a remarkably clean route today, just 370 metres behind Queen Elisabeth.
Electric vehicles: their own route
For obvious reasons, the e-Gazelles could not tackle the dunes but they had their share of sand and excitement. Team 504 (Kiera CHAPLIN / Jazmin GRIMALDI - Saint Honoré) got stuck in camel grass and spend two hours shovelling before noticing that their oil pan was damaged. Mechanical assistance, emergency repairs… they resumed their route in a good mood that didn’t leave them all day. Naturally, this mishap cost them 200 penalty points but there is a good chance they will hold onto their spot at the top of the general ranking.
