AFRICA ECO RACE 2024: THE RACE IS WELL UNDERWAY

MOROCCO: With 8 degrees on the thermometer, the temperature was already much milder on the morning of Thursday, January 4 at the start of the Oued Draa bivouac, not far from Mahmid, the Mecca of Rally Raids in Morocco. All the conditionswere in place for a greatday’s racing.

Alessandro BOTTURI was all smiles at the finish of the 463km special stage between Mahmidand Assa. Riding his Yamaha 700 Ténéré, the two-time winner of the event had won the stage and taken 2nd place overall from Pol TARRES, the second official rider for the blues. It was a great result for the jovial Italian, who beat his team-mate by 00:01:29 in the selective sector and by 00:00:35 in the provisional standings: “The stage was very beautiful, with some pretty good dunes, but the navigation wasn’t easy. From kilometer 210, we caught up with CERUTTI and rode with him. Yesterday I thought the pace was high and I wondered if I was old enough to compete with the two furious riders at the front. Today was even worse and yet I rode with them without any problems. We’ll see what happens next.”

Finishing 3rd yesterdayat 00:02:18, Jacopo CERUTTIremains leaderof the bike classificationonboard his APRILIA Touareg 660at 00:06:20.

The Italian had managed to hold onto the leaduntil the halfway point of the race but was caught out by a small navigation error. It took more than 30 minutes for the first 450sto arrive, including the HONDA of Italian Giovanni GRITTI, the KTMof Swiss rider Alexandre VAUDAN,and the HUSQVARNAof Guillaume BORNE. All three, separated by less than two minutes, are entered in the ROOKIE RIDER BY ACERBIS, which rewards the best riders under 35 who have never taken part in a major off-road rally. Last but not least, Italian Andrea GAVA put in a great performance, setting a magnificent 7th fastest timeon his BETAfrom 33rd position.

In the Car/SSV/Truck category, it was once again an APACHE SSV that won this 3rd stage. This time, it was the car of Gautier PAULINand Remi BOULANGER, ahead of the CAM AM of Heathcliff ZINGRAF and Gregory REVEST for 00:01:17 and the POLARISof Éric SCHIANO and Camille POURCHIER, who recovered well from their problems at the start of the event.

Overall, the former Motocross champion maintains his lead on four wheels with a leadof just 00:03:35over ZINGRAF. The battle rages on, with the POLARISof Frédéric HENRICY and Éric BERSEYtrailing behind at 01:17:23.

As for the cars, the TOYOTA of Belgian drivers Pascal FERYNand Kurt KEYSERS finished 9th overallat 01:14:45, ahead of the other 4X4 of the FERYN DAKAR TEAM of Koen WAUTERSand Kris VEN DER STEEN at just under 15 minutes. In the provisional general standings, FEYRINleads the category ahead of WAUTERS.

In the truck category, the Czech Tomas TOMECEK finished 11th in this 3rd special stage and remains the leader of the desert mammoths.

In the Classic race, after this second stage, Yves LOUBET, the event’s Sporting Director, who
was instrumental in the return of this historic category to the AFRICA ECO RACE, commented on the start of the race with his legendary enthusiasm and outspokenness: “This Classic category in Africa, in the historic footsteps of the original event with a finish at Lac Rose, is a blessing for the discipline. The playing field is fantastic and Alain LOPEZ, who mapped out the route and determined the zones and average speeds imposed, has done an extraordinary job. The participants are in for a treat and the competition is going to be very competitive.

The Classic race has all the safety, logistical, and media resources that the Rally has to offer. It’s a race that’s just waiting to grow and, in time, it could become the absolute benchmark for the discipline.”

Next, Friday, January 5, another big stage awaitsthe participants, with 467kmof selective sector and just 5kmof liaisonbetween Oued Draaand Fort Chacal.

STAGE 3 RESULTS BIKES

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION BIKES

STAGE 3 RESULTS CARS-TRUCKS

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION CARS/TRUCKS

Text, Photo & Video Credits: Africa ECO Race