Stage: 797km Liaison: 285km Special Stage REMZ EL QUEBIR / JREIFIFA: 270km Liaison JREIFIFA / DAKHLA: 239km
On a large offroad Rally like the AFRICA ECO RACE, the rest day is well deserved, but this is especially true when the bivouac is located in Dakhla, in the extreme south of Morocco and it takes 800 kilometers to get there.
However, this year due to recent flooding in the Laayoune region which made things complicated, the day's special stage had been shortened for the first 185 kilometers, leaving a 270 kilometer sprint across huge desert plains. A not very selective stage, except in the motorcycle category where the navigation was very complicated for those who opened the track.
Having no errors at all since the beginning of the week Gev SELLA had once again the task of opening Frdiday’s special stage. Unfortunately there were many tracks on the stage and he eventually got lost. As a result he finished in 17th position at 40'23''
Dmitry Agoshkov was winner of the day, a first for the Russian rider who had no errors with his KTM. He was actually the only to find the right capes as Pal Anders Ullevalseter and Harite Gabari “gardened” a bit before the Moroccan actually found the right track and finishing both together at 1,47min and 3,45min behind Agoshkov.
Paolo Ceci also lost some time on his Honda, finishing 4th at 15'54''. The Italian is ahead of Slovak Martin BENKO on KTM, for the first time in the top 5.
Just behind, as on stage N ° 4, new riders make their appearance at the top of the rankings with Swede Anders BERGLUND on a HUSABERG In 6th position. Portuguese rider Alexander Vivien AZINHAIS came in 7th on his KTM followed by Henrik RAHM and Laurent WEIBEL
The only female rider in the Moto category Julie VANNEKEN ranked 22nd, and 27th overall in her first off road rally
A provisional classification shows Gev SELLA is still leading by 39'53'' ahead of Paolo CECI with 57'05'' minutes ahead of Pal Anders ULLEVALSETER. This will add to the suspense heading into the second week in Mauritania.
Unlike in the Motorcycle category there was no big problem of navigation on four wheels. It was a case of maximum attack and once again Thierry MAGNALDI and his Two Wheels Drive Buggy was the quickest. The Frenchman completed this selective stage of 270 km in 1h56'21'', at an average speed of 139 km / h. an achievement which Vladimir VASILYEV and his MINI could not match as he finished 2nd at 5'07''.
This very fast course also suited Andrey KARGINOV who, at the wheel of his KAMAZ, made his return to the top of the ranks among the cars by signing the 3rd time of the day at 9'31''.
Also performing well, Andrey CHEREDNIKOV's FORD Raptor allowed the Kazakh crew to set the 4th time at 10'02, 39 seconds ahead of Dominique HOUSIEAUX with his OPTIMUS Buggy
A superb performance also from Rémy VAUTHIER, co-piloted by Jean BRUCY, who placed his OPTIMUS Buggy in 7th position on his first participation in a large offroad Rally. Just behind was Guillaume GOMEZ also in a Buggy built by MD RALLYE SPORT. On the other hand, the French team lost one of its 7 Buggies as Philippe GOSSELIN unfortunately crashed. Fortunately, the driver and his co-pilot were not injured.
In the T2 category vehicles Marat ABYKAYEV had very heavy foot on the accelerator of his TOYOTA since he ranked in 19th place of the day. 2nd in T2 is Thierry PICCO who did not hesitated to lose 43 minutes in order to help repair the Predator Buggy of Xavier LORMAND. This is the spirit of the AFRICA ECO RACE and of course the time he lost will be given back to him.
Today, Saturday January 7th, the caravan of the AFRICA ECO RACE will be resting on a beautiful bivouac on a sandy beach of Dakhla, in the extreme south of Morocco. Temperatures above 20 degrees, a beautiful sun and the air of the Atlantic Ocean should allow everyone to recover, before attacking very seriously on Sunday in Mauritania.
