French
English
MONDAY OCTOBER 24, 2022
STAGE 6: DAKHLA / CHAMI: 634.68 kms
Liaison: 430.05 kms
Special: 204.63 kms
Crossing border to Mauritania.
Fast special stage on very sandy ground.
Off-road navigation.
CANCELLATION OF THE FIRST MAURITANIAN SPECIAL ON THE AFRICA ECO RACE
It was 6.00 am this morning when Frenchman Xavier FLICK set off on the long 370 km liaison to the border between the Western Sahara part of Morocco and Mauritania. Close to the border between the two countries, a tent had been set up by the Moroccan authorities to provide a breakfast buffet worthy of the one in the Port of Nador. This was yet another demonstration of the extraordinary welcome that Morocco has given the AFRICA ECO RACE.
Once this welcome meal was over, the competitors took the road into the "no man's land" between the two countries before finally crossing into the Mauritania. This was an express crossing, involving a simple check of the number of vehicles and passengers, with visa formalities now being carried out at the first Mauritanian bivouac. Consequently, at 10.30am, the majority of the bikes and cars had reached the GPS point of departure where tents had been set up to shelter them from the sun and water provided to rehydrate them. Everything was in place for the special to start at 12.00 pm as planned.
Unfortunately, the weather conditions in Dakhla and in particular the thick fog that grounded the organisation's helicopters and planes meant that we were not able to start as planned. The start had been planned for daybreak, towards Nouadhibou in Mauritania for the customs formalities, before a take-off towards Boulanouar, for the start of the special. In a worst case scenario, the plan allows for the aircraft to be in place at the start by 12:00 at latest. However, the aircraft were only able to take off at 10:30, thus losing more than two hours of the initial schedule, and they only arrived at Boulanouar at 14:00.
The competitors had been on stand-by for more than 3 hours by this point, with a temperature of almost 40°C, albeit in the shade of tents, but they had consumed all the water available to them. In these conditions, it would have been imprudent to let them start in a 200 km special. The decision was therefore taken to cancel this first Mauritanian special stage. A relief for the majority of the participants, who are well aware of the risks of dehydration when driving in the desert at this time of the day.
Tomorrow, Tuesday 25 October, the race will resume at 7.15am for a 470km special stage to Akjoujt, the usual village for this stage of the AFRICA ECO RACE. On the programme, dunes, dunes, and more dunes, interspersed with sandy tracks. One of the most difficult stages of this 14th edition.
